EPT+ Show Spoiler +
One of my most startling realizations came to me when I was in elementary school. I had always loved science; space specifically, and it just amazed me there was so much out there yet explored. And I happened upon a picture of Earth taken from the Moon; we were small, blue, nothing surrounded by black. Not evil, not frightening, just nothing. This picture imparted to me an unparalleled sense of scale. It had occurred to me before that the earth was not very big in comparison to the scope of the universe, but never had it hit me with such striking clarity that we were but a drop in the pond. Not even that, we were a drop in an ocean, an ocean so vast that I have no doubt it cannot be fully comprehended by any human being nor ever will be. Suddenly war did not seem like “such a big deal”, nor did peace. When viewed from first person, it appears that nothing can possibly be more important than what is before our eyes. This sense of importance is simultaneously comforting and disarming; it is comfortable to think that you are the center of your universe, but it is disarming when events unfold that leave you helpless. It also does much to dispel the cry of those who presume to have “figured it out”, that is, life, the universe, and everything. You cannot stand by and tell me you have discovered what lurks in that blackness any more than I can stand by and explain to you quantum physics (though I will try). No one has the answers, that fact is fundamental in my view of the world. Not any religious leader, not my mother or my father, and most definitely not Barack Obama, no one. But it is not impossible to discover what makes the universe tick around us, is it? After all, the universe does operate with reason, and from this you can deduce a number of patterns that are repeatable and coherent. This I would come to find out is called Science, and it became my greatest interest when I was younger. I gradually moved from a rudimentary interest in “Outer Space” to a broader interest in theoretical physics and mathematics as a whole. I felt certain that if anything or anyone was to discover what lurked in that blackness, it would be this. What good is life if you don’t understand it fully? Why be content with simply knowing that there is something more to the world than meets the eye, but never bothering to fully grasp what that something is? People have attempted to understand the world through poetry, or art, or music; however, none of these things in my mind really define what they are attempted to describe. They are a pale shell of what really is taking place, an inner working so unfathomable that even our most complex equations struggle to define it. This comprises my motivation behind most of my school interests and readings outside of school, and ultimately defines who I am today and what I am doing right now. Although I do not know if these ideas have affected me for better or worse; honestly, I couldn’t care less. To be lucky enough as to stumble upon them is good enough
