An equivalence...

There is one topic that has been constantly rattling about my brain waiting to be put into words. However, this topic is so close to my heart that I am afraid I will not do it the justice it needs. It's actually a very simple topic - imagination.

You see, I went into Physics in the first place because it grabbed at my imagination, forced me to widen the boundaries of my insight and 'dream-sight', if you can call it that. I would be reading about galaxies or about the atom, then just sit back and picture these strange, wondrous objects sprinkled with the magic of a little-understood truth. I was able to take these words on paper and these math equations and visualize a universe gone mad with them.

But I always wondered... How did Newton come up with the laws of motion in the first place. How did Galileo make his jumps of intuition. How, in all the heavens, did Einstein come up with GR and the concept of the space-time continuum and Heisenberg, his uncertainty principle? Where did these thoughts germinate? What fertile brains they must have found to take seed in! And I would wonder, am I capable of such deep intuition? Is it possible that I can look at a construct, or a theory, and by induction or leap of intuition, will I ever be able to extend the theory or even, heaven's forfend!, come up with something entirely new?

Theoretical Physics for me is like the world of fantasy. It is not quite so hard to take what is already known, take a few facts and legends and extend upon this already well-known theory. However, when a physicist wends his way into the complete unknown, like in General Relativity or String Theory or Chaos Theory, the fruits of his labor are that much more mind blowing! Quite similar to how I view the works of Mercedes Lackey and quite a few other fantasy authors. When a good author creates a world all of her own, creates the intricate web of rules which guide each character and ability in such a way as to encapsulate that entire world, and is able to actually show the reader the different facets of such a world... I find it equally worthy of respect. It might seem like a gross insult to some that I compare physics and fantasy. But, you see, to me they are one and the same in essence.

In physics, you can find experiments to actually prove that these are the laws that guide our universe. In fantasy, you can create thought experiments that can easily show the flaws in the logic and reasoning behind the specific universe's rules. Both require that the theory flows without breaks, runs without hitches and requires a brain fully capable of bringing forth a snowdrop from rocks as from rich soil.

My favorite author, Lackey, brings me fully to my knees. She has, to my knowledge, come up with Valdemar, the Four-Hundered Kingdoms, the Elemental Masters, the Elves and Bards cohabiting our universe, and some other science fiction as well. Valdemar looks to be a world much like ours, more idealistic, where energy is conceptualized as mage-energy which resides within the earth in much the same way as water would in uneven ground. She lays down the rules within which constraints these energies can be used by people with the ability to sense them. And then, she brings out special characters who are strong enough and imaginative enough to bend the rules. It's enormously brilliant! Her Four-hundered Kingdoms is an entirely strange land where the breaking of Tradition (the fairy tale traditions), causes energies to build up around the hero/heroine (because the Tradition wants them to go down certain paths and tries to inject more energy to push them down those paths) and these energies can be transmuted and put to different uses if the user is educated in such ways. The Elemental Masters is a beautiful, logical yet magical portrayal of our fairy tales where the heroine is Not just a blonde helpless beauty waiting helpless to be rescued by an inane, brainless hero who fortunately has the backing of some magical creature with brains and an agenda (that thankfully does not lead to entire tragedy and heartbreak for our children). And finally, the Bards and Elves coexist with human beings in our universe where music can penetrate the barriers of the world to bring creativity (which is its own style of magic) and magic which go hand in hand with one another, all while keeping the general non-magic population completely unaware of what happens on the other side of the curtain. One person, many worlds. And yet, in a lot of her works, although the rules of the game are different, the inherent philosophy for her humans and other thinking beings, is very clearly, logically and empathetically displayed for her readers and I find that my philosophy about a lot of things in life follows hand in hand with hers.

The same way, if you look at Richard Feynman, my physics hero... you will see his imagination is mind-boggling as well! Of course, it is a little harder to explain in simple terms. But maybe I will try to write it out a few blogs down the line. This blog has already become huge! So I go work now... :)