I have found a new personal hero, and his name is Garrett Lisi.
Never heard of him? Well, the other day I was Googling the phrase "the theory of everything".
Why, you ask?
I was using those lobes I told you about in the last post, the ones that I could get access to now that, of course, the holiday season is over and it is January and the lobe-lease rates have gone back down again, and my fellow time-sharers have done all of their multitasking and Christmas shopping and holiday entertaining and are resting on their laurels. Or, as the case may be, their evergreens.
But I digress.
So, I was Googling the phrase "the theory of everything" because it flew into my head, and the resulting search came up with the following headline:
Surfer dude stuns physicists with theory of everything
and I think to myself, ok, this is from the Onion, right? The satirical news website that publishes faux news that is so relentlessly, punishingly funny that I can't go there too often, or my sense of the absurd overwhelms my common sense and I annoy my loved ones with goofy non-sequitors or silly voices for the rest of the day? I believe it is called The Onion because you will cry (from laughing) as hard as you would if you peeled, well, an onion.
Don't believe me? Read this article, and see if you can keep a dry eye.
Well, anyway, no. Not the Onion. It is a real news article from the British newspaper The Guardian, which as far as I know is a serious newspaper full of serious news. And, Garrett Lisi is a real person.
He also is a surfer dude. And a snowboard dude. And, while he surfs and snowboards, he ponders the big question - I am not actually sure what the question is. But no doubt, it is a big question.
Lisi, who has a doctorate in physics from the University of California at San Diego, has developed, on his own, a unified field theory, which attempts to tie together all of the known forces of physics into one package; he is not affiliated with any research institute or university. His theory involves a structure called the E8, which is the largest LIE group. Don't even ask me what that is.
All I can tell you is that a picture of it looks a lot like the string sculpture my son Spencer created in the fifth grade, a photo of which illustrates this blog. It is an object of great beauty, and symmetry.
Anyway, Garrett Lisi came up with this theory while surfing and snowboarding, with the help of a small grant and a few odd jobs (hiking guide and bridge builder). To quote Mr. Lisi, "Being poor sucks, It's hard to figure out the secrets of the universe when you're trying to figure out where you and your girlfriend are going to sleep next month."
Duuuuude.
Of course, Einstein was a poor patent clerk when he came up with the Theory of Relativity. Perhaps doing a boring job, or a simple one, keeps the autonomic portion of a genius's brain busy so that the serious gray matter can ponder the infinite. But there is something wonderful about the idea of someone surfing a major tube while working out the math that ties together gravity and bosons.
Never heard of him? Well, the other day I was Googling the phrase "the theory of everything".
Why, you ask?
I was using those lobes I told you about in the last post, the ones that I could get access to now that, of course, the holiday season is over and it is January and the lobe-lease rates have gone back down again, and my fellow time-sharers have done all of their multitasking and Christmas shopping and holiday entertaining and are resting on their laurels. Or, as the case may be, their evergreens.
But I digress.
So, I was Googling the phrase "the theory of everything" because it flew into my head, and the resulting search came up with the following headline:
Surfer dude stuns physicists with theory of everything
and I think to myself, ok, this is from the Onion, right? The satirical news website that publishes faux news that is so relentlessly, punishingly funny that I can't go there too often, or my sense of the absurd overwhelms my common sense and I annoy my loved ones with goofy non-sequitors or silly voices for the rest of the day? I believe it is called The Onion because you will cry (from laughing) as hard as you would if you peeled, well, an onion.
Don't believe me? Read this article, and see if you can keep a dry eye.
Well, anyway, no. Not the Onion. It is a real news article from the British newspaper The Guardian, which as far as I know is a serious newspaper full of serious news. And, Garrett Lisi is a real person.
He also is a surfer dude. And a snowboard dude. And, while he surfs and snowboards, he ponders the big question - I am not actually sure what the question is. But no doubt, it is a big question.
Lisi, who has a doctorate in physics from the University of California at San Diego, has developed, on his own, a unified field theory, which attempts to tie together all of the known forces of physics into one package; he is not affiliated with any research institute or university. His theory involves a structure called the E8, which is the largest LIE group. Don't even ask me what that is.
All I can tell you is that a picture of it looks a lot like the string sculpture my son Spencer created in the fifth grade, a photo of which illustrates this blog. It is an object of great beauty, and symmetry.
Anyway, Garrett Lisi came up with this theory while surfing and snowboarding, with the help of a small grant and a few odd jobs (hiking guide and bridge builder). To quote Mr. Lisi, "Being poor sucks, It's hard to figure out the secrets of the universe when you're trying to figure out where you and your girlfriend are going to sleep next month."
Duuuuude.
Of course, Einstein was a poor patent clerk when he came up with the Theory of Relativity. Perhaps doing a boring job, or a simple one, keeps the autonomic portion of a genius's brain busy so that the serious gray matter can ponder the infinite. But there is something wonderful about the idea of someone surfing a major tube while working out the math that ties together gravity and bosons.
In a story in the New Yorker, Lisi talked about his big breakthrough. “I’m literally tingling with excitement,” he said. “I had to suppress that in order to think more about the actual algebraic structure. You cannot think when you’re ecstatic.” He added, “I didn’t run through the snow shouting ‘Eureka!’ or anything like that.”
How can you not love this guy? 'You cannot think when you are ecstatic'. Words to live by. And, I'm sorry, I like to think of him running through the snow shouting "Eureka".
So far, Lisi's theory is just a theory. And, of course, there are many naysayers lining up to debunk his idea, most of whom are no doubt pointy-headed, hollow-chested ectomorphic geeks who don't know a snowboard from a backboard.
Lisi feels that the physical activity he engages in balances the mental work he is doing. In an interview for Wired magazine, he said: "We live in a beautiful universe, and I wish to enjoy it and understand it as best I can. I try to live a balanced life. Surfing is simply the most fun I know how to have on this planet. And physics, and science in general, is the best way of understanding how everything works. So this is what I spend my time doing. I do what I love, and follow my interests. Shouldn't everyone?"
Dude is righteous.
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