This is a paper I wrote to the prompt "Is Einstein's Theory of Relativity relevant in today's culture?"
This is what I wrote:
Einstein's famous theories of special and general relativity live on
in our modern culture beyond academia and the fact that “E=mc2”
is a wonderfully elegant equation. Technologically, they account for
the accuracy of GPS, keep the ISS on time, and relativistic effects
between Earth and Mercury was discovered to be the slight
perturbation in its orbit, rather than the delightfully mysterious
“planet Vulcan” at Earth's L3 point. At least the latter lives on
in Star Trek.
While people count on GPS, many don't care what time it is on the
ISS, or spend time thinking about what is lurking on the other side
of the sun, messing up the Mercurial procession. If you ask (pester?)
your friends about relativity, as I have recently done, they will
generally have the name Einstein come out of a holster, then mumble
something about the speed of light, and maybe even mutter something
about time moving slower. The science-y ones may know the name
“Lorenz” has something to do with all of it. This is a bit of a
shame, because since the early 20th century there has been
a profound change in many part of the scientific community that had
led to many breakthroughs, and it all involved leaving your common
sense and intuition at the door. Relativity is a large part of this
new phenomenon.
Special relativity posits that as you speed up, you shrink down
relative the person who stayed still. It also posits that things
don't happen at the same time at different speeds, that time moves
slower when you speed up and general relativity posits that being in
a gravity well changes everything you thought was real as well.
None of this is at all intuitive. Abandoning intuition is an
extremely valuable trait among scientists, and can be useful in
everyday life. It allowed nearly every great advancement of human
scientific thinking. Thinking that there exists an invisible army of
creatures living inside you is preposterous enough as to be worried
for whomever suggested it, yet it's true. The idea that the earth is
hurtling through space at many kilometers per second is immediately
dismissed by the evidence that we don't feel it,
yet it's true. Opening oneself up to these strange ideas had proven
beneficial in the past, and retains its place today.
Relativity is an excellent tool to
train yourself to mistrust intuition. Learning about how a 10 meter
ladder can fit in an 8 meter barn with both doors closed forces you
to rethink the intuitive answer. There are other areas in which this
is an invaluable tool. If a loved one faces a difficult medical
choice between invasive surgery or an alternative remedy, one's
intuition screams to avoid surgery where it may be the only effective
option. If vaccinating your children sounds like child abuse to you,
abandoning intuition may indeed help your child live longer.
These examples are not direct
effects of relativity in modern culture, and the truth of the matter
is that few people are interested in what they think of as Einstein's
century-old dusty theories and equations. Many people are much more
concerned about if they need a second mortgage, or if they need to
take away their teenagers keys after a speeding ticket, even if it
means shutting them to their high school. Even so, those who have
spent some time with their brain in the kitchen mixer of scientific
theory and inquiry can influence those around us. Family members
asking for advice or friends facing tough decisions can really
benefit from a bought of critical thinking and cognitive dissonance.
Science is much more than math, equations, and physicists talking
about Star Trek's holodeck or Alcubierre's warp drive in a faculty
cafeteria, it is a way to move through life, evaluating the best
course of action and persuading others to do the same, a way to avoid
fooling yourself, or allowing others to fool you.
Einstein’s relativity has a knack
for kick-starting this train of thought with just a small initial
investment of research required, or a friend willing to talk about
it.
Cheers,
- Scott
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