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Yayfordoritos
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How did it become so famous when it's so hard to understand?
Why does everyone always pick on relativity theory?Niels Bohr said:If you think relativity is hard, you don't really understand quantum theory.
Yayfordoritos said:How did it become so famous when it's so hard to understand?
FreeMitya said:If you're worried that you're less smart than anybody else for having trouble with relativity, don't be; we all have our niches.
It actually became famous for being so hard to understand. The saying used to be that there were only twelve people in the world outside of Einstein who understood it. To which Arthur Eddington asked, "Who are the other eleven?" (Eddington was the main promoter of the theory. He called everyone's attention to it.)Yayfordoritos said:How did it become so famous when it's so hard to understand?
wuliheron said:According to the National Science Foundation one in five Americans still believes the sun revolves around the earth. These are not the sharpest pencils in the box, but inventions like the atom bomb tend to get their attention.
Vorde said:I can't believe that. We're bad, but not that bad...
wuliheron said:According to the National Science Foundation one in five Americans still believes the sun revolves around the earth. These are not the sharpest pencils in the box, but inventions like the atom bomb tend to get their attention.
I've often wondered that. My guess is that it is because few people learn it in high school and high school physics is as far as most people get. So if/when they encounter Relativity 5 or 15 years later, they don't take it seriously because they didn't learn it from The Foremost Authority on the subject that they have ever met.Jimmy Snyder said:Why does everyone always pick on relativity theory?
Yayfordoritos said:Mainly the south?
wuliheron said:I don't know, but it seems reasonable to me to assume the more impoverished the area and the greater the classism the lower the scores.
Vorde said:It's true. Sometimes I wish only the intelligent could vote, then I realize what I'm saying and stop.
Yayfordoritos said:How did it become so famous when it's so hard to understand?
zoobyshoe said:It actually became famous for being so hard to understand. The saying used to be that there were only twelve people in the world outside of Einstein who understood it. To which Arthur Eddington asked, "Who are the other eleven?" (Eddington was the main promoter of the theory. He called everyone's attention to it.)
Vorde said:It's true. Sometimes I wish only the intelligent could vote, then I realize what I'm saying and stop.
ImaLooser said:The advantage of universal sufferage is that it gives the public the illusion that their voice is important. This gives the society stability.
I remember some guy on TV giving George Carlin a hard time when George said that the voters didn't "own" the country. "George, how can you say that the voters don't own the country?" Good grief.
I've never heard this. What's the proof you speak of?Kholdstare said:Whatever goes against the common intuition of general public ... and is also proven to be correct ... becomes famous.
I like Serena said:Over the years I've learned that knowing or understanding the theory of relativity isn't really all that important.
HeLiXe said::rofl:
I hope this is not straying from the topic, but what class is general relativity usually taught in? I've had special relativity in modern physics and I have to agree it was very special at first...my brain was total mush because I kept missing the point of one important sentence.
Good point - I was going to answer that it may be due to the air of "magic" that is given to relativity, but the same is true for QM... perhaps it is because nobody really understands QM?Jimmy Snyder said:Why does everyone always pick on relativity theory?
harrylin said:Good point - I was going to answer that it may be due to the air of "magic" that is given to relativity, but the same is true for QM... perhaps it is because nobody really understands QM?
Then why do you think is SR/GR more popular as claimed to be "not understandable" than QM? Once more: I propose that in particular SR is generally more frustrating as many people cannot make sense of it despite its simple math. And being confronted with explanations by people who have no problem with it (despite your contrary claim) may increase that frustration.Kholdstare said:QM and G(S)R are not understandable concepts to begin with. The way we understand things cannot be applied to understand them. They were discovered as some rules, and they will stay that way.