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I choked on this part: > The discussion recalls a messy, largely forgotten episode from the dawn of the quantum era. In 1905, Einstein interpreted experimental
by DemocracyFTW2 2y ago
I choked on this part:
> The discussion recalls a messy, largely forgotten episode from the dawn of the quantum era. In 1905, Einstein interpreted experimental data to mean that light is “quantized,” coming in discrete particles now called photons. Others, including Niels Bohr and Max Planck, thought that the classical, wave nature of light might still be saved. [...] Most physicists presume that everything in the world is quantized, including gravity. But proving that assumption will entail a new war, one that has only just begun.
1) No, that is not a "messy, largely forgotten episode", rather, it is frequently re-told and almost a required Inshallah of every piece on quantum physics.
2) Please spare me that "war" simile, it only shows you're an American who can not write too well. War on drugs. War on poverty. War on whatever. The Browser Wars. Dude get a grip. Don't always "killer feature", "shot him dead", "waged war on the germs in her refrigerator". We have to fight a "war" to find out whether spacetime is quantum? Rilly??
- canadianfella 2y ago[dead]
- iknowstuff 2y agowhoa this comment took a turn
- 7373737373 2y agoRe. 2), what word should be used instead? "Massive concerted/collaborative effort"?
- skhunted 2y agoPlease spare me that "war" simile, it only shows you're an American who can not write too well. It’s understandable that you don’t like the desensitization of war that comes from our over usage of the word. Perhaps it speaks to a defect in American culture but this is how we communicate in our language. I think Arabic has too much emphasis on allah related phrases. But that’s how they speak. Nothing I can do about it. I don’t think said usage implies anything about their writing abilities.
- wizzwizz4 2y agoEnglish has a lot of "oh my god", "god-willing", "oh god", "god no", too.
- skhunted 2y agoIt was pointed out that in American English we overuse "war". I pointed out a language that overuses a different word. I imagine most languages have a bunch of phrases involving an overused word. My point was that this phenomenon isn't unique to American English. Your response is that English also overuses another word. I don't understand the point you are trying to make.
- maronato 2y agoYour response needlessly called out Arabic for using too much “Allah”. English overuses it the same amount, given that Allah is their word for God.
- baseballdork 2y agoIt was called out because OP used "Inshallah". The argument is that it's cultural, and complaining about it is silly.
- skhunted 2y agoThe point I was making is that this phenomenon occurs in other languages. Arabic and its phrases involving "allah" first came to mind. So how was this "needlessly"? I needed to give an example of this occurring in another language.
- goodpoint 2y ago> Please spare me that "war" simile +1, normalizing "war" as a synonym of effort is pretty much orwellian.
- seanhunter 2y agoThat is part of the original etymology of the word. [1] > late Old English wyrre, werre "large-scale military conflict," from Old North French werre "war" (Old French guerre "difficulty, dispute; hostility; fight, combat, war;" Modern French guerre), Note the old French part including difficulty dispute, hostility and fight. [1] https://www.etymonline.com/word/war https://www.etymonline.com/word/war
- zeroonetwothree 2y agoWow, words changing meaning over time. Imagine that. The internet would lead me to believe that’s something horrific that must not be allowed.
- seanhunter 2y agoThe OP doesn't like the meaning of the word "war" changing from a definition they believe to be correct. My example shows that the meaning of words is defined by usage and that usage changes over time. This is especially ironic in this particular case because the meaning that the OP didn't like is one which was actually part of the original etymology of the word.
- goodpoint 2y ago> This is especially ironic in this particular case because the meaning that the OP didn't like is one which was actually part of the original etymology of the word. No, it wasn't. Plus I never said that the meaning of a word is written in stone and cannot change "just because".
- DemocracyFTW2 2y agoYes, but. I have a 1920s edition of the Nibelungen Saga which uses an intentionally old-timey language; there I find "Wortstreit", obviously in contrast to a proper Streit which would have involved physic force and maybe weapons. But in modern German, as in English, to use "Streit" for an armed conflict or "war" for physicists discussing the nature of things is not appropriate except as a rhetoric measure (downplay or exaggerate). Words change.
- criddell 2y ago> spare me that "war" simile It's not a simile, is it? They aren't saying it's like a war. My dictionary lists a bunch of definitions for war that fit this usage.
- DemocracyFTW2 2y agoYeah you're probably right, I'm not great on rhetoric vocab.
- evantbyrne 2y agoYou seem to be frequently flame posting about America. Are you going to be okay?
- 1234letshaveatw 2y agoIt is a cringeworthy hallmark of angsty teens and people who base their entire identity on their political leaning
- DemocracyFTW2 2y agoI think I'm getting an anxiety disorder here seeing as close to 50% of Americans are seemingly OK with Trump, Vance and Elon becoming their new overlords. Seriously.
- evantbyrne 2y agoNormal to be nervous when the stakes are high. One thing that history has taught me is that disaster is always an option lol
- GranularRecipe 2y agoIt's not an inshallah, it's a masha'Allah.
- sva_ 2y agoIt now appears like there is a war on the inflationary use of the term 'war' in common linguistic use.
- kevindamm 2y agoWe don't want it to escalate to a word war.
- elashri 2y agoI will start by agreeing that usage of "war" seems weired. Although scientific drama in fundamental physics is not uncommon but a word like "debate" would be more appropriate. I don't like your usage of word "Inshallah" as a mock up of the idea that something will never happen. Because it is a complete opposite meaning of when you suppose to use it. It is usually overused by arab moms (I know that people tends to mean that) but I use it frequently. Ironically I was in online meeting at CERN today and used inshallah (sometimes I use it because I am used to) to refer to potential interesting signal I am seeing. I used it to describe the hope that this will not turn out to be a statistical flactuation. Also I would agree that this is messy at the time when Einstein published his work on quantization. He even got Nobel prize on his work on photon quantization not relativity. Of course he was not alone, Max plank was the first to suggest energy discritization.
- digging 2y ago> I don't like your usage of word "Inshallah" as a mock up of the idea that something will never happen. Oh, I read it differently (perhaps misunderstood). I interpreted the usage as "a required rote phrase/story rubber-stamped onto every piece". I understand how that, too, could be offensive, but I didn't see how inserting the literal meaning of the phrase made sense?
- poornsad 2y ago[dead]
- DemocracyFTW2 2y agoPlease see my other comment; I used "inshallah" wrongly.
- elashri 2y agoNo problem, happens to the best of us. No hard feelings.
- VoodooJuJu 2y agoIt's fine to criticize facets of a culture, but this isn't a very intelligent critique, it's just rude. On the "war" thing - the culture of many Americans has a martial bent to it, which is why things like "war" made its way into a lot of our idioms and phrases and way of thinking. It's not bad writing just because your cultural mode of thought doesn't consider "war" as an acceptable metaphor or idiom. Martial cultures don't need to "get a grip" any more than scholarly or pastoral ones need to. Culture is self-preserving and so the martial aspects of ours aren't going away anytime soon, so I suggest you find a way to be more tolerant and understanding of it.
- wasabi991011 2y agoFor 1): Yes, the photoelectric effect is frequently told. But that's not what the article is referring to here, it is foreshadowing its discussion on the semiclassical treatment of the photoelectric effect (by Lamb and Scully). This is the "messy, largely forgotten" part which is rarely discussed. I saw it in a graduate quantum optics course, but even at that level I'm not sure it's part of the standard curriculum.
- DemocracyFTW2 2y agoOK that makes sense.
- Sniffnoy 2y agoThe "forgotten" part isn't Einstein's proposal, but the semiclassical suggestion of how to avoid it. Have you seen that part commonly retold? I haven't.
- DemocracyFTW2 2y agoI agree, I misread that.
- DemocracyFTW2 2y agoReplying to myself as I can't edit my post now. First things first, I didn't mean to stir up the discussion in this way. Also, I should have let go of the Caps Lock key. Also, I should've put all that stuff into a single comment or not write some of the things at all instead of creating multiple comments. Sorry. As for the "inshallah", I probably used that word wrongly; I did not have any meaning of it in mind but used it—somewhat incomprehensibly so—as a moniker for "a standard to start any and all texts with", so "ceterum censeo Carthaginem esse delendam" if you will.