It's Science

Welcome to my 201st post, and it's a post about reflecting.  Today is March 14th, which has, historically, been a mark of two things I'm heavily in favor of: promotion of science and math...and promotion of eating pies.  The latter first; I love pie.  I'm a huge fan of baked goods in general, but when it comes to pies I'm all over the place.  My preference is a traditional apple pie with granny smith apples, but I'll eat most fruit-based pies.  I will not eat sweet potato pie.  Never.  So, don't buy me or make me one.  That's not pie, that's an attempt to use an ingredient barely fit for human consumption in pie form.  No way.  However, pecan pie is divine, and a well made Amish recipe for Shoo-Fly Pie can be equally rewarding.

With that out of the way, March 14th stands to bring awareness to the importance of mathematics to the young and old.  The Greek letter Pi is the equivalent for 3.14159 and the symbol has stood since the mid 18th Century.  For those who do not know, using the mathematical constant allows us to approximate the area of a perfect circle.  Pi has many uses in science and technology, from aeronautical engineering to studies on population dynamics, to measuring light and sound waves of the cosmos.  It's only fitting then that we honor the memory of Stephen Hawking, who passed this morning.  Most know he's a famous scientist, but few actually know why he's a famous scientist.  Without getting into the deep specifics, Hawking developed theories on black holes and the fact that they radiate energy in a way that can be measured by telescopes here on Earth (using pi!).  And, in 2010, scientists believe that they witnessed evidence of this energy, which is just amazing.  Hawking also believed in a many-worlds interpretation of quantum mechanics that theorizes that we live in a reality that has an infinite number of sister-realities, happening along the same timeline, but infinitely different based on the choices we make and the variables that effect our existence.  One such experiment that characterizes this is Schrodinger's Cat, which I won't go into here, but understand that it presents a logic for multiple simultaneous outcomes.  The man had a super scientific brain and his questions about our reality demonstrate why science is so vital to our global society so that we can better understand our universe.  He wasn't always right, but the scientific studies that have been done and will be done to answer his questions is vital so we can move forward with proven facts that will, hopefully, enrich our lives. 

Which brings me to the fact that today is also one month since the terrorist shooting in Parkland, Florida.  Before you take an emotionally controlled side about whether more guns are necessary to protect our children/citizens, know that you, and the media, and our legislators are all working in a factual void.  Thanks to those same legislators, there has been a moratorium on gun violence research at the national level.  Since the 1990s the CDC has been stripped of its ability to fund studies "advocating or promotion of gun control."  It's called the Dickey Amendment after congressman Jay Dickey who, at the time of passage in 1996, had strong NRA ties and allegiances.  He died last year, but it is rumored that he did a 180 on this position, and felt responsible for the lack of scientific input after many successive mass shootings: "We need to turn this over to science and take it away from politics."  And I agree.  I'm not for taking people's guns.  I am for a study demonstrating the impact of large magazine firearms in the hands of a large populace of untrained citizens.  I am for a study showing how armed guards (read: school teachers and librarians) would account for more student and faculty injuries and deaths.  I am for a study which provides numbers of firearm accidents both before and after common sense background checks are installed because I believe they will deter or prevent some (not all) deaths.  Don't think so?  Prove me wrong with science!  It's a known fact that more guns equals a higher potential for misuse.  No, seriously, it's science. 

And, if you are a student who walked out today, I hope you did so for the right reasons.  In my mind, you walked for your safety.  You also walked for increasing pressure on lawmakers to allow for scientific study on a dramatic public health issue.  And, then, you walked inside to get some pie, which is also science (dough, filling, temperature, etc.) and follows a specific formula, proven by fact, to generate a consistent result, taste, and expectation that, hopefully, helps enrich your existence on this planet.  We owe it to Stephen Hawking to use that approach in every facet of our lives so that this existence is the best we can create for ourselves through science.