Uncommon sense required.

I am a physics teacher. Classical physics is a bit strange. It is not easily isolated as part of our normal life, and so it is not commonly noticed. That is, it is not common sense. It requires uncommon sense to be understood. Galileo found out what it meant to challenge “common” sense and was lucky to be able to spend a good part of his life only under house arrest rather than the usual burning at the stake. Isaac Newton lived in a more enlightened time, but was still careful about how he framed his scientific discoveries. Too different a perspective was threatening and would be crushed. As we entered the 20th Century, sub-atomic particle physics defined a new sense of existence, far beyond weird or strange. In fact, Murray Gell-Mann used the descriptors “strange” and “charmed” to describe properties of quarks, the components of protons and neutrons in atoms. He was awarded a Nobel Prize for his work in physics, so he knew what he was talking about.

I just read his book, The Jaguar and the Quark. One of the stories in the book is about a scientist who is doing research on plants in the Amazon Rainforest. One day the scientist was returning to camp after collecting flora samples when he started thinking what it would be like to come face-to-face with a jaguar. After a bit, he had a funny feeling, turned around, and stared into the face of a jaguar which had been following him. Fortunately, after looking him over, the jaguar turned away and disappeared into the jungle.

The experience changed the man’s life. It was not like seeing a big cat on Wild Kingdom or at the zoo. This was not artificial, it was real. He had a new perspective on life, and many things he had thought important now seemed trivial. And some overlooked things rose in priority.

He was lucky. He experienced a paradigm shift and lived to savor the growth. Many of us are never able to let go of our traditions, our up-bringing, our prejudices. This is the lens through which we view the world and frequently it is used to describe how we view people of another color skin, but it is much broader. What is the proper way to treat the opposite gender? How about the stranger who knocks at your door? Or the person who has the opposite belief about abortion, gay marriage, or gun control? Is there one right answer? Many people believe there is, but if there was only one answer, we would not have the conflicts that currently exist. Rodney King had it right when he said, “Why can’t we all just get along?” But this didn’t come to him until he experienced the LAPD. Is that what it takes to believe in the humanity of all of us? To make it common sense?

Murray Gell-Mann says that what sets us apart from the jaguars or other animals is that we think about thinking. As soon as you deny any perspective but your own, you have stopped thinking and have moved to the level of the jaguar. If you want to know what kind of life that is, read about the life of Galileo.