{"id":8290,"date":"2022-01-02T04:05:27","date_gmt":"2022-01-02T04:05:27","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.stellaris.co.nz\/?p=8290"},"modified":"2022-01-02T06:08:15","modified_gmt":"2022-01-02T06:08:15","slug":"january-newsletter","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.stellaris.co.nz\/index.php\/2022\/01\/02\/january-newsletter\/","title":{"rendered":"JANUARY NEWSLETTER"},"content":{"rendered":"\n\n[et_pb_section fb_built=”1″ admin_label=”section” _builder_version=”3.22″][et_pb_row admin_label=”row” _builder_version=”3.25″ background_size=”initial” background_position=”top_left” background_repeat=”repeat”][et_pb_column type=”4_4″ _builder_version=”3.25″ custom_padding=”|||” custom_padding__hover=”|||”][et_pb_text admin_label=”Text” _builder_version=”4.4.4″ background_size=”initial” background_position=”top_left” background_repeat=”repeat”]

SCIENCE ISN\u2019T WHAT YOU THINK IT IS<\/b><\/p>\n

At school I wasn\u2019t that good at science. I took physics through to Sixth Form and studied Algebra and Calculus at university but gave up Biology and Chemistry after School Cert. I have always believed that my surprisingly high marks in School Cert for Science had more to do with the scaling system than it did with me actually knowing stuff. In those days you couldn\u2019t get your paper back so I will never know.<\/span><\/p>\n

Why this reminiscing?<\/span><\/p>\n

Because despite not being a scientist I am interested in science. I subscribe to a quantum physics page on Facebook (<\/span>https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/groups\/quantumphysicsnews\/<\/span><\/a>) just because it is so fascinating to read how at very, very fundamental levels our physical world doesn\u2019t make sense. I love questions.<\/span><\/p>\n

Thank goodness there are engineers who do understand this stuff. Thank goodness there are biologists who specialise in stuff that keeps us well. Thank goodness there are chemists who have worked out how to stop our houses from rotting.<\/span><\/p>\n

In short, thank goodness for science.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Let\u2019s be clear: science is n<\/span>ot stagnant. It is forever testing the boundaries of knowledge and testing established \u201cfacts\u201d. When you get asked to \u201cbelieve in the science\u201d it should be to believe in the rigour of the process – not necessarily the outcome. Science demands that the outcome be continually questioned.<\/span><\/p>\n

My first degree was called a Bachelor of Social Science. In our first-year economics papers we learned that there is a \u201claw\u201d of supply and demand. The law stated that when prices went up providers wanted to supply more and purchasers wanted to buy less. The law said that when there was an over supply providers would want to dump some of the excess product and so prices would fall. This would bring buyers back into the market and an equilibrium would be <\/span>found where at a particular price exactly the right amount of goods was produced to match the amount demanded by customers.<\/span><\/p>\n

However real life does not mirror this perfect world. It turns out that some people like to pay more for certain clothing because they know others can\u2019t afford to buy the same thing, or they can\u2019t be bothered seeking out the cheapest groceries so go to the same supermarket every week.<\/span><\/p>\n

This is where the \u201cscience\u201d part of the degree kicked in. The established theory was questioned, tested, and reviewed to see if it was true, in what circumstances it was true and whether it was still useful.<\/span><\/p>\n

Quantum physicists discovered that at really small, fundamental levels the world seems to obey a totally different set of \u201cLaws\u201d than the world the rest of us live in. Einstein who was quite a good scientist never really got his head around quantum physics<\/span><\/p>\n

Which gets me to the point I really want to make.<\/span><\/p>\n