"The Cultural Influence of Physics"

Physics Final
Kate Maxey
04/10/07

The influence Physics has had on Culture is intertwined with the vast number of components that go into creating any culture. The discipline of Physics has given us the knowledge and vocabulary to discuss our own existence. As we internalize the concepts and theories of Physics and regurgitate them in the form of thought, expression, or invention, we in turn create our own world, or culture.

Some of the products of this synthesis can be seen on very surface levels. People make everyday decisions based on which physics ideas or representations have made their way into media, advertising and entertainment. This is ironic considering that most Americans probably don’t consider themselves to be contemplators of Physics. While in fact, we see more and more “cool” physics images of fractals and sacred geometry popping up as graphic designs and logos for the marketing world of clothing, cars, music, and home décor.

Besides “retail therapy” we also see the influence of physics in how people choose which kind of body therapy is best for them. As the healthcare system continues to integrate “alternative” practices into its medical repertoire, physics validates much of this energetic work that people have been performing for centuries. Electromagnetic and vibrational healing are examples of this. A slightly different impression, moving not from our natural roots, but from our modern efficiency-driven desires, has brought us such medical inventions as bionic limbs and implant chips that interact with the human body, blending the line between what is alive and what is robotic.

It seems to me that one of the highest priorities in the life of anyone with a career, family, or both is how to make time work to your advantage, especially when tasks seem to multiply in relation to time becoming more compressed. Some people choose to live in a state of “crunch,” while others search for ways like meditation and qi gong to practice creating the sense of time slowing down. Many physicists (or yogis) would advocate that even time is relative. They would challenge us to look beyond the numbers attached to our wrists and consider one’s relationship with time to be a mental, rather than physical, state of being.

As we approach our daily tasks, whether work or personal, we can easily deduce that the faster we go the more we can accomplish. I think that our culture’s obsession with speed and limitless travel parameters, be it with racecars, rockets or communication devises, largely stems from our desire to have control over space and time. Physics has cracked open an amazing world of wireless connections and infinite networking capabilities. There’s nowhere to go from here but up and out… time and space are on our sides….

Or are they? Sometimes things don’t happen the way we expect them to. In a second, life can go from a seemingly ordered state to an out-of-whack mess. Or, it could happen the other way around: everything could seem jumbled and un-fixable and then “out of nowhere” something completely unexpected happens that jars it all into place. This is the Chaos Theory. Physics has kindly given us an out so that we can honestly say, “I have no idea why that happened now.”

The beauty of chaos and moments of synchronicity within it have been like energy-packed morsels for many artists and writers to live off of. Physics is an inexhaustible source for representations of reality, forces of nature, our connection to the stars, or Time’s imprint on our lives, just to name a few. Who’s to say how many interpretations there are for one of life’s experiences? Whether it be a light show or a fine art piece, one person’s creativity can somehow inspire the very human reaction of “awe” in the viewer and ignite inside of her/him some deep feeling of recognition, even if it’s just “life is weird.”

The influence of Physics in our culture extends deep into our psyche, formulating our sense of Self. With its depiction of the Big Bang Theory, Physics gives each of us a lot to ponder about our own creation and what we are doing with the life ahead of us. If the particles that birthed the universe are the same kind that we are made up of now, it seems impossible for anyone to deny that we are connected to each other and this solar system by forces beyond our control.

Physics forms our consciousness. It influences how we transform information into reality. We can choose to see beyond the neural synapses of our brain to how our thoughts extend beyond the walls of our cranium out into a space that we all share. Physics brings a sense of connection to our culture that makes it possible for even an intention to affect another being.