About the Blog
This blog started out being called “Ruminations of a Young Scientist”, back in 2014. One of the big motivators for me starting was to keep a record of the shenanigans I got up to at the [Research Science Institute][1] (RSI) summer school.
It was pretty helpful, kept me sane throughout the absolute madness of stress and crazy cool things I was getting up to. You really can’t spend 6 weeks at MIT without telling *someone* how absolutely amazing the place is.
Now, Ruminations is about more than just me shouting out into the void, sometimes sharing to Facebook, subtly showing off and validating my ego.
Okay, well I still kinda do that.
But mostly, there’s just *too many* interesting thoughts and ideas I have which I simply feel compelled to write down somewhere. This website and blog is a means of doing that. If people are interested, all the better. Moreover, I’m hoping to get into the habit of writing up notes as a means of revision throughout my self-learning adventures through physics and maths. Plus, this is pseudo-productive enough to straddle the fine line between actual work and procrastination.
About Me
**Last updated: 22/12/2016**
I’m currently a second year undergraduate student at the Australian National University, in Canberra. My degree is called “Bachelor of Philosophy (Honours) Science”, or “PhB Science” for short. No, I don’t actually study philosophy (although I’d like to, I’ll admit). The main difference between PhB and a regular Bachelor’s of Science is that I get to do research (like, actual legit research), which counts towards my coursework. I have, and continue to plan on abusing the shit out of that privilege.
In the little blurb on the side of the website, I noted “ardent ambition, crazy curiosity” as a little descriptor. That almost sums me up. Ambition for what, you ask? Well, saving the world, of course!
No actually though, I study pure mathematics and physics primarily to equip myself with the all the skills (both tangible and not-so-tangible) to contribute as much as I can in solving whatever of the world’s problems I encounter. I dunno where I’ll be in ten years, so I figure I may as well prepare myself for anything, academically at least. Flexibility and adaptability in learning is something I hold to the highest regard.
Oh, I also *really* like cinnamon doughnuts and lemon lime and bitters (a popular drink in Australia).
Also, double shot flat white thank you very much.
On “Ruminating”
Perhaps you, whilst reading this or anything I’ve written in the past, get the impression that I’m trying to be pseudo-intellectual/ philosophical. Maybe. But that’s not the point.
I like thinking. Avoiding hard problems just doesn’t sit well with me. Same with discarding a tricky thing to talk about, for any reason – including “nobody cares what I have to say”. Maybe that’s true, maybe it isn’t. It’s still worth thinking about, and writing down.
Why? Is this some ego-driven pursuit of knowledge?
No, not really.
Knowledge is not quite the same as truth. I won’t pretend to know or describe some deep, verbose philosophical difference between the two here, but we both know there’s a difference.
What I do when ruminating in this blog, and in real life too, is exploring and probing *my truth*. That is, formally, that which most accurately maps from my personal world to objective reality. There’s the world, out there, that exists somewhat separate and indifferent to whether or not you or I think about it. Then there’s the projected world, in our eyes, ears, thoughts and beliefs. Fundamentally, on many levels, I think it’s worth ruminating in pursuit of tuning that projection, to get the sharpest image possible.