![]() Quantum mechanics deals with some very strange concepts that readily lend themselves to philosophical questions, such as the idea that merely observing something can change it, or the idea that something can be both a wave and a particle at the same time. The "danger zone" in the top right of the chart is when a field of study is wide-ranging enough to pose broad philosophical questions, and also so complicated that most people can't answer those questions. Fluid dynamics, as captured by the Navier–Stokes equations is very complicated, but it's concerned with a very specific topic - how water or other fluids flow around - so it doesn't lead to big philosophical questions. Basic physics is not very philosophically interesting but also not very complicated. Hence, Special Relativity is very high up on the y-axis but not very far on the x-axis. But it doesn't take a lot of mathematical knowledge to understand the answers - that when objects move very close to the speed of light, time slows down and their lengths contract: the key Lorentz transformations ultimately involve little more than high-school algebra. ![]() For example, special relativity poses very intriguing philosophical questions, such as " can the temporal ordering of spatially separated events depend on the observer?", or " can time run at different rates for different observers?". The comic depicts a relationship between how philosophically exciting the questions in a field of study are, versus how many years are required to understand the answers. Title text: If you draw a diagonal line from lower left to upper right, that's the ICP 'Miracles' axis.
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