{"id":4325,"date":"2017-09-28T05:00:58","date_gmt":"2017-09-28T12:00:58","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/markreads.net\/reviews\/?p=4325"},"modified":"2017-09-25T08:39:42","modified_gmt":"2017-09-25T15:39:42","slug":"mark-reads-the-science-of-discworld-chapter-12","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/markreads.net\/reviews\/2017\/09\/mark-reads-the-science-of-discworld-chapter-12\/","title":{"rendered":"Mark Reads ‘The Science of Discworld’: Chapter 12"},"content":{"rendered":"

In the twelfth chapter of The Science of Discworld<\/i>, I learn about the rules of the universe\u00e2\u20ac\u00a6 sort of. Intrigued? Then it\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s time for Mark to read Discworld<\/i>.<\/p>\n

Well, it took twelve chapters for us to get to this point, but: I don\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t know what to say about all of this. I\u00e2\u20ac\u2122m reminded of the later half of my AP Physics class, which touched on much of this, but that\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s also most of the stuff I had the hardest time with. My teacher did a fine job communicating a lot of what the authors get at in this chapter: that believing that there are Rules or some Theory of Everything that governs the universe isn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t going to help in the long run. Oh, we still had to learn<\/i> the rules and laws of nature and physics, and we had to do the math required for that on our exams. Wouldn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t it have been fun if I had answered all the questions on my final exam by telling my teacher that there are no laws in the universe, and that in the end, it\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s all just chaos observed by humans?<\/p>\n

Thankfully, I didn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t do that, I\u00e2\u20ac\u2122m damn proud of the A- I got for that second semester. I guess that proves the authors\u00e2\u20ac\u2122 point, though: it\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s much easier to follow the rules when we can define what those rules are. I don\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t believe that most humans are big fans of chaos, and as someone who has had a chaotic life, I do crave order and normalcy from time to time. But these aren\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t the Rules that the authors are referring to in this chapter. The ideas at the focus of this are much bigger and much harder to grasp, so much so that people often reach for fundamentalism. We want to grasp hold of a universe that is mysterious, and so we drift towards the things that explain the universe in the most comfortable terms. Does it explain religion? Maybe. Partially<\/i>. I wouldn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t go that far to invalidate EVERY belief system in the world by saying it\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s all because we want to explain the chaos of the universe. But there\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s also always going to be a part of me that understands why people (sometimes me!) seek rules out.<\/p>\n

So\u00e2\u20ac\u00a6 wow, this felt like the densest chapter yet. I actually felt like I understood the bulk of it, though! I am learning things from this, which is a positive aspect of this book that I\u00e2\u20ac\u2122d hoped would come to fruition. If you told me that one day, Mark Reads would be covering quantum mechanics, I would not have believed you. I got to look up Langton Ant simulations, which all broke my brain, and that\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s because of The Science of Discworld<\/i>. BLESS.\u00c2\u00a0I did enjoy this, I promise you, but I’m invoking this terrible head cold and fever I have just this once as explanation for why this is so short. BEGONE, SICKNESS.<\/p>\n

https:\/\/youtu.be\/ln3EppoeGmE<\/p>\n

Mark Links Stuff<\/b><\/p>\n

– My YA contemporary debut, ANGER IS A GIFT<\/a>, is now available for pre-order!\u00c2\u00a0<\/strong>If you’d like to stay up-to-date on all announcements regarding my books, sign up for my newsletter<\/a>! DO IT.<\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"