"Fall in love with some activity, and do it! Nobody ever figures out what life is all about, and it doesn't matter. Explore the world. Nearly everything is really interesting if you go into it deeply enough. Work as hard and as much as you want to go on to do the things you like to do the best. Don't think about what you want to be, but what you want to do. Keep up some kind of a minimum with other things so that society doesn't stop you from doing anything at all." - Richard Feynman
It was Feynman's own words as a prominent physicist and lecturer (in the Feynman lectures on physics at Caltech) that first spurred me in the direction of solar physics. But interestingly, my original plan was to become a nuclear physicist, as made clear in The Miami Herald write- up about my senior science fair project, i.e.
Noting at the end: "His goal is to attend Massachusetts Institute of Technology to prepare for a career in nuclear physics."
Well, that didn't transpire as my parochial high school (Mgsr. Pace in Miami) misplaced my transcripts to be sent to MIT and when they were found it was too late for application completion. Instead I accepted a scholarship to Loyola University, New Orleans - majored in physics and math - and also received lots of background in religious studies, theology, ethics.
Loyola's resources were fine, but - following Feynman's advice- I wanted to do astronomy, as it was my first love, after all. (As reflected by my science fair project on the 'Structure of the Universe'.) So I transferred to the University of South Florida, Tampa, where Heinrich Eichhorn had just established one of the only specialist campuses for astrometry - as well as bringing in highly qualified staff from Yale University. (Which I had written about in a post some years ago on completing a stellar structure problem i.e.
This then propelled my subsequent direction into solar physics research after receiving a post-graduate research grant for the University of the West Indies, sponsored by the Barbados government. The full extent and foundation of my research was laid out in a post from last November:
The Role Of Statistics In My Development Of A Geo-Effective (SID) Solar Flare Trigger
And prepared the way for other papers:
http://adsabs.harvard.edu/full/1983JRASC..77..203S
http://adsabs.harvard.edu/full/1983SoPh...88..137A
http://adsabs.harvard.edu/full/1984SoPh...92..259A
And then resolving a minor issue of dispute of SID flare origin, e.g. in the paper:
1987SoPh..112..387S Page 387 (harvard.edu)
All these publications fulfilled Feynman's challenge to "fall in love with some activity and do it." In this case delving into the empirical basis for statistical associations between solar flares, sunspots and magnetic structures in active regions.
The point of the above narrative? To show that just because one door closes does not mean all other options are foreclosed. You then make use of the talents, abilities you have - as well as related interests - to venture into a new direction or career.
But Feynman also implored listeners to "explore the world" - which I did as well,
Later along with Janice:
A Visit To A Beautiful, Schizoid (and Forgetful) German Twin-Town
Liechtenstein: A Visit To A Peculiar Micro-State in the Heart of Europe
More Scenes From Around Switzerland
St. Gallen, Switzerland - An Unforgettable Time Amidst Medieval Books
A Holiday Reality Check: Caught Up In The Migrant Crisis in Budapest
Český Krumlov, Czech Republic - An Experience In Itself
An Unsettling World War II Tour In Prague
Will Barbados Fall to the Sovereign Debt Crisis? (II)
Will Barbados Fall to the Sovereign Debt Crisis? (I)
As for "keeping up some kind of minimum with other things" I have done so via writing - 15 books thus far, as well as posts on my blog, Brane Space. The books written included no fewer than 4 on atheism,
And I've been informed most are banned in Barbados. As well as certain small northern Florida hamlets. But for sure one doesn't write such books because he expects to see them banned. As Feynman pointed out, you keep on keeping on to ensure society doesn't stop you doing anything at all. You don't shrink from potential failure or public disdain, in other words, you take it on.
Perhaps the most substantial message:
"Nobody ever figures out what life is all about, and it doesn't matter."
Is one that more of us ought to process and absorb in this turbulent and divisive time.
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