From: jimc@cobabe.b11.ingr.com (Jim Cobabe)
Subject: Re: Why ask why?
Reply-To: jimc@cobabe.b11.ingr.com
Organization: Intergraph 
Date: Wed, 15 Apr 1992 14:21:50 GMT

In article <1992Apr15.135645.6129@infonode.ingr.com>, jim@doink.b23b.ingr.com (James B. Reed) writes:
|> Here'a a dialogue between two parties: Q (who asks a lot of questions) and
|> B (who addresses the questions, but fails to satisfy Q (that's why he's
|> not called A :-)).  By the way, they're discussing something we all understand
|> quite well.
|> 
|> Q: Why is it that when I flip the switch, the light comes on?
|> 
|> B: Because flipping the switch completed the electrical circuit and
|>    current can flow.  When enough current flows in the lightbulb,
|>    it gives off light.
|> 
|> Q: Why does flowing current give off light?
|> 
|> B: The filament is a resistive device.  When current flows in a resistive
|>    device, electrical energy is turned into heat.  When something gets
|>    how enough, it gives off light (I could talk about blackbody
|>    radiation here, but that's probably going to far).
|> 
|> Q: I have two questions now.  But we'll start with the simple one.
|>    Why does current flowing in a resistive device generate heat?
|> 
|> B: That's a good question.  I don't know enough physics to really explain
|>    that, but I could speculate.  It might be that the moving electrons
|>    (that's the current) run into enough atoms and bounce around enough
|>    that the filament heats up (sort of like friction makes you hands
|>    heat up when you rub them together).
|> 
|> Q: I can tell you don't understand how it works.  It can't be like
|>    rubbing my hands together.  I've done that.  No matter how long
|>    I rub them together, they DON'T GLOW.
|> 
|> B: I didn't say it was exactly the same, I said it was sort of like
|>    rubbing your hands together.  Nobody can rub their hands enough
|>    to generate enough heat to make them glow.  Like I said, I can't
|>    really answer that question, didn't you have another?
|> 
|> Q: Sure, why do hot things give off light?
|> 
|> B: In order to fully explain that I would have to talk about blackbody
|>    radiation.  That also takes more physics than I understand.  I understand
|>    that (at least ideally) an object at a given temperature will give off
|>    electromagnetic radiation (like light) with a frequency distribution
|>    that varies with the temperature of the object.  I expect that to really
|>    explain what's happening, you'd have to go into a lot of quantum physics.
|>    I don't know enough to do that.
|> 
|> Q: So you don't understand that either.  You contend that flipping a light
|>    switch will turn on the light, but you can't explain why?  How can you
|>    expect me to believe it when you can't explain it?  How can YOU believe
|>    it when you can't explain it?  If you can't explain it, then you
|>    obviously don't understand it.

Ah, yes.  Excellent demonstration of "herd mentality".  Most engineers don't
have enough depth in physics to explain _why_ a light bulb works, but since
they took a physics class once, they "just know" that this is the way it is.
They just take it on faith.  :-)  These guys are "fundies" of the worst kind.
It's really scary to think about how many people use light bulbs with fanatic
zeal, and never take the time to learn the real truth.

Don't you just hate these people who act before learning all of the facts?  :-)
I guess it is just pure laziness or ignorance that keeps people from learning
the "real" truth about light bulbs.  ;-)

And if you learn enough about physics to get to the bottom of it all, you
find that the "bottom" is a whole lot of conjecture and not much substance.
I guess many of us play the "Mr. Spock" fantasy with ourselves too much
of the time to really see that not much of the world is understood or understandable
by "modern" science.

Please understand that I am not disparaging science.  I just don't think that
it can ever answer all the important questions.

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