These two main activities in physics, data collection, theory production and testing, use many different skills. This has led to a lot of specialization in physics, and the introduction, development and use of tools from other fields. For example, theoretical physicists use mathematics and numerical analysis and statistics and probability and computer software in their work. Experimental physicists develop instruments and techniques for collecting data, using engineering and computer technology and many other fields of technology. Often the tools from these other areas are not quite appropriate for the needs of physics, and need to be changed or more advanced versions have to be made.
It is frequent for new physics to be discovered if experimental physicists do an experiment that current theories cannot explain, or for theoretical physicists to generate theories which can then be put to the test by experimental physicists.
Experimental physics, engineering and technology are related. Experiments often need specialized tools such as particle accelerators, lasers, and important industrial applications such as transistors and magnetic resonance imaging have come from applied research.
Politics
Politics is the way that people living in groups make decisions.
Politics is about making agreements between people so that they can live together in groups such as tribes, cities, or countries. In large groups, such as countries, some people may spend a lot of their time making such agreements. These people are called politicians. Politicians, and sometimes other people, may get together to form a government. The study of politics in universities is called political science, political studies, or public administration.
In everyday life, the term "politics" refers to the way that countries are governed, and to the ways that governments make rules and laws. Politics can also be seen in other groups, such as in companies, clubs, schools, and churches.
The government tries to lead the whole group. Governments do things such as:
One of the ways the government leads the group is by making laws and rules which tell everybody what they can and can not do. The government makes these laws so that society will be safe and well-ordered. The law that says "you must not drink alcohol while driving a car" stops people from drunk driving, which could kill people. The law that says "you must wear a helmet on a motorcycle" makes sure that people protect themselves when riding their motorcycles.
The government can also control people and what happens in a country in other ways besides making laws.
Politics is often compared to ethics (ideas about right and wrong). Ethics is a more abstract study of right and wrong. Ethics is usually more concerned with principle than law or politics or diplomacy, so many people think ethics is not practical. But without some agreement on ethics, there is probably no way to even have a debate, laws or an election. There is always some agreement on ethics and personal conduct in a political system.
In most countries, people have formed political parties to put forward their ideas. There is usually some disagreement between people within a party, but they work together because they feel that they agree on enough things, and they will have more power if they join together. They agree to take the same position on many issues, and agree to support the same changes to law and the same leaders. An election is usually a competition between different parties. Some examples of parties are the Liberal party, the Labor party and the Greens.
The Greek philosopher Aristotle wrote that humans are a political animal and that ethics and politics are closely linked.
Niccolò Machiavelli wrote, in his 1532 book, The Prince, that politics was firstly about having and keeping power. He said that without power, a leader could do nothing.
In 1651, Thomas Hobbes wrote "Leviathan", a book about politics. Hobbes wrote that people living in groups often give up some of their rights in exchange for some protections from a government.
In the 1800s, John Stuart Mill developed the "liberal" idea of politics. Mill said that democracy is the most important political development of the 1800s. He said that there should be more protection for individual rights against the government.
Bernard Crick wrote a list of the political virtues, which were about best practices of politics itself.
There are also disagreements between different countries. Attempts to solve the problem with meetings are called diplomacy. This is politics between nations instead of politics within nations. If the problems are not resolved by diplomatic meetings they can lead to war or terrorism.
Value (personal and cultural)
A value (or principle) usually means an abstract rule, one that can be seen to apply in many experiences, or can be applied by choice in a lot of situations. It can also mean a moral choice one makes often and consistently, for example, some Buddhists avoid eating meat as a matter of principle.
Many groups of people agree on lists of principles. They may also try to agree on the order in which they are to apply, that is, which principles should be violated before which other ones. They might also try to list best practices which reflect the principles in the right order, and provide more practical (less abstract) instruction.
Profanity
Profanity means swear words, or using offensive language. The adjective is "profane". Profanities can also be called curse ("cuss") words, dirty words, bad words, foul language, obscenity, obscene language, or expletives. It can be called swearing, although this also has a normal meaning of making a "solemn promise". A profanity usually refers to religion, sex, or bodily functions. These are things that people feel very strongly about. In some languages, such as French, there is more profanity about religion than most other topics. This is the original meaning, from a Latin word meaning "before the temple".
Religious profanity is called blasphemy. The verb is to blaspheme and the adjective is 'blasphemous'. Saying “God!” or “Jesus Christ!” as an expression of surprise or annoyance is considered by many to be blasphemy, mostly because one of the Ten Commandments says not to use God's name "in vain" (without substance or without relevance). Swearing oaths can also be considered wrong by some who follow Jesus' teaching against swearing oaths in the Gospels (such as Matthew 5:34).
A profanity can be a word or gesture or some other form of behavior.
Different words can be profane to different people, and what words are thought of as profanity in English can change over time.
Whether a word is a profanity will always depend on the way people think. Some people will be offended by something, while others will not be. Words which should not be used are taboo words. Using such words is thought by some people to be a sin. For example, some Christians and some Muslims believe that swearing is a sin.
Some people call profanity "crude," but some say that it is no cruder to say "damn" or "crap" than it is to use "hate" (a word that is about a very strong emotion, but not a swear word). People who use profanity do not always mean to make anybody feel bad, and tolerance for different forms of profanity can vary widely, from person to person. Most often, using profanity is a verbal outlet for strong feelings (usually unpleasant ones), that might otherwise cause a physical reaction. At other times, some people may use profanity as humor.
Coprolalia is a mental condition that makes people use profanity constantly. It is different from Tourette syndrome. Tourette syndrome is actually a group of symptoms that only includes coprolalia 15% of the time. The condition can be made worse by stress.