The Thought Experiment

Or... how I woke up this morning thinking about... Schrodinger's Cat.

And I decided to do a little more in-depth research.

Then I got sidetracked, & started clicking on Wiki links... which then led to me all sorts of random places.
Like quantum mechanics... and an episode of SG-1... & Douglas Adams... & Van Helsing... and Tears for Fears...

It made me realize that I'm still the same geeky kid I always was, only with a bigger base of things to explore.

I am the same little kid who used to pull down an encyclopedia (thank you, Jiminy Cricket, I can still spell it right!) to look up something simple, like dogs, or quartz, or Jacques Cousteau. And hours later, you would find me on the floor, amid a PILE of books, having leapt from one article to another, eventually ending up at a completely unrelated document, but totally enlightened.

It's what I do.
It's the way I think.
It's how I learn.

A seemingly random pattern, I know.
But everything really IS related, & linked, & intertwined.
And if you look long enough, & click on enough links, You'll see what I mean.

People always looked at me oddly when I said I read encyclopedias.
"You mean, for fun?" was the typical response.
Yes, for fun.
My little set of World Books, probably purchased from some door to door salesman, was the best gift little geeky me ever got.
(Note: I never DID get that Barbie I asked for, or my life may have turned out completely differently!)

Those books nurtured a lifetime full of curiosity & a love of learning.
I "went" places I had never dreamed of, or even heard of, & saw things I never knew existed. I learned about epicenters, & breeds of cats, & discovered the capital of Luxembourg is... wait for it... Luxembourg. (Much like years later, my children would learn the the capital of Djibouti is... Djibouti.)
I learned my constellations, & then went on to learn about the mythology of who & what there were named after.
At one point, I could list the first 100 winners of the Kentucky Derby.

It may seem pointless, my love of random links.
And sometimes, it is difficult to work the basics of quantum physics into everyday conversation.
And no one will play Trivial Pursuit with me.

But it keeps my busy.
And thinking.
And curious.

And I highly recommend it.