Darwin Day

Today I was attending a symposium called Darwin Day. It is a collection of talks about evolutionary theory. I spent about 1 and half hours there, and learned: 1. string theory, 2. biography of Charles Darwin and 3) there are great people pursuing knowledge tirelessly. Interestingly, there is another event called "evolution day" on campus, organized by religious group to promote "the biblical truth and coexistence with evolution theory". F^&&*'em. Anyway, tomorrow is Darwin's birthday. My hat off to you, Mr. Darwin.

If I step back, I have to wonder why I want to spend certain portions of my life to attend these science lectures. For example, now I have a great understanding about the universe with the help of string theory, but what good does that do for me? If anything, it makes me a more stubborn and unapologetic defender of atheism, an unpopular position to take in the states right now. Moreover, why not just take an hour off watching some TV? I guess somehow, I must have got a pure joy from learning scientific thinkings. I will black out to the questions of "what's the meaning of life?" or "who am I?" For me, these are just stupid questions, and you will be a stupid person if you ask them. However, I would be intrigued if you could propose different ways strings can knot themselves to create alternative universes.

I am a shy person in general. For example, I can barely make eye contact with girls in bars, not mentioning starting a conversion with any of them. But somehow I am a bold person, with a firm belief that how much struggle I have right now, I will turn out to be okey. Science is not easy, living your own life style is not easy either, especially it does not confirm the mainstream. Really think about it, I am almost 30 years old, still living in a college apartment, single, rarely going out, love science and hate religious discussion, love great stories and hate special effects, love genius minds and hate the stupidity of the mass. As if I have to be so rational that it will squeeze all the fun out of my life. But somehow, I persist, believing "some day, you will be cool (from "Almost Famous)". Or to borrow a great poem, "Two roads diverged in a wood, and I-- I took the one less traveled by, And that has made all the difference. (Robert Frost)" It has been lonely journey so far, but hey, just imagine it is like the voyage of the Beagle, five years in the making but eventually everything going to pay off. At least that's my hope.