On Being Annoying (Physics Version)

Environmental & Science Education, STEM, Nature of Science, History of Science

Ed Hessler

Sabine Hossenfelder who writes the blog BackReaction has a new video (5m 58s), one that is both informative and fun, nearly comic.

This is how Dr. Hossenfelder introduces it: "Today I will tell you how to be just as annoying as a real physicist. And the easiest way to do that is to insist correcting people when it really doesn't matter." Some of the ten examples are familiar even to non-physicists but not several of the real answers. 

This reminded me of a tactic often used by those who make claims about intelligent design who show a remarkable misunderstanding of biology, evolutionary biology, ecology, chemistry and physics. Conversation stoppers are used to replace them.

And Back Reaction means...? Wiki provides an answer, one intuitive and one deeper and more challenging to those of us who don't walk as confidently in the halls of theoretical physics.