Thread by @PosenIzzy

Yesterday I finally had my graduation ceremony for my Master's of Science, in Physics and Philosophy, from the University of Bristol.
#BristolGrad

I knew little about the world growing up. I remember having a discussion at the age of 17 with a close friend of mine - one of the brightest boys of the class - and he didn't know that earth was round, rather than flat. I had to go and study physics to know the world I live in.

After a faith crisis in my late teens, I was left wondering how we know anything? If what I was taught turned out not to be true, how do I know what is? I turned to philosophy for answers.

Together, physics and philosophy give a very compelling worldview based on science and logical reasoning. There's so much we still don't know, but after many years of study, I feel like I have a much better understanding of what this world is about.

Physics tells us how the world works on the most fundamental level: what drives things? Why is nature the way it is? How did we get here? But there's also so much we don't know and perhaps cannot know: the ultimate 'why's, the ultimate 'before's.

Philosophy maps out the realm of thinking beyond science: how do we know what we know? How do we know what's right? What do we mean when we utter the words we use? Is science the final word of what exists?

Many of these questions don't have final answers. We'll continue to debate them as long as we're here. But what kind of humans would we be if we didn't ask them?

I came to philosophy for answers, but I found that it actually only helped me to ask better questions. Instead of giving me truth, it stripped away my confidence in the false beliefs I had. It leaves you with only one option: scepticism and open-mindedness.

And how can I describe the beauty of taking a complex world and describing it in a neat mathematical set of equations? The triumph of modern physics is astounding: how some elegant maths can so accurately predict incredibly complex and diverse behaviour.

The Standard Model together with General Relativity, developed less than a century ago, is an elegant set of equations that (with a few important exceptions) predict basically everything that happens, from black holes, to subatomic particles, to flying airplanes.

This gives an incredibly compelling worldview that's difficult to argue with if you have been exposed to its power and beauty. You don't need much more besides it in terms of understanding what's out there and what makes this world go round.

Obviously, there's so much more than that to understand about life, people, society and, most importantly, about ourselves. That's not something science alone can give you, or something that you can learn from a textbook. That takes a lifetime of wisdom to master.

I never went into education for specific occupational or material gain. I was in need of a knowledge, of understanding, of a worldview. And I've gained so much of those.

We live in a time now where access to knowledge and education is easier than ever. Even a boy with no formal schooling in these subjects can have the world's fountains of knowledge open to him.

I hope that other young Yitzchoks who thirst after knowledge and truth can know that they too can tap into this nourishing well: חכמה בגוים תאמין!

To paraphrase the prophet, may we merit to see ומלאה הארץ דעה כמים לים מכסים.
Knowledge will cover earth, as water covers the sea.