Regardless of any deviations, it was clear I was supposed to end up in math and physics.
Interpretation
The quote highlights a strong sense of purpose and destiny in a person's journey toward studying mathematics and physics.
In this quote, Edward Witten expresses a conviction that despite any changes or detours he may have taken in life, his path ultimately led him to the fields of mathematics and physics. It underscores the idea that some individuals have a predestined calling that guides them toward their true passions and talents, suggesting that our life paths may be influenced by an intrinsic purpose.
In practice
A graduation speech to inspire students to pursue their passions.
Quantum mechanics brought an unexpected fuzziness into physics because of quantum uncertainty, the Heisenberg uncertainty principle. String theory does so again because a point particle is replaced by a string, which is more spread out.
But the beauty of Einstein's equations, for example, is just as real to anyone who's experienced it as the beauty of music. We've learned in the 20th century that the equations that work have inner harmony.
I wouldn't have thought that a wrong theory should lead us to understand better the ordinary quantum field theories or to have new insights about the quantum states of black holes.
You have that one basic string, but it can vibrate in many ways. But we're trying to get a lot of particles because experimental physicists have discovered a lot of particles.
Even before string theory, especially as physics developed in the 20th century, it turned out that the equations that really work in describing nature with the most generality and the greatest simplicity are very elegant and subtle.
It's an exaggeration to say that I came up with M-theory.
When the problem [quantum chromodynamics] is finally solved, it will all be by imagination. Then there will be some big thing about the great way it was done. But it's simple -it will all be by imagination, and persistence.
The Milky Way is nothing else but a mass of innumerable stars planted together in clusters.
Freedom is the oxygen without which science cannot breathe.
Science and mindfulness complement each other in helping people to eat well and maintain their health and well-being.
Physicists are more like avant-garde composers, willing to bend traditional rules... Mathematicians are more like classical composers.
We are made of stellar ash. Our origin and evolution have been tied to distant cosmic events. The exploration of the cosmos is a voyage of self-discovery.
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