Quantum Mechanics

Read the following statement as quickly as you can, comprehending as much as you can without rereading or stopping.

Quantum mechanics is a set of principles underlying the most fundamental known description of all physical systems at the microscopic scale (at the atomic level); it is more fundamental than classical mechanics and classical field theory. Notable amongst these principles are both a dual wave-like and particle-like behavior of matter and radiation, and prediction of probabilities in situations where classical physics predicts certainties. Classical physics can be derived as a good approximation to quantum physics, typically in circumstances with large numbers of particles. Thus quantum phenomena are particularly relevant in systems whose dimensions are close to the atomic scale, such as molecules, atoms, electrons, protons and other subatomic particles. Exceptions exist for certain systems which exhibit quantum mechanical effects on macroscopic scale; superfluidity is one well-known example. Quantum theory provides accurate descriptions for many previously unexplained phenomena such as black body radiation and stable electron orbits.

Wiki Article on Quantum Mechanics

Take a walk with me down to imagination station. Let's take a train ride through a completely hypothetical situation. I have just completed three (or four if I are on the five year plan) years of college. I have racked up enough hours to be considered a senior even though my maturity is far from the same state. I have just arrived in class. I start thinking about all the rumors of the professor I am about to experience for the first time. I have been told that senior level classes finally teach me the material that is going to be relevant to my career. No more core classes about how to get in touch with me feelings. Finally, a class that is worth all the money I spent to get here. Class attendance is abysmal. Several other students and I anxiously await the footsteps of the professor. He shows up right on time with a huge book and some notes in one hand and a steaming cup of coffee in the other. He sets the book down on the podium and takes one last sip of his coffee before adjusting his glasses. He glances around the room over the top of his horn-rims and smiles. Everyone smiles back and immediately feels welcome. The professor introduces himself. He takes a deep breath and begins to read from the book. He pulls out a legal pad filled with notes he has taken on the book. He reads from his notes and his book for two hours straight without once glancing up to see if anyone has understood. He reads his last sentence, closes his book, and flips back to the front page of his notes. He smiles again and takes a sip of his coffee. "See you Thursday!", he says. The other students look around in a grand state of confusion as if to say, "What the hell was that?" I concur with their evaluation of the class.

Thursday comes around and I am in my seat ready to take some notes. I went out the night before to get a voice recorder to make sure I could listen to whatever I was not able to capture in my notes. The professor comes in with his book, notes, and cup of joe. He smiles and begins reading. He persists in reading for the full two hours of class and then casually glancing around towards the end of his lecture and then promptly leaving without allowing any questions to be asked. After another mind-exhausting lecture I decide that it is time to have a little chat with this guy. I find his office hours on the syllabus and decide to make a pit stop right before I head home. As I head down the hallway I see him locking his office door and turn the other direction and barely catch the elevator. I shout his name, but the sound waves are stopped by the closing elevator doors. Gone. I guess I'll try again next week.

Tuesday rolls around and I am dead set on understanding a word this man says for his two hour lecture. This time I brought my laptop so I could take notes faster. No luck. He gives the same two hour lecture without any explanation as to what he is talking about. Gibberish. I am completely hopeless. So is everyone else in the class so it seemed last week, but the other students are walking out with smiles of delight. On my way out the door, I overhear a conversation between two other students and it seems that they actually understand this guy. I attempt to get some help from them and they are happy to oblige, but they repeat back the same gibberish of a lesson that the professor did. I am screwed. I'm going to fail. I cannot take the class from any one else. He's the only one that teaches the class. Time for another office hours visit. I call him ahead of time to make sure he is going to be there and he confirms. I arrive at least fifteen minutes early just to make sure, but he is already gone. I glance out the window to see him getting on the bus. Gone again. What the heck does it take to get some real answers from this guy? Why does it look like he is in plain sight when I want to learn but I cannot for the life of me seem to catch up to him outside of class? Why does he keep teaching the exact same lesson but never taking time to answer questions or even explain what he is talking about? Why is everyone else succeeding in this class but me?

If you resonate at all with the above situation, you have just understood the pattern of my life. Everyday I feel like I am sitting in the classroom of life learning the same lesson and my futile mind hardly comprehending two words out of the entire lesson. God seems unavailable when I need him most, and always available to teach the same lesson without offering any comprehensible help. The most confusing thing is that I fail everyday yet my grade stays the same. I still have an A in the class. Every test and quiz that comes along in this class, I completely bomb. Yet somehow I manage to keep a stellar average. I guess we could call that grace...