Condensed concepts

Mental issues have been on my radar for the past few months, mainly for three reasons. First, I am coming back (very positively) from a low over the past year. Second, I continue to have many conversations with people who have struggled with the issue. Third, University of Queensland has decided to develop a "Mental Health Strategy" for students and staff. Last week I went to a public consultation about a draft document for UQ. (I was on leave from work, but thought it so important I went on campus). I read the document carefully, spoke out at the meeting, and also sent some email feedback. More on that later, maybe... Australian universities seem to have discovered the issue following the publication of a  report , concerning student mental health. The "strategy" for ANU is here. Here are a few valuable pieces that have "come across my desk" in the last few months. Santa Ono , President of the University of British Columbia, and a distinguished m

Think! Research is all about thinking about the world we live in; whether it is genetics, cosmology, literature, engineering, or economics, ... Reality is stratified and one observes different phenomena in different systems. As a result, one needs to think in distinct ways in order to develop concepts, laws, and methodologies for each stratum.  Note that thinking is central to experiments: thinking how to design the experiment and apparatus, and how to analyse the data produced and relate it to theory. This is why we have disciplines . Each discipline involves a disciplined way of thinking. Teaching is all about helping  students learn how to think. For specific disciplines, it involves learning how to think in a particular way. Thinking like a condensed matter physicist  is an art to learn. Similarly, thinking like an economist is a unique way of thinking. If this is the mission of modern universities are they successful? On one level they have been incredibly successf