This afternoon, Tsondue and I went to the nunnery (I learned its name: Jangchub Choeling) and I gave a talk and answered some questions. There were about 40 nuns there, and the talk itself was in the prayer hall. I wasn't sure how long I would be expected to talk for, or how long the talk would become with translation. I also wasn't sure the level of physics the nuns would be familiar with.
After introductions, I asked them if they had studied much physics. A few of them, but they said mostly biology. I also saw that translation was making everything take longer than expected, so I scaled back my talk significantly. I started with conservation of energy, connecting it with causality and giving some simple examples (such as dropping objects). I then talked about how we observe that galaxies (it took Tsondue a long time to explain galaxies) rotate too fast, given what we observe their mass to be. Hence, I talked about dark matter and how it is an open question that we are pursuing experimentally.
The talk, including introductions, took about 30 minutes. I wasn't sure when they had dinner or puja, so I wasn't sure how long questions would go. We ended up answering questions for about 45 minutes. Some of the nuns spoke flawless English, but others asked their questions in Tibetan. A number of questions asked me how science relates to specific ideas in Buddhism - Tsondue addressed one of the questions that required a detailed understanding of Buddhism.
My favorite question, the 2nd one asked: "When I first learned science, there were 9 planets. Now there are only 8. What happened to Pluto?". I explained that it was just a clarification of terminology, since we now know of many Pluto-like objects.
There were also questions about biology, which I took a stab at (and admitted my lack of expertise). Two of the nuns were responsible for most of the questions. One had been enthusiastically taking notes the entire time, and the other asked for our contact info at the end. I wish I could bring them back to Agnes Scott!
The Tibetan monks and nuns are incredibly intelligent and want to understand the world, but they come from a completely different perspective from science. I got few "out of left field" questions from my monks, which I attribute to them already having one summer of science through ETSI. The nuns asked more questions that showed that they are thinking about scientific facts that they are learning, but don't know the "scientific perspective":
After introductions, I asked them if they had studied much physics. A few of them, but they said mostly biology. I also saw that translation was making everything take longer than expected, so I scaled back my talk significantly. I started with conservation of energy, connecting it with causality and giving some simple examples (such as dropping objects). I then talked about how we observe that galaxies (it took Tsondue a long time to explain galaxies) rotate too fast, given what we observe their mass to be. Hence, I talked about dark matter and how it is an open question that we are pursuing experimentally.
The talk, including introductions, took about 30 minutes. I wasn't sure when they had dinner or puja, so I wasn't sure how long questions would go. We ended up answering questions for about 45 minutes. Some of the nuns spoke flawless English, but others asked their questions in Tibetan. A number of questions asked me how science relates to specific ideas in Buddhism - Tsondue addressed one of the questions that required a detailed understanding of Buddhism.
My favorite question, the 2nd one asked: "When I first learned science, there were 9 planets. Now there are only 8. What happened to Pluto?". I explained that it was just a clarification of terminology, since we now know of many Pluto-like objects.
There were also questions about biology, which I took a stab at (and admitted my lack of expertise). Two of the nuns were responsible for most of the questions. One had been enthusiastically taking notes the entire time, and the other asked for our contact info at the end. I wish I could bring them back to Agnes Scott!
The Tibetan monks and nuns are incredibly intelligent and want to understand the world, but they come from a completely different perspective from science. I got few "out of left field" questions from my monks, which I attribute to them already having one summer of science through ETSI. The nuns asked more questions that showed that they are thinking about scientific facts that they are learning, but don't know the "scientific perspective":
- In E=mc^2, why is the speed of light c and not a or b?
- Science says that nothing can travel faster than the speed of light. In Buddhism we say the mind travels faster than light. Can you explain why you say nothing travels faster than light?
- Are atoms living?
The nuns were enthusiastic, and it seems like many of the ETSI people are interested in establishing better connections with them. It was great to talk there. They had snacks and water at the table we were sitting at, and gave us tea part of the way through. (The nuns have fancy china, the monks do not)
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| Tsondue and I with the some of the nuns, in front of the prayer hall. |
I'm really glad that this talk came together, since it seemed to be a great experience for them and I really enjoyed it. There is now talk of trying to do more events like this while ETSI faculty are in the area. Only a small fraction of the local monks are in our program, and our curriculum is fairly narrowly defined. Giving topical talks and answering questions would be a great way to more broadly present scientific ideas here.
While I was sipping tea in the prayer hall, looking out at the nuns and listening to my ideas presented in Tibetan, I definitely thought "this is the coolest thing I have ever done". It was a great way to end my time here.
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