Re: [Phys-l] teaching different descriptions of "reality"

[Brian Blais <bblais@bryant.edu>]

Leigh Palmer wrote:
> Brian Blais raises the question of introducing the concept of reality  
> into physics teaching. I think students should be told that reality  
> is a deep concept, and that we won't treat it in a physics class. It  
> is a good topic for bull sessions, of course, as are sex, politics,  
> and religion. 

I agree, but I think it is one thing to tell a student that we are not speaking about
reality, and another to find a demonstrable way to make them internalize it.  I think
students think of physics, especially classical physics, to be dealing with reality,
and certainly many of the concepts in classical physics match their own personal
definition of real.  I think the first time it started to really click with me that
we were dealing with descriptions was when I was first introduced to quantum theory.
 I believe, however, that one can get the same sort of notion by looking at many
different descriptions of classical systems.  Personally, I find the contrast between
least-action principles and force principles to be really striking in this regard.
Asking the question about reality goes hand-in-hand with asking what a particle "knows".


			bb

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