Resonance

Certain ideas resonate with me. Others do not.

I greatly admire the individuals who have done work to ensure that nobody goes hungry in our world. It’s a cause that I believe in with my whole heart. However, the idea of feeding the hungry doesn’t resonate with me. It’s never going to be my life’s work.

The idea of providing equal access to education across the world is more inspiring to me. Teach a boy to fish, and he can make sure that he and his family never go hungry. Teach the boy to cook, and he can do it in style.

Before I thought about certain ideas resonating more or less with specific people, I learned about the physics of resonant frequencies. Different materials have natural frequencies at which they tend to oscillate. When an external force drives oscillations at this natural frequency for a given material, resonance happens.

One of the most famous examples of resonance is the destruction of the Tacoma Narrows Bridge. Gusts of wind caused small vibrations in the bridge to become stronger and stronger until the bridge collapsed.

And yes, many physics ideas resonate with me!

For people, ideas that resonate do not need to lead to destruction. They can. Hitler’s idea that Jews should be eradicated was very destructive. However, there are many examples of resonating ideas having a positive impact on the world.

Consider Martin Luther King’s famous words.

I have a dream that one day this nation will rise up and live out the true meaning of its creed. We hold these truths to be self-evident that all men are created equal…

I have a dream that my four little children will one day live in a nation where they will not be judged by the color of their skin but by their character.

I have a dream today!

— I Have a Dream speech, 1963

After this speech, in 1964, President Lyndon Johnson signed The Civil Rights Act into law.

I think it’s a life-long process to determine which ideas resonate. And it’s up to each of us to determine what we want to do about having these ideas that resonate.

Simon Sinek calls this finding your WHY.

Because learning physics has been so important to me, I chose to teach physics to many students for about five years. Why not longer? Physics ideas are not the only ideas that resonate with me!

What ideas resonate most strongly with you?