Goddess or Delilah!

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Lay down you, your inquiring guard awhile,
And in she flows, untainted, nubile,
Into your innards, uninhibited, charming,
Gripping you with her innocent smile,

Weeks of effort, months of meditation,
Post punishing routine of practice, mile after mile,
The climax, that instant of clarity when she flows in,
Apparently making the effort all worthwhile…

Yet flows in she, only when guard you drop down,
Challenging rationality you surrender to her guile,
Whether goddess or delilah you question no longer,
Only then that damsel named ‘understanding’ enters,
Permeates you in her subtle, inimitable style,

So indoctrinated you are by the time you usually ‘understand’,
Critical independent thought, you’ve surrendered to her wile,
Goddess or delilah you’re capable of questioning no longer,
Tell me then, is all this effort of yours to ‘understand’ really worthwhile?!

Misc. Quotes

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"There are two ways of doing calculations in theoretical physics. One way, and this is the way I prefer, is to have a clear physical picture of the process that you are calculating. The other way is to have a precise and self-consistent mathematical formalism."

-Enrico Fermi to Freeman Dyson (1953)