A professor at Columbia wanted to make the point that in order to learn quantum mechanics, you have to erase everything you know and expect the opposite. So, to prove this, he put on some dance music, stripped down to his underwear, and, well...
Against a backdrop of 9/11 and Holocaust images, he remained in a fetal position as two people dressed as ninjas blindfolded stuffed animals.
Maybe there was a point to be made in there - the video footage cuts out after the provocative intro. But it comes off as the most spectacular career suicide one could imagine.
The New York Daily News has the full story. Here's the video, in which the students laugh awkwardly and wonder out loud what the hell is happening:
If the guy keeps his job, I imagine that Hitler will respond via viral video. And then the professor can use that in his lecture too.
h/t Gallen_Dugall
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33 comments
@FabioRezendeAlso: Because physicists are so normal,to begin with...
yeah, tell me about it!
I dunno how well the facility'll look at his exploits, but judging by Hughes' credentials, he's pretty much the best guy to explain it to you. When I looked around everyone was being a crybaby about it. Sure, it's different.. but also IT ISN'T BORING.
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if you want a quick gloss on Quantum Mechanics try Brian Green's The Elegant Universe
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@ToplessRobot That is precisely how Professor Howard Birack should describe quantum mechanics in a modern remake of Prince of Darkness.
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Um...that was...something.
So does this mean that every time I hear this song on the radio, I get a step closer to understanding the secrets of the universe or something? Was this secretly some sort of mad educational tune all along?
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@SlyDante777 In some universe, it's probably an integral part of School House Rock.
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@SlyDante777 I don't know. I'm not allowed to hear the song in the US. Is that a Quantum thing?
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@Someguy @SlyDante777 Seriously? I thought we were above dicking over other countries with internet videos...Okay, see if this works instead.
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Well...That was educational.....
http://25.media.tumblr.com/tumblr_m8o3d4YGLq1qf6fnqo1_500.gif
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@Gallen_Dugall @kft5016 One time there was an ongoing feud between two religion profs at my school. They would dash into one another's lectures and throw candy/fruit/other random things at each other, and then run away giggling. Sometimes they would involve the TAs. It was just basically silly fun. Then one of them got two TAs to dress up as ninjas and drop a giant inflatable banana in the other prof's lecture. Apparently some of the freshmen perceived this as some sort of terrorist attack/school shooting-level emergency, so the administration had to shut it down.
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@rabidronnie Here, this one always works when talking about Quantum physics.
http://25.media.tumblr.com/tumblr_m3zkamJxvy1qk02awo2_500.gif
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@Someguy @rabidronnie Only if this is Bakula's date:
[IMG]http://i.imgur.com/LJZkl.gif[/IMG]
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@Someguy @rabidronnie we'll write up the paper together. We'll make millions. "The Bakula/Benedict gif Theorem." I can see the symposium invitations now. . .
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@rabidronnie @Someguy You know, I think we just solved Quantum Mechanics and how it relates to basic physics.
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I think the whole act, at least how I read it, was a response to being asked to teach a single hour class on Quantum Physics, and rather than admit that he didn't know how to summarize such a complex topic so he did this instead. Not very professional, but we're talking about academia
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@Gallen_Dugall Wait--all of academia is like this??
The things I have missed while studying at a small private university. . . .
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That is how I explain to people how Bayformers sucked yet still made a ton of money.
Besides, by Quantum Mechanics somewhere this was a good idea.
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@Someguy Probably the darkest timeline from Community. He would have done better with a felt goatee.
