Different speeds, Different worlds

 Today, I happened to wake up very early and hence I had quite a bit of extra time at hand. Hence, instead of doing a brisk morning walk, I decided to walk slowly, covering the same distance in double the time. It was quite an interesting experience. I saw a lot of things that I had never noticed before, though I was following exactly the same path. I guess the world 'looks' (or 'becomes') different when we change our pace.

Of course, we see this in multiple scenarios. For example, what we see when we drive around a place is very different from what we see when we walk around the same place. What surprised me was the variation just based on the speed of walking. Maybe, different speeds of walking puts us in different frames of mind. Maybe, different frames of mind makes us see different things apart from possibly impacting the walking speed. Maybe, all these happen! 

This reminded me of a 'puzzle' that had captured my imagination when I started studying Physics. Assume that we have a static charge sitting somewhere peacefully, minding its own business. Now, if I stand still near it, I will experience an electrostatic field. If I walk past it at constant speed, I will experience a magnetic field. If I accelerate past it, I will experience an electromagnetic field. Therefore, I will experience different things based on what I am doing, though the electric charge is just sitting there while all this is happening*. So, the questions becomes 'what is really there'? 

In a way, this highlights the fact that while the 'objective reality' (if there is indeed such a thing) doesn't change, our 'subjective reality' can change our perception of the world. While this (that we can see what we want to see) might seem quite trivial (or as a case of 'blinding flash of the obvious') at first glance, it might not remain so when we realize that our sense-making process and hence the group/organization/societal reality is socially constructed to a very large extent!

Another interesting thing about the 'walking experience' is the how our experience changes when we come back to the same place to walk after a long time, say after a few years. In a way, the experience both changes and remains the same. It is because both the place and ourselves have changed and remained the same in various ways. I guess this (change and continuity at the same time) is what triggers nostalgia! It enables us to remember in a deep sense, that of 're-member' (being a member again) and hence it can indeed be an avenue for renewal. 

*Note: This is happening because of my relative motion with respect to the charge. A static charge creates an electrostatic filed around it. But, a moving change creates a magnetic field and an accelerated charge creates an electromagnetic field.