There was a documentary on the beginning of the universe yesterday, and I saw a few minutes of it (I was far more tempted by the rare glimpse of The Daily Show; I think I prefer comedy over the profound nature of reality!). For some reason, whatever few minutes I saw of it made me realize how strange this all is. I was reminded of a funny line I read on a site that was philosophising about the meaning of life (unfortunately, I don't have the link), which, to paraphrase, went something like "Well, no-one knows what we're doing here". But thinking about the origins of the universe from a physics point of view makes me remember why I was so interested in physics at the end of high-school. Although I didn't understand most of it, the more bizarre topics (such as quantum superposition) really caught my interest, and I would take great pleasure in reading anything I could on such topics when they appeared in New Scientist. I went into uni with the intent of completing at least two years of physics, actually, but the first year wasn't as glamorous as I'd hoped. Fluid-flows, forces, they didn't really interest me; I was waiting for Young's double-slit experiment, and talk of alternate dimensions and parallel universes! Disappointed, I resigned myself to a year of calculus and software design. The interest is still there, although it's currently dormant and resurfaces only when provoked by an interesting book. I ought to try and rekindle the interest in my spare time, if only to get a different perspective on what in the world this all means.

Incidentally, this site about "The Singularity" came up when I was entertaining myself by reading FAQs on the meaning of life (it's better than working out class invariants, believe me). I haven't read it enough to really understand what it's about, but another great use of this blog is reminding me of things to read when I have the time (does that sound like a joke? It isn't..!).