April 1, 2008

Wavelength

Lamda. MS Word --> Font--> Symbol (or Greek). The eleventh letter in the Greek alphabet. Speed over frequency. Whatever way you think of it, this little squiggle that looks like a wishbone is one of the most key elements for a person's ability to achieve a steady state of mind with respect to how they portray themselves interacting with other people.

Waves, as you may recall, can have positive or destructive interference. They may travel in or out of phase. Crests and troughs are the high and low points and half the distance between them is the amplitude.

These parameters mimic real life. Interactions between people are often in or out of phase. They are getting along great one minute, the next: well, someone drops their end of the slinky. When relationships between people are in phase, life is just hunky-dory. Sometimes you know when you are perfectly in phase with the other person. You can say anything to them and they could not only complete your thought, but also return some quick witty banter right back (that is hopefully relevant to the conversation at hand, and not something like "... well that's what your MOM said!"). Being in sync with another person can be one of the most enjoyable relationships ever for as long as it can remain steady. Sometimes I think that the waves are travelling at ever-so-slightly different speeds though, and the second that this is realized, one person will be grasping for the aspirin, the other for a bottle. Sometimes these little remedies are enough to get the relationship back in check, or the waves back in phase, but other times the waves get farther and farther apart, and people grow tired of trying to find that constant period. It is during these times that when a new wave oscillating at the same frequency as the one that you are becomes especially intriguing; and your wave diverges from your partner's wave even faster. The amplitude of energy associated with this new wave is boosting your very own energy. It is possible, after all, for two waves to be travelling with the same frequency, but having different amplitudes from eachother.

It's not uncommon to hear about relationships that get so far out of phase from another (one person's crest is the other's trough), that they begin to converge to that same sized wavelength they were once on before. Perhaps this time, given that adversity has been overcome, the wavelengths will be shorter such that the frequency will be higher and the energy maintained in the relationship will be proportionately greater.

When two in-phase waves travelling towards eachother create positive interference, an overwhelming generation of emotion occurs. Sometimes this emotion goes over the top when you see your auntie doing cartwheels in the kitchen because she's a little over-excited for your uncle's 60th birthday. But in most occasions, this new amplitude of emotion is just a wonderful feeling and you wish that you could remain in this state with whoever it is forever. Sometimes these waves do hold out, even though they were heading in opposite directions. A standing wave equation could defend this mathematically.

Opposing waves that are out of sync will create destructive interference when they meet. Usually the lack of energy generated in this situations makes the people happy enough to just bypass eachother and not show any more emotion than perhaps a nod of the head, if eye contact is met.

I see myself as a pretty high energy ~ high frequency wave guy in most circumstances. Sure, dips in the curve are inevitable, I know, but I think that with the right person around, these dips become shallower as a result of positive interference. In return, the other person will also benefit from this high frequency (low wavelength) energy. In the end, a positive amplitude will endure through most of the wave's existence, or propogation.

Physics 20 Rocks.

2 comments:

  1. engineers are supposed to be able to do technical writing i hear. well, i don't know how my tech writing skills are, but if this is science-y, then i suppose i can consider myself sort of in the same ball park as technical writers might be. maybe.

    ReplyDelete