Finding Joy in Black Holes (Again)

Black holes have captured my attention once again. I spent Friday night reading Leonard Susskind’s General Relativity: The Theoretical Minimum, and I couldn’t pull myself away from it, much like a black hole does to anything unfortunate enough to cross its event horizon. As a graduate student who spent most of his time analyzing data and writing code, I was not required to focus intently on the theoretical aspects of black holes and the rigorous mathematics that accompanies them. I’d be lying if it didn’t induce a bit of FOMO in me back then. Now that I’m out of graduate school and out in the “real world”, one might wonder why I’m indulging this interest once more. The truth is, I’m not sure. I suspect it is just in my nature to stay close to my physics roots. I have an insatiable need to know as much as possible about the world because I’m innately curious. Perhaps it is simply the joy of findings things out, and for me, that’s a good enough reason to keep learning.