About Mass

A surprising talk while walking for a blood test.

There is the first go to definition that "Mass is the amount of Matter in an object". I look at this for a while and it really does not say that much and at the end of the day puts a damper on curiosity.

I then look at the Mass as procedure and expand following a developing understanding from early school to the last years of an undergraduate degree. There are four procedural angles in to understanding mass. This is Gravitational, Inertial, Essence and Quantum. The last has come into favor with a definition of the kilogram based on Planck's constant.

Just as I was coming to terms with the more complex nuances of a socially defined concept outside our grasp, the Higgs boson is discovered. A deeper understanding is slowly emerging. With out meaning to be condescending I think we are in a pretty poor shape in our understanding of the concepts that lead to comprehending the Higgs field.

I think I have a humble insight into our non-understanding mass, by going back to the birth of the idea by Giles of Rome. Reducing what he says I think he means Mass is the answer to problems we know need solution, but we don't fully grasp the problem or solution yet.

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