Physics is very muddled again at the moment; it is much too hard for me anyway, and I wish I were a movie comedian or something like that and had never heard anything about physics!
Interpretation
The quote expresses frustration with the complexity of physics and a longing for a simpler, more entertaining profession.
Wolfgang Pauli humorously reflects on the challenges and frustrations of understanding advanced physics, admitting that it feels overly complicated for him. His wish to be a movie comedian instead highlights a desire for a simpler, more enjoyable life, contrasting the heavy intellectual burden of scientific inquiry.
In practice
Use this quote to highlight the challenges faced in advanced studies during a seminar.
The layman always means, when he says "reality" that he is speaking of something self-evidently known; whereas to me it seems the most important and exceedingly difficult task of our time is to work on the construction of a new idea of reality.
That's not right. That's not even wrong.
The fact that the author thinks slowly is not serious, but the fact that he publishes faster than he thinks is inexcusable.
What really matters for me is ... the more active role of the observer in quantum physics ... According to quantum physics the observer has indeed a new relation to the physical events around him in comparison with the classical observer, who is merely a spectator.
I confess, that very different from you, I do find sometimes scientific inspiration in mysticism ... but this is counterbalanced by an immediate sense for mathematics.
This isn't right. This isn't even wrong.
If you've been wondering where the next gold rush is going to take place, look up at the night sky to our closest celestial neighbor. The next economic boom might just be a mere 240,000 miles away on the bella luna.
I think that the future of the human race is to spread through the universe, and now is the time that we should be laying the foundations for that.
The magnitude of the atomic weight determines the character of the element, just as the magnitude of the molecule determines the character of a compound body.
Here I am at the turn of the millennium and I'm still the last man to have walked on the moon, somewhat disappointing. It says more about what we have not done than about what we have done.
I have lived much of my life among molecules. They are good company. I tell my students to try to know molecules, so well that when they have some question involving molecules, they can ask themselves, What would I do if I were that molecule? I tell them, Try to feel like a molecule; and if you work hard, who knows? Some day you may get to feel like a big molecule!
The revolution which began with the creation of quantum theory and relativity theory can only be finished with their unification into a single theory that can give us a single, comprehensive picture of nature.
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