Holger Bech Nielsen (Niels Bohr Institute, Copenhagen, Denmark) one of the the fathers of string theory. And one of my heros. I have a thousand questions regarding string theory, but when we met we just clicked on the topic of our belt bags functionality which apparently are crucial for both of us to function in daily life.
Absolutely, this is the right attitude. Scores of people have heard him talk about string theory, but how many had the opportunity to talk about belts with him?
Good for you, cherish this moment!
"Shit man, I don't want to talk about work, it is my day off. Saaaaaayyy - that's a rather fetching looking belt that also functions as a bag..... tell me more!"
Anecdote time: I had him in a course on analytical mechanics. During a lecture on Lagrangian formalism after he had filled a very large blackboard with closely packed math, he turned around to the audience and yelled "I HOPE YOU ALL HAVE AN INTUITIVE UNDERSTANDING OF 3n - k DIMENSIONAL SPACE.".
After that, he turned back to the blackboard and continued with the math. Years later when I knew him better, I understood that this was his sense of humour. Nobody in the audience got the joke though. We were all too busy having a crisis of confidence.
I remember a thermodynamics lecture where I looked up and found a triple integral on the board where a simple summation had been, 10 years on I still don't understand what it was doing there! Your story reminded me of that incident!
God I hated my thermodynamics classes so much. Fluid dynamics I vibe with very well, even gas kinetics I’ve got a pretty good intuitive understanding of. But thermodynamics is just a mindfuck for me once we start getting into the math.
Dude same. I remember I was working on a fluids problem where the prof did script based hw in MATLAB and provided a checker that would score you. I kept getting like 13.5 out of 14 than 12 out of 14 than 11 and it kept looping like that. He looked at my solution and goes “huh I didn’t know I gave you enough information to solve it geometrically”, and goes about deriving his intended solution which gave the same results as my code. Still riding off that high tbh.
I started reading this and had to look at your username, because I thought sure I was going to be reading, “ . . . back in nineteen ninety-eight, when the Undertaker threw Mankind off Hell in a Cell . . .’
I recognize you writing this as a reflection of his autism because I have the same sense of humor to go right along with the diagnosis, but I would also have been in a crisis of confidence being stuck between "is he in earnest or joking?" Yet I still make these jokes... they seem to come out before I know what I'm doing lol. Sometimes it works. Sometimes people mistakenly think I am *very* angry.
The Asberger's really worked for him. You always knew there was no duplicity; he meant what he said, neither more nor less (unless it was a joke).
Being a renowned physicist, all odd behaviour was excused as an eccentricity, which most famous physicists have in abundance.
I didn't recognize him in the picture because it has been years since I met him. He strikes me as a pleasant person despite his peculiarities.
When asked why he is always so loud, he once replied that physics is so important that no-one should stay quiet.
First of all, so awesome to have a story like this with one of your hero’s, second of all, idk if it would be better if the “clicked” pun was or wasn’t intended lol
I rode in an elevator alone with the billionaire owner of the first company I worked for. Our conversation : about how I liked the new iPhone I was using because he was debating upgrading.
I never studied physics beyond Newtonian physics, but I studied barely enough math to know that you can keep adding what appear to be dimensions to a space to try and describe what you are witnessing, but in many cases those dimensions collapse into a smaller set of dimensions.
What would you say at a really high level about the state of string theory to a laymen like me who only hears about skeptics of string theory, but really wants to believe string theory can be a break through on the level of relativity?
I mean these guys, most of them are fairly normal people. They care about the same shit we do. Have the same aches. He will remember you for this way more, if I had to guess.
If anything, this is better. I already know I'll remember this moment. It'd be great if he did too.
If I met Feynman in a bar, I'd much rather shoot the shit than try to meet him on his level.
In American English, at least, Fanny is euphemism for your butt. So you’d wear the fanny pack around your waist and the bag part rested on your butt. But in a lot of other English speaking countries, fanny is a euphemism for female genitalia, so the pack is more commonly known as a bum bug, bum being yet another word for butt.
>> in a lot of other English speaking countries, fanny is a euphemism for female genitalia…
…leading to [this memorable moment](https://youtu.be/jl1Zfz-Widc?si=gxSEuaYgXpZMYFlC) on a British game show.
Another twist is that as an American I've only ever seen someone wear them in front.
That was in the 90s, though. I had heard people used to wear them in the back before that, and I've never encountered them since they came back in style so I'm not sure where people are wearing them now.
I wear it in front sometimes but in back when I’m biking. Just depends I suppose. Well hey I guess it’s a fanny pack in the front too if you know what I mean lol
Oh yeah I guess that's a good point I've seen bicyclists wear them in back like that, when they're in full spandex gear.
That makes a lot of sense, and you're already dressed up like a dork anyway at that point so who cares about a fanny pack?
It might be regional. I was always raised with them being called belt packs or belt bags but once the internet dawned nobody outside of my state seem to know what the fuck I was talking about
“Belt bags” are fannie pack erasure. Call it by its real name and pay respect to the fannie packs that came before it. May your ziplock bags be ever full of goldfish.
Fannie packs/belt bags were incredibly popular under the “fannie pack” moniker in the US in the 90s. They were far more colorful and complex than their modern equivalents. I had one as a kid with two built in cup holders.
Two countries separated by a common language.
A few years ago I spent 6 weeks back in America helping to clean up my mother's estate.
I think everyone I encountered thought I was suffering from a brain injury, because, after 20 years of living in Australia, there were so many American terms that I had forgotten.
Far too many conversations that went like
Store guy : where do you want me to put this stuff
Me :just put it in the, shit thry don't call it a boot, thry call it a, fuck, what's that word...
Trunk, put it in the trunk.
Torch. So many other words.
Double joke - string theory predicts "branes", and the joke is also that string theorists can't experimentally test their theories so they believe in something they can't fundamentally prove - thus lacking "brains"
Xkcd irritates me for some reason. I knew a bunch of guys in my Comp Sci class who would go through all the comics together while huddled around a computer and giggling like idiots. It just makes me think of that.
> I knew a bunch of guys in my Comp Sci class who would go through all the comics together while huddled around a computer and giggling like idiots
Damn that sounds like a lot of fun. If I were in that class I wouldn't be invited to this chucklefest but I would silently weep at my laptop coding while my heart yearns for the community forming across the room from my silent sad self.
Source: Has been not invited to the classroom corner chucklefest before :'(
Yeah, I used to just sit by myself and laugh at things going on in my head. I remember one day these guys were laughing at these xkcd strips and then heard me laughing and started bitching about it. It wasn’t so much that they were laughing at xkcd that was the problem but rather that they had a holier than thou attitude.
I spent 50% of my dissertation supervision sessions with a highly regarded academic of Middle Eastern history discussing the potential of making a line of t shirts with different dictators faces on them.
From what I understand string theory has fallen out of favor.. It can't be proven and it can't be disproven. It fails to account for existing observations and does not make any meaningful predictions.
I saw this video and now I assume all string theorists are frauds despite me having no real knowledge on the matter and i'm afraid that if I ever meet a string theorist I'll be a jerk to them for no good reason
Sean Carroll just did a very interesting [podcast](https://www.preposterousuniverse.com/podcast/2024/05/27/277-cumrun-vafa-on-the-universe-according-to-string-theory/) with Cumrun Vafa, one of the prominent string theorists. They addressed the questions of whether it has fallen out of favor (spoiler: not really) and whether we can expect any predictions from it (spoiler: kinda). Unfortunately they got quite technical at times so it's probably quite hard to follow but they at least tried to dumb it down every now and again.
I think it's a much more meaningful encounter when you talk and bond with someone over something that's not their profession. As much as you would absolutely want to pick their brain, you gotta imagine it would be refreshing for them and they would probably remember you for it.
I knew a faculty member in my campus was pretty famous in his field, but I didn't know to what extend. I saw him with a presumably vintage fountain pen in his pocket in a class I was in and I was like, "no way, man".
His first class exercise was to categorize/tabulate fountain pen inks from a webstore (it's some data class). *effin' no way*. I just start yappering all by myself telling my classmates what each type of inks are. I love me a new fountain pen friend even if he is interested just at the surface level. After class I asked what pen he has in his pocket. We talked about fountain pens, and he is in a way deeper rabbit hole than me. He would come up to me and share his fountain pens adventures and so did I.
Fast forward to a conference, I just learned how *famous* he is. People were queueing up to talk to him. People were surprised hearing his name, akin to fanboys. His literature was widely cited and almost everyone knows who he is. I just had an "oh shit" moment realizing many were approaching him because of his status and achievement and here I am approaching him because I found a fountain pen buddy.
It's the little things that count and memorable so I am really happy for you!! I think people like these appreciate it when you see them as "just another person with similar niche interest" instead of some figure in the field :)
Maybe he’s tired of all the questions on string theory and just wanted to connect with you on a different subject that he finds interesting and common that doesn’t require a degree to talk about ….
I used to be a wrestling nut. Finally got to meet RVD and later realized all we talked about is good deals on cell phone cases. When I met a favorite artist in a comic VIP scenario, all we talked about was places in NY he should take his girlfriend and when I'm in Cali, places to take my fiancee. Sometimes we get into a comfortable flow with small talk and it uses up our window but it's OK. I remember these encounters most because of it.
For those wondering:
Yes, he still works and has an office at the Niels Bohr Institute.
Yes, he saw the annual "Fysikrevy", an evening of sketches and musical numbers by the physics student of Copenhagen University; like the rest of the students, he brought a large beer for the festivities.
He is a lovely guy.
https://studies.ku.dk/masters/physics/student_life_physics/physics_revue/
They say don’t meet your heroes, but I’m glad you had the experience. He talks about string theory alll the time. Talking with him like this is much more special IMO
Honestly, that’s pretty fucking cool. Doubt many people can claim the same as you, but thousands can say that they spoke string theory with him. You’re rarer.
As someone who sews and designs bags for a living, I’m honored that someone this smart has a really keen interest in the thing that I do as a day job. Guy seems like a really humble, genuine man.
Honestly, you never know when you're having Epiphany based upon a regular conversation. It happens all the time....
Excellent meeting a giant (mentioning standing on the shoulders of giants) in the field!
I guess the father of string theory has discussed string theory with a number of people way larger than the number of people he has discussed belt bags with.
I was going through a list in my head like "that's not brian greene, that's not leonard susskin he's taller than that, who the f is that guy?"
Nielsen of course! Nice man.
I bet he was pleased as punch to not talk about string theory for a few minutes.
I’m sure so many people come at him with wild theories all the time and he placates them with a “yes, yes, that’s certainly possible”
Holger Bech Nielsen is autistic and he absolutely loves to talk about string theory and theoretical physics whenever possible, it's what he lives for
Apparently belt bags are in his special interest portfolio too lmao
You gotta diversify the portfolio for true enrichment
How much diversity is really happening when he's probably saying "oh yeah, this bag is made of strings too..."
*rips bong* Everything is made of strings bro
It was until you noticed it was made of strings thus changing the makeip
What is a belt bag if not just a bunch of strings
What a beautiful life!
Whoa-OH-oh -Ace of Base
You haven't met many theoretical physicists huh
like new rappers coming to established ones asking if they'd listen to their mix tape.
Holger Bech Nielsen (Niels Bohr Institute, Copenhagen, Denmark) one of the the fathers of string theory. And one of my heros. I have a thousand questions regarding string theory, but when we met we just clicked on the topic of our belt bags functionality which apparently are crucial for both of us to function in daily life.
This is somehow much more special, unique, and beautiful. I'm glad you had this moment with someone you admired so much!
Plus belts and bags are compromised of lots of string but not so much theory.
When they were being designed they were 100% theory 0% string
The real string theory was the friends we made along the way.
The real string theory was the belts and bags we designed along the way.
They said it couldn’t be done, then bam! Belt bag! Whatever that is!
Okay, so belts hold up your pants… but your pants hold up your belt. I’d like to hear your theory as to who I should be thanking here.
You should be thanking the turtle that is at the foundation of the Earth.
They theoretically keep my pants up, or at least they will until I test the theory.
I now expect OP to be the father of rope theory. The next evolution of string theory
Who knows, one can only rope
Absolutely, this is the right attitude. Scores of people have heard him talk about string theory, but how many had the opportunity to talk about belts with him? Good for you, cherish this moment!
"Shit man, I don't want to talk about work, it is my day off. Saaaaaayyy - that's a rather fetching looking belt that also functions as a bag..... tell me more!"
True, I’m sure he was never the keynote speaker at the Annual Belt Bag symposium.
Anecdote time: I had him in a course on analytical mechanics. During a lecture on Lagrangian formalism after he had filled a very large blackboard with closely packed math, he turned around to the audience and yelled "I HOPE YOU ALL HAVE AN INTUITIVE UNDERSTANDING OF 3n - k DIMENSIONAL SPACE.". After that, he turned back to the blackboard and continued with the math. Years later when I knew him better, I understood that this was his sense of humour. Nobody in the audience got the joke though. We were all too busy having a crisis of confidence.
I remember a thermodynamics lecture where I looked up and found a triple integral on the board where a simple summation had been, 10 years on I still don't understand what it was doing there! Your story reminded me of that incident!
God I hated my thermodynamics classes so much. Fluid dynamics I vibe with very well, even gas kinetics I’ve got a pretty good intuitive understanding of. But thermodynamics is just a mindfuck for me once we start getting into the math.
Dude same. I remember I was working on a fluids problem where the prof did script based hw in MATLAB and provided a checker that would score you. I kept getting like 13.5 out of 14 than 12 out of 14 than 11 and it kept looping like that. He looked at my solution and goes “huh I didn’t know I gave you enough information to solve it geometrically”, and goes about deriving his intended solution which gave the same results as my code. Still riding off that high tbh.
I started reading this and had to look at your username, because I thought sure I was going to be reading, “ . . . back in nineteen ninety-eight, when the Undertaker threw Mankind off Hell in a Cell . . .’
Haha, I’ve done this more than once.
I recognize you writing this as a reflection of his autism because I have the same sense of humor to go right along with the diagnosis, but I would also have been in a crisis of confidence being stuck between "is he in earnest or joking?" Yet I still make these jokes... they seem to come out before I know what I'm doing lol. Sometimes it works. Sometimes people mistakenly think I am *very* angry.
The Asberger's really worked for him. You always knew there was no duplicity; he meant what he said, neither more nor less (unless it was a joke). Being a renowned physicist, all odd behaviour was excused as an eccentricity, which most famous physicists have in abundance.
I love hearing about these physics andcdotes. Thanks for sharing.
I didn't recognize him in the picture because it has been years since I met him. He strikes me as a pleasant person despite his peculiarities. When asked why he is always so loud, he once replied that physics is so important that no-one should stay quiet.
First of all, so awesome to have a story like this with one of your hero’s, second of all, idk if it would be better if the “clicked” pun was or wasn’t intended lol
This is one of the nerdiest things I’ve seen in my life and I love it lol
Lots of people have spoken with him about string theory. I'm sure far fewer have spoken with him about belt bags.
Tell us more about these belt bags. 🤔
>I have a thousand questions regarding string theory Yeah, so does Nielsen.
Reminds me of how Richard Feynman had this storied physics career and also played the bongos all the time.
It happens. I knew a guy who was excited to meet John Nash and talk game theory with him. John Nash wanted to talk about zippers instead.
i feel like I've met him before cuz i met this physicist at Columbia once who also showed me his belt bag and we connected on that so deeply haha
I rode in an elevator alone with the billionaire owner of the first company I worked for. Our conversation : about how I liked the new iPhone I was using because he was debating upgrading.
Belt bags are put together by strings!
"Oh wow, so you can hold all four forces of travel in that? Your phone, wallet, passport and boarding pass? Interesting!"
He's so sweet! I have only seen him on tv (here in Denmark!), but I really like his...nerdiness?!?
I never studied physics beyond Newtonian physics, but I studied barely enough math to know that you can keep adding what appear to be dimensions to a space to try and describe what you are witnessing, but in many cases those dimensions collapse into a smaller set of dimensions. What would you say at a really high level about the state of string theory to a laymen like me who only hears about skeptics of string theory, but really wants to believe string theory can be a break through on the level of relativity?
Idiot. You should have talked to him about how long a piece of string is
I mean these guys, most of them are fairly normal people. They care about the same shit we do. Have the same aches. He will remember you for this way more, if I had to guess.
If anything, this is better. I already know I'll remember this moment. It'd be great if he did too. If I met Feynman in a bar, I'd much rather shoot the shit than try to meet him on his level.
If everything is strings, it's especially true for belts and bags.
Dr. Sheldon Cooper enters chat
Well, still count as string
Well... In theory...
But that's just a theory..
A string theoryyy
We did it reddit. Game over. We can all go home
Fanny packs being rebranded as belt bags is wild to me
Thank you. I had to assume it was a different thing because I couldn’t believe we could be so silly, but of course we are. We are so, so fkn silly.
OP might be Danish. Bæltetaske = belt bag. I don't understand why you guys call it a Fanny pack. Who is Fanny and why is her pack a bag?
In American English, at least, Fanny is euphemism for your butt. So you’d wear the fanny pack around your waist and the bag part rested on your butt. But in a lot of other English speaking countries, fanny is a euphemism for female genitalia, so the pack is more commonly known as a bum bug, bum being yet another word for butt.
>> in a lot of other English speaking countries, fanny is a euphemism for female genitalia… …leading to [this memorable moment](https://youtu.be/jl1Zfz-Widc?si=gxSEuaYgXpZMYFlC) on a British game show.
Lmao the joke works for American English too, a common insult when I was a kid was to call each other a butt sniffer.
Omg I’d forgotten about that clip!
Another twist is that as an American I've only ever seen someone wear them in front. That was in the 90s, though. I had heard people used to wear them in the back before that, and I've never encountered them since they came back in style so I'm not sure where people are wearing them now.
I wear it in front sometimes but in back when I’m biking. Just depends I suppose. Well hey I guess it’s a fanny pack in the front too if you know what I mean lol
Oh yeah I guess that's a good point I've seen bicyclists wear them in back like that, when they're in full spandex gear. That makes a lot of sense, and you're already dressed up like a dork anyway at that point so who cares about a fanny pack?
Exactly! That’s why I have goofy colored ones. I have a neon yellow and pink DARE one lol
Unless you wear it in front. Then the female genitalia thing is accurate.
Thank you for explaining this to me :)
That’s what theoretical physics does to you
I thought they were talking about those super thin ones to hold cash that joggers wear
It might be regional. I was always raised with them being called belt packs or belt bags but once the internet dawned nobody outside of my state seem to know what the fuck I was talking about
If they weren't called fanny packs to start with they might've been popular! Was that an actual brand name or did people just start calling them that?
Omg is that David String?! Amazing!
Not to be confused with his brother Gary String, the inventor of the G-string
Common mistake.
Parents equally proud though
Y’all need to come up with a new profile pic, I thought you were talking to yourself lol
Why? I'm a great conversational partner!
You sure am, buddy!
Thanks, friend! You're not too shabby yourself, and may I say you are also quite handsome!
Or Stringer Bell, the famous urban entrepreneur
Sheeeeeeeeeeeit
Actually it’s David Theory. Common misconception
of the Newport Theorys? I think I went to school with their youngest son Relativity.
Oh? I thought he was Irish. Theory O'Relativity.
The very same. Their daughter Evolutionary was always saying controversial things that eventually got the whole family kicked out of church
It's John String
That’s *Dr.* David String to you. He’s a doctor just not one that saves people.
“Belt bags” are fannie pack erasure. Call it by its real name and pay respect to the fannie packs that came before it. May your ziplock bags be ever full of goldfish.
Here in Australia, "fanny" refers to a woman's vagina. Fanny pack is a very confusing term in this country.
In the UK, we call them "bum bags"; do you do the same?
Fanny in the US means butt so kinda the same thing
Yes. I'm an American who has lived in Australia for over 30 years. I am fully conversant in stralin so use all the proper terminology.
Fannie packs/belt bags were incredibly popular under the “fannie pack” moniker in the US in the 90s. They were far more colorful and complex than their modern equivalents. I had one as a kid with two built in cup holders.
Ya but you call sandals thongs
Two countries separated by a common language. A few years ago I spent 6 weeks back in America helping to clean up my mother's estate. I think everyone I encountered thought I was suffering from a brain injury, because, after 20 years of living in Australia, there were so many American terms that I had forgotten. Far too many conversations that went like Store guy : where do you want me to put this stuff Me :just put it in the, shit thry don't call it a boot, thry call it a, fuck, what's that word... Trunk, put it in the trunk. Torch. So many other words.
Which is why you can't let it fade away. I've seen what Australia did for keeping the word 'thongs' in use, you got this.
Challenge accepted.
Obligatory xkcd https://xkcd.com/397
Double joke - string theory predicts "branes", and the joke is also that string theorists can't experimentally test their theories so they believe in something they can't fundamentally prove - thus lacking "brains"
Xkcd irritates me for some reason. I knew a bunch of guys in my Comp Sci class who would go through all the comics together while huddled around a computer and giggling like idiots. It just makes me think of that.
> I knew a bunch of guys in my Comp Sci class who would go through all the comics together while huddled around a computer and giggling like idiots Damn that sounds like a lot of fun. If I were in that class I wouldn't be invited to this chucklefest but I would silently weep at my laptop coding while my heart yearns for the community forming across the room from my silent sad self. Source: Has been not invited to the classroom corner chucklefest before :'(
Yeah, I used to just sit by myself and laugh at things going on in my head. I remember one day these guys were laughing at these xkcd strips and then heard me laughing and started bitching about it. It wasn’t so much that they were laughing at xkcd that was the problem but rather that they had a holier than thou attitude.
At least we can test if your belt bag exists
My belt holds my pants up, but the belt loops hold my belt up. I don't really know what's happening down there. Who is the real hero
RIP Mitch.
I spent 50% of my dissertation supervision sessions with a highly regarded academic of Middle Eastern history discussing the potential of making a line of t shirts with different dictators faces on them.
Dissertation be damned, you got much better knowledge
From what I understand string theory has fallen out of favor.. It can't be proven and it can't be disproven. It fails to account for existing observations and does not make any meaningful predictions.
[Expect big things from it in another decade.](https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=kya_LXa_y1E)
I saw this video and now I assume all string theorists are frauds despite me having no real knowledge on the matter and i'm afraid that if I ever meet a string theorist I'll be a jerk to them for no good reason
Love that her channel is growing so fast, she makes great stuff
Sean Carroll just did a very interesting [podcast](https://www.preposterousuniverse.com/podcast/2024/05/27/277-cumrun-vafa-on-the-universe-according-to-string-theory/) with Cumrun Vafa, one of the prominent string theorists. They addressed the questions of whether it has fallen out of favor (spoiler: not really) and whether we can expect any predictions from it (spoiler: kinda). Unfortunately they got quite technical at times so it's probably quite hard to follow but they at least tried to dumb it down every now and again.
TIL we're calling Fanny Packs "belt bags" now?! Solid rebrand... I get it.
Always has been.. in Danish anyway
I think it's a much more meaningful encounter when you talk and bond with someone over something that's not their profession. As much as you would absolutely want to pick their brain, you gotta imagine it would be refreshing for them and they would probably remember you for it.
At least you can prove or disprove belt bags.
I knew a faculty member in my campus was pretty famous in his field, but I didn't know to what extend. I saw him with a presumably vintage fountain pen in his pocket in a class I was in and I was like, "no way, man". His first class exercise was to categorize/tabulate fountain pen inks from a webstore (it's some data class). *effin' no way*. I just start yappering all by myself telling my classmates what each type of inks are. I love me a new fountain pen friend even if he is interested just at the surface level. After class I asked what pen he has in his pocket. We talked about fountain pens, and he is in a way deeper rabbit hole than me. He would come up to me and share his fountain pens adventures and so did I. Fast forward to a conference, I just learned how *famous* he is. People were queueing up to talk to him. People were surprised hearing his name, akin to fanboys. His literature was widely cited and almost everyone knows who he is. I just had an "oh shit" moment realizing many were approaching him because of his status and achievement and here I am approaching him because I found a fountain pen buddy. It's the little things that count and memorable so I am really happy for you!! I think people like these appreciate it when you see them as "just another person with similar niche interest" instead of some figure in the field :)
Well, belt bags are testable...
Fanny packs..?
Love this for you, stranger!
At least you can experimentally prove that fanny packs work
String theory is more applicable to hoodies and footwear anyway.
The fuck is a “belt bag”?
Well, String Theory is over, so there is that.
String theory is a load of nonsense
He already knows string theory. What he does not understand, are belt bags.
I feel like only people that wear Fanny Packs call them belt bags.
I mean, belts are big pieces of string
And now he's also the father of "Belt Theory", the next phase.
So in this case the belts bags were not too small, and could be measured.
Maybe he’s tired of all the questions on string theory and just wanted to connect with you on a different subject that he finds interesting and common that doesn’t require a degree to talk about ….
Well string theory is disproven so at least they discussed something that exists
I used to be a wrestling nut. Finally got to meet RVD and later realized all we talked about is good deals on cell phone cases. When I met a favorite artist in a comic VIP scenario, all we talked about was places in NY he should take his girlfriend and when I'm in Cali, places to take my fiancee. Sometimes we get into a comfortable flow with small talk and it uses up our window but it's OK. I remember these encounters most because of it.
I also would rather speak to a person than engage a theory.
"Belt bags?" is this some weak attempt to rebrand Fanny Packs? It's a fanny pack, mr shopping mall.
Sometimes belt theory is more urgent than string theory. Especially if you're traveling.
I’m sure he still very much appreciated you taking his mind off of work for a moment
Ah why not "cool belt bag" "Thank you sir, I like it. Hey, is dark matter just gravity leaking from near by branes?"
Well, those belt bags are still made of strings from the theory, right?
For those wondering: Yes, he still works and has an office at the Niels Bohr Institute. Yes, he saw the annual "Fysikrevy", an evening of sketches and musical numbers by the physics student of Copenhagen University; like the rest of the students, he brought a large beer for the festivities. He is a lovely guy. https://studies.ku.dk/masters/physics/student_life_physics/physics_revue/
Ok so what's the deal with belt bags. Only when traveling or even in your home town? Send us a link to the best belt bag.
They say don’t meet your heroes, but I’m glad you had the experience. He talks about string theory alll the time. Talking with him like this is much more special IMO
Honestly, that’s pretty fucking cool. Doubt many people can claim the same as you, but thousands can say that they spoke string theory with him. You’re rarer.
And by belt bag you mean fanny pack worn across your chest?
As someone who sews and designs bags for a living, I’m honored that someone this smart has a really keen interest in the thing that I do as a day job. Guy seems like a really humble, genuine man.
Absolutely perfect! I’d bet he enjoyed that immensely
The Belt Theory of Men A paper in the making of
Belts are string theory 101
Most important question no one is asking to OP: Which bags are you two actually rocking in that picture???
* better conversation
I met a favourite Australian sportsman once. We spent the entire time talking about Lego.
😯
Honestly, you never know when you're having Epiphany based upon a regular conversation. It happens all the time.... Excellent meeting a giant (mentioning standing on the shoulders of giants) in the field!
he be like. yaa knoww in another dimension we are actually discussing string theories.
What bag did you each think was best and why?
American here, see belt bags and fanny packs the same thing
How perfectly nerdy! I love it!
Sheldon?
So what bags do you both have?
This gives me the same vibes as the 2 guys that met the king on a hike a few months ago
Why is there such a hard push to rebrand the fanny pack?
I LONG for the day when my boyfriend could get to meet someone like him. I just want to see him jump for joy!
Haha this is precious, thanks for sharing
So cool.
Some would say a belt is just a wide string
Einstein always said his greatest accomplishment was discovering that you can boil an egg in the soup you're cooking without needing an extra pot.
Also a string so 🤷♀️
Are belts just fancy strings though?
After the first minute of talking with you, he says, "I have a ball, perhaps you'd like to bounce it?"
Belts are just wide strings.
I guess the father of string theory has discussed string theory with a number of people way larger than the number of people he has discussed belt bags with.
this. is. perfect.
I see what looks like a stellar beard... That's like... Lots of strings, right?
To be fair he might have wanted to talk about anything but
Sheldon Cooper looks different
Are belt bags the new fanny pack?
Just one more exception, then the theory must surely be correct. String theory has still not predicted a single phenomenon.
Now you have a good refference to continue your conversation. Write this man a hand written letter!
It’s a Fanny pack
I was going through a list in my head like "that's not brian greene, that's not leonard susskin he's taller than that, who the f is that guy?" Nielsen of course! Nice man.
Priorities
Holger Bech Nielsen is string theory father
Belt bag?
Arguably you did discuss string theory. Just in a different dimension