14th US Invitational Young Physicists Tournament: Address from the President

Folks, this weekend I was supposed to be at The Science House at NC State University in Raleigh for the 14th annual USIYPT.  We didn't cancel the tournament due to COVID - we moved the event online.  Of course an online event doesn't provide the same camaraderie and interaction that we've come to expect from the community of physicists involved in the USIYPT.  But, we were glad to have a venue for students to present and discuss their work.

I'll post the tournament results in a day or two.  Right now, I thought I'd share the remarks from the President in the opening ceremony.  

If you'd like to get involved in our physics research/debate community, please contact me via email!  We hope to be in Raleigh in January of 2022.  We'd love to have you there with us, either as a juror or with a team!

Hi, Hello, and Welcome.  I’m Greg Jacobs, president of the USAYPT, the non-profit organization which has sponsored this tournament since 2007.

I want to address why we’re all here.

A young physicists tournament is certainly a competition.  We are engaged in a search for nature’s truths.  The juries will decide, in their judgment, which team today best communicated nature’s truths.  And we will all cheer for that team, congratulate them for their success.

But the reason I’m here goes way, way deeper than competition. 

I cannot abide what passes for discussion in the civil discourse of my country and the world right now. Too many people bring forth bad-faith arguments, based on known falsehoods, for the purpose of “winning”.  I have no patience or forgiveness for those who manipulate the truth in service of their own agenda and power.

Yet, it is an important intellectual and interpersonal exercise to engage in argumentative discussion where evidence is brought forth faithfully and analyzed dispassionately.  Where all parties agree that the goal of the discussion is to advance their understanding of the truth – even if that means their initial thoughts weren’t 100% correct.

The presence of those seeking the truth is infinitely to be preferred to the presence of those who think they've found it. – Terry Pratchett

That’s us. That’s this tournament. That’s why we are here.

Now, another fight I have with the civil discourse of the world is the meme that we – especially high school students! – must be perfect.  Get everything right, get an A, or shame on you.  Don’t ever be wrong, because that makes you worthless – the people who are worthy of our adulation are those who are never wrong, who have the best test scores, get into the “best” colleges, who get the “best” jobs.  Whatever that even means.

We are here to be brave, not perfect.  

Being brave means showing up today – even though your project could be a bit better with a few more weeks, or another chance to get physically into the lab with your teacher.  Being brave means being proud of the physics you did, the Truths you discovered – even if another team discovered way more Truth. 

Being brave means extending kindness and empathy toward every last person at this tournament.  We are all fighting demons in this awful year.  This tournament is a place where we  can set those demons aside, and work alongside other faculty and students who share our belief system: that the analysis and discussion of nature’s evidence is exciting and worthwhile.  

Please, students – during some downtime, go to gather.town, seek out a competitor, and tell them something specific you appreciate about them and their work.  Jurors –when you’re out of a round, tell a presenting student something you loved about their work.  Those tiny kindnesses go a long way toward exorcising demons.

Point is, whatever scores you see from jurors are a reflection of the relative quality of the physics they saw – they are not a judgment of you personally, or your team or your school.  This year of all years, just being here is a major accomplishment. And we judge you worthy for that accomplishment.

I know that each of the 11 teams here has disadvantages – whether you could work in person, whether you had money for equipment, whether you were sick, whatever.  If it happens that circumstances beyond your control leave you feeling at a disadvantage, use that experience as a reminder that many members of society, in each of our countries, face profound disadvantages and prejudices – and yet, those people are often worthy of being on our “team.”  

My team is the global community of physicists.  There is room on my team for anyone who works hard and respects the Truth of scientific evidence.  And every last one of you here is on my team.  Thank you so, so much for your dedication to sharing your pursuit of nature’s truths.