My daughter is in the 6th grade and has what sounds like a really cool social sciences/language arts teacher. Last night at the dinner table she was explaining a conversation that occurred in the classroom (explained in the email so I won't reiterate it here) which struck a deep cord of the geek girl in me.
I couldn't help myself and had to email her teacher to correct the imagined (on my part) grievous error in his explanation and understanding of lightsaber technology.
Please note that the teacher does indeed school me. I take it all in stride though; this is what happens when you argue about imaginary science...but hey, isn't that what most physicists do? (kidding...kidding...for the most part...)
Me original email to the teacher -
Let me preface this by saying that Fiona was absolutely appalled that I was going to email you because she really enjoys you as a teacher and truly enjoys your classes. I told her I’d email but I do so in a friendly way and not in an angry parent sort of way. I’m almost finished with my PhD in Anthropology in which I focus on popular culture (video games specifically) and just got back from a Popular Culture Conference in Minnesota so teachings of popular culture is very much on the forefront of my mind.
I’m Fiona’s mom and last night she was telling me about a lesson you were teaching on the suspension of disbelief and you used the example of the Star War’s lightsaber. She said that she was told that because they were made of light you couldn’t stop light and therefore had to suspend your disbelieve and just enjoy them for the fiction. (Now it’s possible Fiona got this wrong but I just wanted to make sure we’re all on the same page).
A light saber isn’t exactly made of light. It’s bound energy that more resembles plasma more than anything else. I took this from a fan site: “The weapon consisted of a blade of pure plasma energy emitted from the hilt and suspended in a force containment field.” As bounded energy or plasma, it CAN be easy contained by the apparatus in which it is housed.
Once unleashed, the power channels through a positively charged continuous energy lens at the center of the handle. The beam then arcs circumferentially back to a negatively charged high energy flux aperture. A superconductor transfers the power from the flux aperture to the power cell. As a result, a lightsaber only expends power when its blade cuts through something. So efficient is the blade, that it does not radiate heat unless it comes into contact with something.
Even if it were light you could contain it by a reflection apparatus on each end causing a refractor loop to contain and harness the light. So while it’s an awesome example of the suspension of disbelieve it was incorrect in the world of popular culture rhetoric and knowledge. :)
My point here in writing is just to say that the lightsaber is NOT made of light as its name would suggest but plasma which is much more easily contained and easily within the realm of possibility. I wanted to let you know that, your lesson spurred a nice long discussion of Star Wars, physics, lightsaber technology and the notion of suspension of disbelief last night during dinner. It’s great to see teachers incorporating popular culture references into their lessons because it really helps the students make a connection with the lesson.
As I said, this isn’t meant as an angry sort of parent letter…more of a “here’s what I’m thinking” sort of thing.
May the Force be with You!!! :)
His AWESOME response -
Touché.
Thank you. I appreciate more than you may be aware your dinner conversation. I am so glad that it was a topic of discussion. I think you will really like our discussions in the future of how we use the Cosmogonic Cycle of Campbell (which we call the Hero Cycle)to map stories and literature. Star Wars is again a perfect example of it.
As for the lightsaber, I did not realize that it was an arc of plasma energy focused by an “energy lens”. It must have been invented in the same research laboratory as the Heisenberg Compensator for Star Trek’s transporter.
May the Force be with you as well,
I did email him back after that to let him know I couldn't wait for my daughter to come to discuss the lesson on Campbell's Hero Cycle.
I think we took it both in stride as I recognize he schooled me and he recognized that in the world of fan fiction he had gotten an important fact wrong. My daughter told me that he talked about the email in class today an discussed the "correct" idea behind the light saber. I guess for this geek mom it was a win-win and lesson learned for both of us.
Only thing is...I wish I had a teacher this cool when I was in middle school!
