Few months back, I received an email from abroad asking if I'm still in the institute or not and I replied in the negative. The person then wrote back but now with some negative tone and putting down some colleagues back then. I decided not to reply because of its negativity. The person then scolded me for not replying and thus, I replied saying I have no interest in bringing up things of the past particularly negativities. I said nobody is perfect and that I have moved on.
Time and time again, I do get negativities and today is one such day, which troubles me a little.
I'm not sure what this alludes to. Have I indoctrinated anyone in the past? I may have made remarks privately and they were often reactions to comments and remarks that I have received. Some time ago, I have always been reminded that the organization I was with, was for mathematicians (while I was a staff of Physics Dept.). I did convey to my junior colleagues that asserting this may not be deemed positive by others, will probably work against the institute and thus, I have advised against it in a way. With respect to mathematics, I have my deepest respect for the field, which is quite close to theoretical physics, particularly those within pure mathematics. Historically, mathematics and physics have been quite close - just simply dig up the evidence in the literature; it is all there. I may have also made private remarks on philosophy but this again often as reactions to philosopher friends and colleagues who touch upon theoretical physics matters. I remembered a few instances, a philosopher colleague then presented the hierarchy of knowledge placing mathematics above natural science and engineering, with maths just below metaphysics. Perhaps the ordering is along the abstraction axis, but to me this says little of ethical or even spiritual dimensions. During such presentations, I tend to calm myself down not to say too much and be respectful of what others had to say. It is unfortunate that people tend to elevate their fields of interest over those of others and then made condescending remarks.
As far as I am concerned, I have been open to different types of sciences (sometimes is required of me being a management member of the institute), some more than others (much due to my own limited technical expertise). With students, I will often tell privately what I know and experience (including opinions), and I often presented matters in a way that they can build their own independent thoughts according to their capabilities. In a way, I regret that some might see me differently. I have posted about labels before in this blog before (see for instance here and here) and I think I have not been disrespectful. At this age, I guess I should care little of what people say and work on more productive things with the little time that I have left.
