Convention Memes

When physicists get passionate about spacetime signatures. The Minkowski metric [+,-,-,-] versus [-,+,+,+] debate is the theoretical physics equivalent of tabs vs spaces. Some mathematicians would rather face eternal damnation than use the wrong convention. The signature determines whether time is positive and space is negative, or vice versa—a hill many physicists are prepared to die on. Next week: people who write Maxwell's equations without the constants.

The eternal physics struggle! The right-hand rule is what happens when scientists decided to use our appendages as cosmic directional guides. Option A or B? Physicists everywhere are sweating bullets trying to remember which way their fingers should point to determine magnetic fields and cross products. The universe doesn't care about our arbitrary hand gestures, but somehow we've built entire electromagnetic theories around which way our thumbs wiggle! Next time your phone's compass works, thank some physicist who correctly contorted their hand like they were casting a wizard spell. 🧙‍♂️⚡

Physics students discovering they can write velocity as m·Hz instead of m/s and feeling like they've broken the matrix. The dimensional analysis checks out (Hz = 1/s), but your professor will still mark it wrong while muttering something about "convention" and "professional standards." Sure, you could also write it as m·s -1 to really show off, but at what cost? Your social life?