Physics: A Model of Reality, Not Reality Itself

After years of deep thinking and self-reflection, I’ve come to a realization that has completely reshaped how I understand physics: Physics is not the ultimate reality, it is a collection of models created to describe and predict the behavior of the natural world.

Theories like quantum mechanics, statistical mechanics, classical mechanics, or electrodynamics are not the reality itself. They are human-crafted mathematical models that explain known experimental data and predict new results. These models are powerful, elegant, and effective, but they remain models, not truth.

To constantly remind myself of this essential fact, I’ve started renaming the subjects I study. I don’t call them "Quantum Mechanics" or "Statistical Physics" anymore, I call them the Quantum Model, the Statistical Model, the Electrodynamic Model, and so on. This small change has a profound impact. It reminds me, every time I study, that what I’m reading is a human construction, a tool for understanding, not a final revelation of truth.

It’s very important to realize this as early as possible in your physics journey. Otherwise, it’s easy to fall into the trap of worshipping equations as sacred, or treating textbooks as gospel. Once you start seeing theories as models, you begin to see them with fresh eyes: critically, creatively, and curiously.

And most importantly, you realize that you, too, can build your own model. Physics becomes a playground for your imagination. If current models fall short or fail to satisfy your intuition, you are free to ask new questions, imagine new possibilities, and create new frameworks.

This mindset is not just liberating, it’s the essence of true physics. The pioneers of science were not just students of models. They were makers of them.