--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: I listen to a radio segment about…" description: "\"“I listen to a radio segment about scientists measuring the radioactive decay after such large-scale catastrophes as September 11 or the 2003 tsunami i..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/a30/christian-wiman-10211_decay_i-listen-to-a-radio-segment-about-scient_1672086.png" --- # I listen to a radio segment about scientists measuring the… ![“I listen to a radio segment about scientists measuring the radioactive decay after such large-scale catastrophes as September 11 or the 2003 tsunami in Indonesia. It turns out that nuclear decay, which is, if not a constant, as close to such a thing as we can get, inexplicably increases after…” quote by Christian Wiman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/a30/christian-wiman-10211_decay_i-listen-to-a-radio-segment-about-scient_1672086.png) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/a30/christian-wiman-10211_decay_i-listen-to-a-radio-segment-about-scient_1672086.png) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/a30/christian-wiman-10211_decay_i-listen-to-a-radio-segment-about-scient_1672086.png) > ““I listen to a radio segment about scientists measuring the radioactive decay after such large-scale catastrophes as September 11 or the 2003 tsunami in Indonesia. It turns out that nuclear decay, which is, if not a constant, as close to such a thing as we can get, inexplicably increases after these events. As if contingent matter echoed or shadowed or even shared our sufferings (and our joys?). As if creation itself cried out with us.”” [Christian Wiman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/christian-wiman/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. The quote suggests that after massive tragedies, the fundamental processes of nature seem to respond, hinting at a mysterious link between human suffering and the physical world. **In simple terms:** Nature may react to human tragedy. Key Takeaway Observe how events affect both people and the environment. Themes suffering connection nature science philosophy Mood reflective somber inquisitive Type philosophical inspirational When to use this quote - disaster response - mental health awareness - environmental monitoring - public speaking - educational curricula Key Concepts entropy interconnectedness cosmic empathy Questions to Reflect On - Can we find measurable evidence of nature’s emotional response? - How do such ideas influence our coping mechanisms? A Different Perspective Scientific correlation is not proven; interpretations may be metaphorical. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Contingent Matter](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/contingent-matter-870634/) [Decay](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/decay/) [Decay Large](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/decay-large-870633/) [Nuclear Decay](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/nuclear-decay-870632/) [Radioactive Decay](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/radioactive-decay-870631/) [Science](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/science/) ## Related quotes > [What is it that you contain? The dead. Time. Light patterns of millennia opening in your gut. Every minute, in each of you, a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jeanette-winterson/what-is-it-that-you-contain-the-dead-time-light-patterns-of-millennia-2/) [Jeanette Winterson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jeanette-winterson/) > [“with the weak force controlling radioactive decay, the strong force binding the atomic nucleus, the electromagnetic force binding molecules, and gravity binding bulk matter.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/neil-degrasse-tyson/with-the-weak-force-controlling-radioactive-decay-the-strong-force/) [Neil deGrasse Tyson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/neil-degrasse-tyson/) > [Waiting makes wine better; but waiting makes man decay! Don't wait because you have no time! Move fast!](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mehmet-murat-ildan/waiting-makes-wine-better-but-waiting-makes-man-decay-don-t-wait/) [Mehmet Murat Ildan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mehmet-murat-ildan/) > [Youth should be radical. Youth should demand change in the world. Youth should not accept the old order if the world is to move…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-allen-white/youth-should-be-radical-youth-should-demand-change-in-the-world-youth/) [William Allen White](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-allen-white/) > [“They went through the last of the cars and then walked up the track to the locomotive and climbed up to the catwalk. Rust…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/cormac-mccarthy/they-went-through-the-last-of-the-cars-and-then-walked-up-the-track/) [Cormac McCarthy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/cormac-mccarthy/) > [Cocaine decisions that you make today, will mean nothing later on when you get nose decay.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/frank-zappa/cocaine-decisions-that-you-make-today-will-mean-nothing-later-on-when/) [Frank Zappa](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/frank-zappa/) > [But the grind has begun. The windows don’t open, and even the availability of near-constant jokes about Jews and Mormons fails to stem the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dave-eggers/but-the-grind-has-begun-the-windows-don-t-open-and-even-the/) [Dave Eggers](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dave-eggers/) > [No government can be strong and flourishing while the national character is weak and degraded. A government must flourish and decay with its subjects;…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/benjamin-robbins-curtis/no-government-can-be-strong-and-flourishing-while-the-national/) [Benjamin Robbins Curtis](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/benjamin-robbins-curtis/) > [It seems that the whole world is beginning to decay, and that its putrefaction has chosen to spread outward from here, from the land…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/yasmina-khadra/it-seems-that-the-whole-world-is-beginning-to-decay-and-that-its/) [Yasmina Khadra](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/yasmina-khadra/) > [The ensouled is distinguished from the unsouled by its being alive. Now since being alive is spoken of in many ways, even if only…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/aristotle/the-ensouled-is-distinguished-from-the-unsouled-by-its-being-alive/) [Aristotle](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/aristotle/) > [Wise people are able to give themselves gracefully to seemingly contradictory experiences, because they know that they belong to different seasons of life, all…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sam-keen/wise-people-are-able-to-give-themselves-gracefully-to-seemingly/) [Sam Keen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sam-keen/) > [We think literature is immortal, but even that decays and ultimately turns to dust.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mick-farren/we-think-literature-is-immortal-but-even-that-decays-and-ultimately/) [Mick Farren](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mick-farren/) > [I've always thought that the most extraordinary special effect you could do is to buy a child at the moment of its birth, sit…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/clive-barker/i-ve-always-thought-that-the-most-extraordinary-special-effect-you/) [Clive Barker](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/clive-barker/) > [One reason why my memory decays is that I have three cats, all so loving and insistent that they play cat's-cradle with every train…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sylvia-townsend-warner/one-reason-why-my-memory-decays-is-that-i-have-three-cats-all-so/) [Sylvia Townsend Warner](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sylvia-townsend-warner/) > [Unfortunately, moral beauty in art - like physical beauty in a person - is extremely perishable. It is nowhere so durable as artistic or…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/susan-sontag/unfortunately-moral-beauty-in-art-like-physical-beauty-in-a-person-is/) [Susan Sontag](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/susan-sontag/) ## More by Christian Wiman > [I find myself continually falling back into wounds, wishes, terrors I thought I had risen beyond.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/christian-wiman/i-find-myself-continually-falling-back-into-wounds-wishes-terrors-i/) [Christian Wiman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/christian-wiman/) > [“Intellectuals and artists concerned with faith tend to underestimate the radical, inviolable innocence it requires. We read and read, write long, elaborate essays and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/christian-wiman/intellectuals-and-artists-concerned-with-faith-tend-to-underestimate/) [Christian Wiman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/christian-wiman/) > [Wonder is the precondition for all wisdom.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/christian-wiman/wonder-is-the-precondition-for-all-wisdom/) [Christian Wiman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/christian-wiman/) > [We should be suspicious when God's call conforms so neatly to our own inclinations.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/christian-wiman/we-should-be-suspicious-when-god-s-call-conforms-so-neatly-to-our-own/) [Christian Wiman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/christian-wiman/) > [God is with us, not beyond us, in suffering.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/christian-wiman/god-is-with-us-not-beyond-us-in-suffering/) [Christian Wiman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/christian-wiman/) > [“Let us remember...that in the end we go to poetry for one reason, so that we might more fully inhabit our lives and the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/christian-wiman/let-us-remember-that-in-the-end-we-go-to-poetry-for-one-reason-so/) [Christian Wiman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/christian-wiman/) > [To be truly alive is to feel one's ultimate existence within one's daily existence.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/christian-wiman/to-be-truly-alive-is-to-feel-one-s-ultimate-existence-within-one-s/) [Christian Wiman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/christian-wiman/) > [I am a Christian because of that moment on the cross when Jesus, drinking the very dregs of human bitterness, cries out, My God,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/christian-wiman/i-am-a-christian-because-of-that-moment-on-the-cross-when-jesus/) [Christian Wiman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/christian-wiman/) > [Mandelstam is the sort of poet who comes along very, very rarely. Even the two Russian poets whose work is often linked with his…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/christian-wiman/mandelstam-is-the-sort-of-poet-who-comes-along-very-very-rarely-even/) [Christian Wiman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/christian-wiman/) > [“How many loves fail because, in an unconscious effort to make our weaknesses more strong, we link with others precisely at those points? How…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/christian-wiman/how-many-loves-fail-because-in-an-unconscious-effort-to-make-our/) [Christian Wiman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/christian-wiman/) > [“It is a strange thing how sometimes merely to talk honestly of God, even if it is only to articulate our feelings of separation…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/christian-wiman/it-is-a-strange-thing-how-sometimes-merely-to-talk-honestly-of-god/) [Christian Wiman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/christian-wiman/) > [“Faith cannot save you from the claims of reason, except insofar as it preserves and protects that wonderful, terrible time when reason, if only…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/christian-wiman/faith-cannot-save-you-from-the-claims-of-reason-except-insofar-as-it/) [Christian Wiman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/christian-wiman/) > [“part of my enjoyment of life had always been an unconscious assumption of its continuity. Not necessarily a continuity of reality itself—the moment does…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/christian-wiman/part-of-my-enjoyment-of-life-had-always-been-an-unconscious/) [Christian Wiman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/christian-wiman/) > [I suppose I do believe that the greatest art consoles a wound that it creates, that art can give you the capacity to endure…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/christian-wiman/i-suppose-i-do-believe-that-the-greatest-art-consoles-a-wound-that-it/) [Christian Wiman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/christian-wiman/) > [There is nothing more difficult to outgrow than anxieties that have become useful to us, whether as explanations for a life that never quite…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/christian-wiman/there-is-nothing-more-difficult-to-outgrow-than-anxieties-that-have/) [Christian Wiman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/christian-wiman/) [Explore all 67 Christian Wiman quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/christian-wiman/) ## More Decay quotes > [Unfortunately, moral beauty in art - like physical beauty in a person - is extremely perishable. It is nowhere so durable as artistic or…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/susan-sontag/unfortunately-moral-beauty-in-art-like-physical-beauty-in-a-person-is/) [Susan Sontag](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/susan-sontag/) > [One reason why my memory decays is that I have three cats, all so loving and insistent that they play cat's-cradle with every train…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sylvia-townsend-warner/one-reason-why-my-memory-decays-is-that-i-have-three-cats-all-so/) [Sylvia Townsend Warner](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sylvia-townsend-warner/) > [I've always thought that the most extraordinary special effect you could do is to buy a child at the moment of its birth, sit…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/clive-barker/i-ve-always-thought-that-the-most-extraordinary-special-effect-you/) [Clive Barker](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/clive-barker/) > [We think literature is immortal, but even that decays and ultimately turns to dust.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mick-farren/we-think-literature-is-immortal-but-even-that-decays-and-ultimately/) [Mick Farren](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mick-farren/) > [Wise people are able to give themselves gracefully to seemingly contradictory experiences, because they know that they belong to different seasons of life, all…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sam-keen/wise-people-are-able-to-give-themselves-gracefully-to-seemingly/) [Sam Keen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sam-keen/) > [The ensouled is distinguished from the unsouled by its being alive. Now since being alive is spoken of in many ways, even if only…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/aristotle/the-ensouled-is-distinguished-from-the-unsouled-by-its-being-alive/) [Aristotle](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/aristotle/) > [It seems that the whole world is beginning to decay, and that its putrefaction has chosen to spread outward from here, from the land…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/yasmina-khadra/it-seems-that-the-whole-world-is-beginning-to-decay-and-that-its/) [Yasmina Khadra](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/yasmina-khadra/) > [No government can be strong and flourishing while the national character is weak and degraded. A government must flourish and decay with its subjects;…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/benjamin-robbins-curtis/no-government-can-be-strong-and-flourishing-while-the-national/) [Benjamin Robbins Curtis](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/benjamin-robbins-curtis/) > [But the grind has begun. The windows don’t open, and even the availability of near-constant jokes about Jews and Mormons fails to stem the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dave-eggers/but-the-grind-has-begun-the-windows-don-t-open-and-even-the/) [Dave Eggers](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dave-eggers/) > [Cocaine decisions that you make today, will mean nothing later on when you get nose decay.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/frank-zappa/cocaine-decisions-that-you-make-today-will-mean-nothing-later-on-when/) [Frank Zappa](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/frank-zappa/) > [“They went through the last of the cars and then walked up the track to the locomotive and climbed up to the catwalk. Rust…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/cormac-mccarthy/they-went-through-the-last-of-the-cars-and-then-walked-up-the-track/) [Cormac McCarthy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/cormac-mccarthy/) > [Youth should be radical. Youth should demand change in the world. Youth should not accept the old order if the world is to move…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-allen-white/youth-should-be-radical-youth-should-demand-change-in-the-world-youth/) [William Allen White](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-allen-white/) > [Waiting makes wine better; but waiting makes man decay! Don't wait because you have no time! Move fast!](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mehmet-murat-ildan/waiting-makes-wine-better-but-waiting-makes-man-decay-don-t-wait/) [Mehmet Murat Ildan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mehmet-murat-ildan/) > [Without adventure all civilization is full of decay. Adventure rarely reaches its predetermined end. Columbus never reached China.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alfred-north-whitehead/without-adventure-all-civilization-is-full-of-decay-adventure-rarely/) [Alfred North Whitehead](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alfred-north-whitehead/) > [“Out of all its squalor and human decay, its eruptions of butchery, India produced so many people of grace and beauty, ruled by elaborate…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/out-of-all-its-squalor-and-human-decay-its-eruptions-of-butchery/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) [Browse all 744 Decay quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/decay/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "“I listen to a radio segment about scientists measuring the radioactive decay after such large-scale catastrophes as September 11 or the 2003 tsunami in Indonesia. It turns out that nuclear decay, which is, if not a constant, as close to such a thing as we can get, inexplicably increases after these events. As if contingent matter echoed or shadowed or even shared our sufferings (and our joys?). As if creation itself cried out with us.”", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Christian Wiman" }, "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/christian-wiman/i-listen-to-a-radio-segment-about-scientists-measuring-the/", "about": { "@type": "Thing", "name": "Decay" }, "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/christian-wiman/i-listen-to-a-radio-segment-about-scientists-measuring-the/#quotation", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/a30/christian-wiman-10211_decay_i-listen-to-a-radio-segment-about-scient_1672086.png", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/a30/christian-wiman-10211_decay_i-listen-to-a-radio-segment-about-scient_1672086.png", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/a30/christian-wiman-10211_decay_i-listen-to-a-radio-segment-about-scient_1672086.png", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“I listen to a radio segment about scientists measuring the radioactive decay after such large-scale…” — Christian Wiman", "creditText": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "creator": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization" } } }, { "@type": "BreadcrumbList", "itemListElement": [ { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 1, "name": "Home", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 2, "name": "Quotes", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 3, "name": "Christian Wiman", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/christian-wiman/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 4, "name": "“I listen to a radio segment...", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/christian-wiman/i-listen-to-a-radio-segment-about-scientists-measuring-the/" } ], "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/christian-wiman/i-listen-to-a-radio-segment-about-scientists-measuring-the/#breadcrumb" }, { "@type": "WebSite", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website", "name": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/", "publisher": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization" } }, { "@type": "Organization", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization", "name": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/", "logo": { "@type": "ImageObject", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wp-content/themes/sq/assets/icons/icon-512.png", "width": 512, "height": 512 } } ] } ```