#2933: Elementary Physics Paths explain

[Cueball gestures at a particle, represented as a dot with motion lines around it.]

Cueball: Everything is made of tiny particles. If I understand those, I’ll understand everything!

[The comic splits into two branches.]

[Condensed Matter Physics branch]

[Cueball is fretting over a cloud of particles.]

Cueball: Oh no.

Cueball: Simple particles can combine to produce complex behaviors.

[Quantum Field Theory branch]

[Cueball is fretting over the same particle as in the first panel.]

Cueball: Oh no.

Cueball: These particles aren’t simple!