A Lecture On “Constructive Interference” With Professor Ozzie Wright

If waves are “toys from God” — as Clay Marzo once said — then wedges are video games:

The anticipation that stirs when watching two waves converge, the speed, the lift under your feet, the section racing toward you, the irrelevance of pumping, the wind in your hair — it’s like Christmas.

In this 6-minute raw cut, Ozzie Wright (our S.U.R.F. co-star) and friends frolic around an excrement-colored watery playground. They find barrels, do prolonged floaters, crack a few turns, and Ozzie even does a rare air reverse at 3:04.

But what is a wedge and why does it feel so ecstatic?

A wedge is what is referred to as “constructive interference”. It’s when two waves, whether ocean waves, or light waves, or sound waves, or even gravitational waves smash together, and, instead of squashing their power, combine and collude to form one extra powerful video game from God.

One scientific definition of constructive interference is: “When the maxima of two waves add together (the two waves are in phase), so that the amplitude of the resulting wave is equal to the sum of the individual amplitudes.“

Professor Ozzie Wright delivers his lecture by virtue of leading by example. And the best part is that the homework for us is fun, and won’t be graded.

Plus, you get to choose your own music for this edit. Give yourself a 6-minute study break.