Where do they go?
I ask them.
They tell me it is another universe. They describe how in that other universe the rules are different. How sometimes they don’t even know the rules but have to find them. They spend hours learning these rules and applying them.
They dissociate. It’s not unusual for them to spend hours fully engrossed. Wave your hand in front of their face and they might eventually see you. They describe time as just disappearing, and the next thing they know it is past midnight.
These days they can take it with them. Wherever they go it’s with them. You’ll see them lost in their world. At a ballgame, on the subway, whenever there is a spare moment they could be there.
There is debate, is it healthy? Is it okay that they spend so much time in these other worlds? Can they tell the difference from the real world?
Yep, these mathematicians, physicists, and computer scientists doing theory research are a real worry. Won’t someone think of the children?