Hi James, Erica,
We agree! If you study/think about the world with a physics point of view you'll never get bored. So in regard to the Nietzsche quote "Against boredom even the gods contend in vain" this must be referring to gods with no love/knowledge of physics :-). The two examples you give are great. While calculating the risk of a knee surgery is not physics directly *it* does illustrate a physics way of thinking and this is the kind of justification we give to our students when tey complain that they'll never need to understand an Atwood's machine (for example). Maybe not but the way of approaching problems that allows one to solve the Atwood's machine is a very general and powerful way of approaching problems.
By the way Feynman had a very similar view to the power of physics. Their was some interview (we think it's on YouTube) where he discusses his (Feynman's) ability to appreciate a sunset or a flower. Feynman's point is that he is able to appreciate these things in more or less the same way as an artist, photographer or painter (maybe not in as refined a way, but he (Feynman) is also able to appreciate and understand these things from a physics perspective and this only deepens ones understanding and appreciation for these things.
Anyway a nice video. We wish you well in the contest.
Best,
Mike, Max, Simon, Dan, Doug