benk99nenm312 said:
That's where I think the misconceptions started. I never claimed to know everything. I claim to know a little, but I never said I know it all.
As to why, yes, I need money for the family. Some started talking about me as if I thought I was above blue collar work. I work at a grocery store. Yet another misconception.
As I read my posts through again, I'm finding out that I came across as arrogant, but I never said half the things people claim I said in my posts. I don't know how they got the impression that I was a spoiled rich kid who thinks blue collar is below me. I do blue collar work for a living right now. I think some were just anxious to state their opinion, and they forgot to listen to mine.
Well, perhaps one was not explicit about knowing everything, but one made some bold, or perhaps brazen assertions, that seem to imply knowing more than one actually does, and that is to what many of those who are learned were reacting.
From the first two posts:
benk99nenm312 said:
I'm a 16 year old high school student, and I really need money (for family support). I've been wondering, is there any kind of job where I could work in the area of math or physics? (By the way, I assure you I'd be qualified.) I'm already pulling a job at Hy-Vee, but I'm not a blue collar person. Is there some sort of internship that I'm missing, or am I pretty much doomed?
This is sad, because here I have to tell you that I'm in Honors Pre-Calculus, and I have not yet had a physics class. I know that doesn't look good on a transcript, the problem is that I have taught myself Calculus and I know quite a lot of physics. I have a unification theory that has been looked at by a few professors from a couple colleges nearby, and they say it is quote, "plausible." I know QM and Relativity very well conceptually, but the math of both is still a bit beyond me.
A lot of knowledge, understanding and proficiency is necessary to develop a unification theory, assuming one is referring to the common usage meaning GUT or ToE. However there is a self-contradiction in "I know QM and Relativity very well conceptually, but the math of both is still a bit beyond me." and "I have a unification theory that has been looked at by a few professors from a couple colleges nearby, and they say it is quote, "plausible."
Rather than state that one is not a "blue collar person", it would have been better and more appropriate to say "I aspire to be more than a blue collar worker". When I was 16, I began taking Calculus and Physics during my senior year of high school. I was familiar with the concepts of QM and SR, but I was certainly aware that there was so much more to learn.
At 16, I worked at a gardening center loading 100 lb bags of dirt, stone and sand. The bags of manure were lighter. I heaved 50 - 70 lb bags of fertilizer and herbicides. I carried sod, potted plants, and trees and loaded peoples cars. I loved it! I started that during the summer of my junior year and worked on weekends and some evenings during the school year.
The second job I had during high school was at a grocery store - first sacking groceries, then stocking the dairy case. Living at home (parents'), I saved the money to pay for school.
During my first years at university, I took a summer job on campus as a plumber's helper, and that lead to a part time job during the school year. I did mechanical maintenance and janitorial work as well. And in the second year, I worked in the food service department, which paid my room and board for the year. I was studying physics at the time. I learned a lot of practical things, including plumbing and electrical work, which I still use today as a home owner.
After a few years of studying physics, I switched majors (to Nuc Eng) and university. At that time, I took a job as a iron worker building metal buildings and large industrial structures. That was a blast too! I enjoyed the heavy labor and I could earn several $thousand over a summer which payed for my school year and living expenses.
When I started grad school, I received teaching and research assistantships. During my MS program, I also worked full-time (40 hrs/wk) for the local city water department as a system operator, which allowed me time (evenings or graveyard) to do homework and grade papers.
At 16, one has start at the bottom. It's like weightlifting, one starts with 10 or 15 pounds in each hand, and slowly works up to 50, 60, . . . lbs per hand. A novice does not go and lift 200 lbs overhead the first time.
