- #1
DukeofDuke
- 269
- 1
Superficially, when I think of physics researchers I think of super geniuses sitting around, drinking coffee, blathering on about strings and other drug inspired contraptions, having trouble only when asked to write them down legibly, or a bunch of guys in labcoats sitting around a giant trillion dollar machine smashing things and cackling.
Basically, I think of it as a lot of fun and very intellectually stimulating.
But I'm guessing that realistically, I'll get stuck working on very minor problems. I'll probably be increasing the accuracy on our knowledge of a particular constant, not figuring out the new particle (or if I am, I'll be doing it as a minor part of a 300 researcher team). I'm afraid that research will get very specific and very dull, and I'll end up spending more time on academic bureaucracy and being a paper mill than actually living the first paragraph. Or that I won't have the necessary brains to work on really fun "breakthrough" level stuff that you see on tv.
So, be honest, do most physicists still enjoy their work even in relative obscurity? Or do a significant portion find their work dull enough to consider, say, getting a law degree and fighting patent cases for 6 fig. salaries (which is one option I'm still holding open right now)?
Oh, and if you find a question more coherent than the one directly espoused in there, feel free to answer it.
Basically, I think of it as a lot of fun and very intellectually stimulating.
But I'm guessing that realistically, I'll get stuck working on very minor problems. I'll probably be increasing the accuracy on our knowledge of a particular constant, not figuring out the new particle (or if I am, I'll be doing it as a minor part of a 300 researcher team). I'm afraid that research will get very specific and very dull, and I'll end up spending more time on academic bureaucracy and being a paper mill than actually living the first paragraph. Or that I won't have the necessary brains to work on really fun "breakthrough" level stuff that you see on tv.
So, be honest, do most physicists still enjoy their work even in relative obscurity? Or do a significant portion find their work dull enough to consider, say, getting a law degree and fighting patent cases for 6 fig. salaries (which is one option I'm still holding open right now)?
Oh, and if you find a question more coherent than the one directly espoused in there, feel free to answer it.