dillan01 said:
My current degree and experience has driven my skill set into IT Operations. In the 10 years I've been in the field I have been able to climb the ladder to a senior-level position; however, I'm still just going to work each day maintaining and operating the systems I'm responsible for. Yes, this does contribute to the immediate and relatively local needs, but its just not fulfilling nor makes me feel as though I am doing my part for humanity.
I'm glad we are having this conversation now. :-) :-) :-)
Your job is fairly typical of what people with astrophysics Ph.D.'s end up doing. If you are dissatisfied with your job *now*, then think about what it will feel like after spending a decade of pain and effort, seeing the wonders of the universe, and ending up in the same place.
In another thread, I went off on something of a crazy, insane rant, and a lot of it is because of this. My current job isn't that bad because I'm doing something deeply mathematical, but a few years ago I was doing something much, much more similar to what you are doing now, and I found it painful and unbearable because I'd bit into the apple of knowledge and tasted the sweet nectar of discovery.
That's not to say that you shouldn't go for it, but I just want you to realize that if you are unhappy now, astrophysics will change your soul to make you even more unhappy. But happiness isn't everything.
Astrophysicists (those who have the chance to be in their field) and physicists (again, those in the field) are able to conduct research and further our understanding of the universe and the environment around us. Research and projects aimed at specific goals, with some even being unsuccessful at times, provide a better understanding or actual products that contribute enormously to all of humankind.
Or maybe not. One thing about astrophysicists is that the three industries that hire astrophysicists in large numbers are morally ambiguous. I work in investment banking, and I'm deeply morally conflicted about what I do, not because what I think that I do is bad, I don't. But I always wonder in the back of my mind if I'm wrong and what I think is saving the world is actually destroying it. It's an very unpleasant feeling, and it's made even more unpleasant in knowing that if I don't have this self-doubt, then I really am dangerous.
The people that I know that design H-bombs have it even worse than I do. I know people working in exotic credit derivatives or emerging market debt, and when you talk with them, you see a lot of guilt and self-doubt over what they actually did.
And it's not a coincidence. One thing that you learn in astrophysics is how puny the planet is, how insignificant on the cosmic scale, humanity is, and how *easy* it would be to either save the planet or wreck it. Once you learn those secrets, you get hired by people with the power to either save the world or destroy it, and it's *painful* because you don't know whether you are doing the right thing. Your astrophysics training teaches you that doubt and skepticism is a good thing, and to ask deep questions, but that becomes painful when you work in "world destroying" industries.
For example, John O'Sullivan in regards to WiFi and Dr. Sultana Nurun Nahar/Dr. Anil K. Pradhan with the Opacity Project/New cancer therapy.
1) I really don't see them playing a more important role in helping mankind than what you are doing.
2) Even if that's not true, the very, very strong odds are that you will end up doing what you are doing now, and knowing that you could do more is going to make you a little crazy.
I hear and read about things like what the above named people/projects have accomplished and that makes me want to strive to do what I can for all of us. Plus, to reach for the stars, in a somewhat literal sense, has always been my dream.
Dreams can become nightmares.
I went off on a crazy rant on another thread, and someone sent me personal e-mail asking me what I was doing being so negative and cynical. The reason why, is that astrophysics will change your soul. It will affect how you think and how you look at the world. This is truly a life altering journey. But it's also a dark, painful, and lonely one, and before you go off on that journey, I want you to know what the road is going to be like so that you can make an informed decision about what it is that you want to do.
Unless you are spectacularly lucky, you will end up more unhappy and more unfulfilled as you spend a decade of your life and have even more unquenched thirst. I went through that road, and a few years ago, I was doing the same work that you were doing, and I kept pretending that I was happy. I stumbled on an article talking about someone that I knew that was "changing the world" and I had something of a nervous breakdown that kept me home for three days. If you are unhappy now, then after you sink a decade of your life into this, you'll be even more unhappy.
But happiness isn't everything. Here is the apple. It's your choice whether or not to bite into it, and I just want you do know the consequences of doing that. The rant I went off in another thread might sound negative and cynical, but the cool thing is that *knowing* that astrophysics would make me profoundly unhappy and unfulfilled, I'd do exactly the same thing, because one of the things that I think I've learned is that there are things that are more important than happiness.
