Forum seems less active compared to 10 years ago?

[Mulz]

I remember this forum being very lively and active about 5-10 years ago. What has happened since then? Sorry if this posting is inappropriate, I'm not frequently active myself so I've been out of the loop.

 

[DaveC426913]

Oh, that's because we've answered all the questions.

“There is nothing new to be discovered in physics now. All that remains is more and more precise measurement.”
- Lord Kelvin

 

[Bystander]

I remember this forum being very lively and active about 5-10 years ago. What has happened since then? Sorry if this posting is inappropriate, I'm not frequently active myself so I've been out of the loop.

Weellllllll now, are you talking about "resolutions/enumerations" of "forbidden topics," climate/philosophy/politics/PMMs/et alii, or something else?

 

[ProfuselyQuarky]

Ha I joined when I was 15yo and it was definitely more lively then, it was like talking to friends at one point. That was the era of micro mass' math challenges and ProfuselyQuarky thinking math was the coolest thing ever. Now it's just a tool

I still come back periodically though

 

[BillTre]

I remember this forum being very lively and active about 5-10 years ago. What has happened since then? Sorry if this posting is inappropriate, I'm not frequently active myself so I've been out of the loop.

Maybe everything just died when you abandoned the forum.
Thanks a lot!

 

[hutchphd]

What has happened since then?

Perhaps you are are simply less easy to impress now. Cheap thrills and razzle dazzle just don't cut it anymore.......

?

 

[Frabjous]

You obviously have not read this thread
https://www.physicsforums.com/threads/wordle-lovers-play-the-nyt-daily-game

 

[Borek]

That's what happened to all forums, traffic moved to other sites. Switch to mobile devices changed demographic of the users and preferred site formats, google search results (which were always main source of newcomers) followed.

My understanding is that lately all sites from the Stack Exchange network lose their traffic, probably because people switch with their questions to ChatGPT based sites.

 

[Bandersnatch]

In other words, youth these days think forums are for cringe ah ah boomers.

 

[PeroK]

There do seem to be fewer homework threads. I don't know whether the numbers back that up.

 

[Vanadium 50]

Why ask for help when a bot will give you the answer? Well, an answer.

 

[fresh_42]

I guess it's partly because MathJax / LaTeX isn't very phone-friendly. And I have the hypothesis that many students have forgotten how to learn.

 

[DaveC426913]

Why ask for help when a bot will give you the answer? Well, an answer.

:engineering student of the future: learns from ChatGPT

:engineering of the future:

 

[fresh_42]

:engineering student of the future: learns from ChatGPT

:engineering of the future:
View attachment 331237

They built a bridge between Germany and Switzerland and didn't meet in the middle. Both countries used a different definition of N.N.

 

[BWV]

Oh, that's because we've answered all the questions.

“There is nothing new to be discovered in physics now. All that remains is more and more precise measurement.”
- Lord Kelvin

But has there been any significant discoveries in physics over the past 10 years, or just more and more precise measurement?

 

[ProfuselyQuarky]

Personally I've gotten into the habit of just emailing people and asking to have one-on-one conversations for help or guidance. I'm consistently impressed with how many individuals are willing to simply converse, even though I'm no longer their student or never have been.

 

[Bystander]

There do seem to be fewer homework threads. I don't know whether the numbers back that up.

Why ask for help when a bot will give you the answer? Well, an answer.

I guess it's partly because MathJax / LaTeX isn't very phone-friendly. And I have the hypothesis that many students have forgotten how to learn.

Wouldn't that imply an increase in the number of "drive-bys?"

 

[fresh_42]

Wouldn't that imply an increase in the number of "drive-bys?"

There are - in my opinion - several reasons for the decrease in the number of posts. E.g. I had answered a post and wanted to start a dialogue but minutes later the thread was deleted by another mentor despite my attempt to help. No chance. Not even a chance to explain our rules. We delete threads and user accounts at a level that is insane. We are way too strict with newbies if you ask me. And yes, I addressed those things before but was outvoted each time. This means that our customers apparently changed their internet behavior over the years but we do not. But as I said, this is only my point of view and other mentors do not share this opinion.

 

[jack action]

Just saying ...

Trump announced his candidacy in June 2015. His campaign was initially not taken seriously by political analysts, but he quickly rose to the top of opinion polls. He became the front-runner in March 2016 and was declared the presumptive Republican nominee in May.

[...]

Trump was inaugurated on January 20, 2017.

 

[strangerep]

But has there been any significant discoveries in physics over the past 10 years, or just more and more precise measurement?

Sheesh. Have a read of the past few years' worth of posts on Stacy McGaugh's Triton Station blog, then read some of the related astrophysical research literature. You'll see that we're currently being hurled around in a simmering sea of "WTF" discovery and controversy in the area of Dark Matter vs MOND. This is embryonic new science, still in the confusing, chaotic process of being made. (Insert cliche about sausages.)

"just more and more precise measurement" is a large part of what's keeping this fascinating sea on the boil. E.g., new Gaia data releases fuel intense debate about what's really going on with wide-binary star systems.

 

[strangerep]

Now (math) is just a tool

Oh, c'mon. I reckon (advanced) math is still a "cool tool".

 

[lavinia]

Maybe there is a decline in young people's interest in STEM.

 

[nuuskur]

Conclude that students, en masse, have become better at solving their homework or other resources have emerged or interest in natural sciences has been decreasing.

 

[Frabjous]

This topic is hard to discuss without statistics. Will they be released?

 

[Vanadium 50]

This topic is hard to discuss without statistics. Will they be released?

The messages are all here. Feel free to count away.

 

[Frabjous]

The messages are all here. Feel free to count away.

According to post #18, they are not.

 

[StatGuy2000]

Maybe there is a decline in young people's interest in STEM.

@lavinia , I am personally dubious of your claim that there might be a decline in young people's interest in STEM, mainly because you are presuming that people interested in STEM would necessarily come to PF first, as opposed to other sites on the Internet.

That being said, as @Frabjous has pointed out, it is difficult to assess the speculation you made without statistics on the following:

1. The posting history over the past several years (which, according to @Vanadium 50 as per his post #25, is available in raw form in terms of number of messages, and someone will have to actually count the number of posts).

2, The age distribution of the posters on the forums (which as far as I know is not consistently available).

 

[Vanadium 50]

Is every single message from 10 years ago here? No.
Is every single message from 10 days ago here? No.
Spam gets removed, and crackpottery sometimes gets removed, and rarely non-crackpot instances of bad behavior get removed.

But counting seems like a better plan than "it seems to me".

Two things to watch for - one is that there have been reorganizations, so some sections didn't exist then, and another is that MHB content has been merged into PF.

 

[Frabjous]

But counting seems like a better plan than "it seems to me".

That isn’t your argument. Your argument is that someone with only limited access to the processed data should do the counting.

 

[Vanadium 50]

Hmmmm... I always thought I knew what my argument was, I guess I was wrong.