General advantages/Disadvantages of going into physics

[Ki Man]

general opinions? hate your job? have trouble meeting women? what problems are there living as a physicist

(yes i am aware that this is the PF lounge. I'm posting here on purpose)

 

[G01]

have trouble meeting women?

Well, from the physics scenes in Spiderman 3, there are oodles of attractive female physicists. Of course they were all working on a machine that can break a man up into particles and still leave him alive, so they probably are to busy to date the rest of us male physicists...

Seriously though. I'd say the worst part of being a physics STUDENT is the looks you get... You know, the "why the hell would you want to do THAT for living look?" whenever you tell someone outside the sciences what your major is.

 

[kant]

Personally, i think it is very impractical for some one to go into the field and not as a genius.

 

[G01]

Personally, i think it is very impractical for some one to go into the field and not as a genius.

I'm sorry, do you mean that a person has to be a genius for it to be practical to go into physics?

If this is the case, I must disagree. I think a person must be intelligent, but not a genius to be a successful physicist.

 

[Ki Man]

If this is the case, I must disagree. I think a person must be intelligent, but not a genius to be a successful physicist.

string theory got pretty far using that method

 

[Ki Man]

Seriously though. I'd say the worst part of being a physics STUDENT is the looks you get... You know, the "why the hell would you want to do THAT for living look?" whenever you tell someone outside the sciences what your major is.

yeah... i get that from my friends sometimes when i tell them my goals. what i want to know is "how can you NOT be obsessed with physics?!"

 

[G01]

string theory got pretty far using that method

Well really any field. Consider the members of this forum. Do you consider the members here who are known to be successful physicists with jobs and publications to be geniuses? I wouldn't think so. I far as I can tell, they are just intelligent people, with a love for science and good work ethic.

 

[G01]

yeah... i get that from my friends sometimes when i tell them my goals. what i want to know is "how can you NOT be obsessed with physics?!"

Hehehe, I wonder how they would answer that?

 

[Pythagorean]

Personally, i think it is very impractical for some one to go into the field and not as a genius.

I disagree. Every little contribution helps.

 

[G01]

I disagree. Every little contribution helps.

Exactly. Science is something that the scientific community works on together. It's not a competition between scientists.

 

[Ki Man]

generals don't win wars by themselves

 

[Pythagorean]

Exactly. Science is something that the scientific community works on together. It's not a competition between scientists.

well... depending on the scientist; They actually make us compete with each other in Grad School... but yeah, that is the ideal.

 

[moose]

Seriously though. I'd say the worst part of being a physics STUDENT is the looks you get... You know, the "why the hell would you want to do THAT for living look?" whenever you tell someone outside the sciences what your major is.

I'm entering college fall 07, but I've already received that look from people asking what my major will be... Goes something like this

Friend: What are you planning on majoring in?
Me: Physics
Friend: Why would you do that? What will you do with a physics degree?

 

[G01]

Friend: Why would you do that? What will you do with a physics degree?

That's my favorite line!

I also like what happens next...

Me:Well, What's you major?

Friend: Communications

Me:

 

[Moridin]

Heard that line more times than I can remember.

 

[George Jones]

I know an astrophysicist, and when he gets asked "What do you do?" by the person sitting next to him in a plane, he responds:

"I'm an astronomer" if he feels like talking;

"I'm a physicist" if he doesn't want to be disturbed.