How Are Physicists Perceived Compared to Other Professions?

Click For Summary

Discussion Overview

The discussion revolves around the public perceptions of physicists in comparison to other professions such as doctors and lawyers. It touches on the nature of these perceptions, the scientific status of various fields, and the social implications of being a physicist.

Discussion Character

  • Debate/contested
  • Conceptual clarification
  • Meta-discussion

Main Points Raised

  • Some participants question whether law and medicine should be classified as scientific disciplines, suggesting that their practice-based nature differs significantly from physics.
  • There is a sentiment that physicists are less visible to the general public compared to doctors and lawyers, who have more direct interactions with people.
  • One participant expresses frustration with the perceived lack of understanding of physics among the general population, particularly in relation to technology that relies on complex scientific principles.
  • Another participant notes that STEM professionals, including physicists, are often viewed as lacking emotion or artistic appreciation, leading to stereotypes about their personalities.
  • Some participants humorously reflect on the social awkwardness often associated with physics students.
  • A participant asserts that physicists should be viewed as "rock stars," suggesting a more positive perception of their status.

Areas of Agreement / Disagreement

Participants express a variety of views regarding public perceptions of physicists, with no clear consensus on whether these perceptions are positive or negative. The discussion remains unresolved with multiple competing perspectives on the topic.

Contextual Notes

Some statements reflect personal anecdotes and opinions that may not represent broader societal views. The discussion includes humor and sarcasm, which may influence the interpretation of participants' claims.

xdrgnh
Messages
415
Reaction score
0
What do you think the publics perceptions of physicists are compared to doctors, lawyers and other scientific disciplines.
 
Physics news on Phys.org
xdrgnh said:
What do you think the publics perceptions of physicists are compared to doctors, lawyers and other scientific disciplines.

I'm not sure law or even medicine (in terms of practice) are scientific disciplines. Medicine is becoming more science based, but for good reasons, the experimental aspect of medical research is limited. I'm not sure law would qualify as a science at all. I think comparing practice based disciplines, which have substantial contact with the general public, to physics is like comparing apples to oranges. Nearly everyone comes into contact with physicians and to lesser extent, with lawyers. Relatively few knowingly come into contact with physicists. Many of them are involved with enormous machines that smash very small things into even smaller things.
 
excuse my poor grammar but I did not mean to imply medicine and law were a scientific field.
 
Last edited by a moderator:
I don't think retarded pre - pubescent girls on facebook count for a valid perception. These are the same group of people that think Taylor Swift, Justin Beiber, and Katy Perry can sing well and make profound music.
 
genericusrnme said:
http://i.imgur.com/EkdLo.jpg
I think that about sums it up!

That gave me a headache :cry:

By the way: I changed the image into a link,since it wouldn't fit the page.
 
micromass said:
That gave me a headache :cry:

By the way: I changed the image into a link,since it wouldn't fit the page.

Ah, sorry about that - I've got firefox in a wee window so I didn't notice :redface:
 
WannabeNewton said:
I don't think retarded pre - pubescent girls on facebook count for a valid perception. These are the same group of people that think Taylor Swift, Justin Beiber, and Katy Perry can sing well and make profound music.

Well, I don't think that "retarded pre-pubescent" girl will ever be President of the US, but she may well get elected to Congress some day, where I think she'll fit right in.
 
SW VandeCarr said:
Well, I don't think that "retarded pre-pubescent" girl will ever be President of the US, but she may well get elected to Congress some day, where I think she'll fit right in.

God bless 'murrica.
 
  • #10
SW VandeCarr said:
Well, I don't think that "retarded pre-pubescent" girl will ever be President of the US, but she may well get elected to Congress some day, where I think she'll fit right in.

WannabeNewton said:
God bless 'murrica.

Not sure if I should :smile: or :cry:...
 
  • #11
That girl should be forced to take algebra. That would teach her!
 
  • #12
That silly girl probably doesn't realize that all the computers, mobile phones, and iPod devices she uses require quantum mechanics, let alone all the communication theory and mathematics/statistics required for communication between them to ever take place.

I couldn't imagine her fighting her way out of a paper bag if someone stole her facebook account and electronic gizmo's to log into them.
 
  • #13
Resistance would be futile for any paper bag obstructing facebook access to a pp girl.
 
  • #14
I couldn't help noticing that those morons don't realize that Hawking is English.
My crowd doesn't give any thought to anyone's occupation. A couple are drywallers, a few in other branches of construction, one is a lawyer (there was another lawyer earlier, but she's in jail now), a building manager (ie: janitor), a cab driver, some mechanics, an aerobatics instructor (until he was killed in a crash due to mechanical error a couple of years ago), a doctor, a professor of geology, a professor of pulmonary neurophysiology, a petroleum industry tech journalist, a designer for Cisco, a tech support supervisor for Telus...
The first half of those are ones that I party with every week; the second half were from my writing and/or SF clubs or pool teams from a few years back.
We all get along as equals. The only serious question that we ever ask is "who's buying the next round?" (The lawyer usually tries to weasel out of that.)
 
  • #15
I think one of the worst perceptions are that STEM people lack emotion and empathy, or that any emotions they might have are misguided or naive. They view them as not "real" people. Part of this is that they think STEM people are not artistic or don't have any aesthetic appreciation. People, for some reason, like to classify people in boxes, and if you're good at math and science, then you must not be good at art to the same degree to make up for it.
 
Last edited:
  • #16
  • #17
Suave.
Debonair.
Sophisticated.
Exciting.

Physicists are basically rock stars.
 
  • #18
many undergrad physics students are quite socially awkward.
 
  • #19
lisab said:
Not sure if I should :smile: or :cry:...

The correct reaction is to cry, but the only way not to become a self-deteriorating pile of sorrow and despair is to laugh it all off.

ha. ha ha. ha.

It's not working. Somebody hold me.
 

Similar threads

Finding Meaningful Work: Career Advice for Young Scientists
  • · Replies 15 ·
Replies
15
Views
3K
Undergrad "Exploring Time Perception Across Different Regions of Space"
  • · Replies 20 ·
Replies
20
Views
2K
Discussion on the science-literature relationship and more
  • · Replies 14 ·
Replies
14
Views
3K
What Are the Unique Traits of Physicists?
  • · Replies 4 ·
Replies
4
Views
3K
RIP Andrzej Trautman (1933 - 2026), relativity and gravitational waves
  • · Replies 4 ·
Replies
4
Views
588
What Are the Most Common Stereotypes of Physicists?
  • · Replies 3 ·
Replies
3
Views
4K
Graduate Bohmian mechanics for instrumentalists and quantum measurement
  • · Replies 16 ·
Replies
16
Views
3K
Should the public know what you are thinking and concluding?
  • · Replies 10 ·
Replies
10
Views
3K
Weird tendency of many professors
  • · Replies 19 ·
Replies
19
Views
2K
Question about the Scientific Method
  • · Replies 15 ·
Replies
15
Views
3K