How do you guys view other people

[Math Is Hard]

I don't think Mother Teresa was particularly interested in physics or science, but her contributions to humanity were immense nonetheless.

 

[Tom McCurdy]

Of course people who don't study physics can make impacts on the world for good. All that takes is the want to do good, however I still feel that she could have benefited from a good watch of the Elegant Universe.

 

[Math Is Hard]

LOL! I am sure she would have enjoyed it very much!

 

[Chi Meson]

never argue with a dumber person, they'll drag you down to their level and beat you with experience.

Brilliant! That explains those moments of "Oh my God! I can't believe I'm having this argument!"

I also don't mind it if people have no interest in Physics, but what gets me are those who feel that it is some sort of democratic process where any cracked idea is just as valid as centuries of scientific development.

I have a notion that there are some who found science so difficult in school that they have created, in defense, an impermeable membrane that filters out any incidental scientific knowledge that floats by for the rest fo their life.

e.g. How could my 48 year old neighbor still not know that caterpillars will later become butterflies? How could she have missed that? It makes me want to disregard anything she ever says ever again because her sensory input must be faulty!

And when I get a student in high school who argues with me over the Earth going around the Sun (and this is not the fault of the schools, I assure you), I think "Oh no, in two years this guy is going to be allowed to vote."

 

[Tom McCurdy]

And when I get a student in high school who argues with me over the Earth going around the Sun (and this is not the fault of the schools, I assure you), I think "Oh no, in two years this guy is going to be allowed to vote."

haha exactly how I feel...

 

[motai]

And when I get a student in high school who argues with me over the Earth going around the Sun (and this is not the fault of the schools, I assure you), I think "Oh no, in two years this guy is going to be allowed to vote."

There are still people who don't know this?

Then again, the Flat-Earth society is still around... http://www.flat-earth.org/. BTW, they believe that Idaho or North Dakota does not exist.

 

[TALewis]

I also don't mind it if people have no interest in Physics, but what gets me are those who feel that it is some sort of democratic process where any cracked idea is just as valid as centuries of scientific development.

Exactly. The conversation usually begins with, "Oh, I have a theory..." No, you have a grossly uninformed hypothesis with no basis in reality whatsoever. The word "theory" is reserved for something that's well tested by experiment and can make useful predictions about natural phenomena.

"I have a theory" is best translated as, "I have made something up." It might be fun, but it's not science -- yet. It takes a lifetime's work to turn a funny idea (such as Newton's apple falling from a tree == the moon falling around the earth) into a scientific theory. Most of the cranks you see aren't interested in the scientific method.

 

[jimmy p]

I am the only person who takes Physics to full A-level in college. It gets very lonely. When I tell people fascinating facts they just have the "bunny in headlights" look on their face, but I'm used to that, I'm unfazed, because sometimes the knowledge does go through, and if I can interest one person, then that is good enough for me. However I'm not smart enough to be truly segregated from everyone else, so I don't feel that different. Sometimes it helps to be as dumb as toast.

 

[Chi Meson]

... When I tell people fascinating facts they just have the "bunny in headlights" look on their face...

Oh, I know that look. I learned my first year in college that one way to NOT get invited to parties is to try to actually answer people when they say things like "I've always wondered how flourescent lights work."

Turns out they don't care how they work, and they really don't want to know!

 

[zoobyshoe]

Oh, I know that look. I learned my first year in college that one way to NOT get invited to parties is to try to actually answer people when they say things like "I've always wondered how flourescent lights work."

Turns out they don't care how they work, and they really don't want to know!

Be fair, now! The glaze in their eyes is really their way of saying "Whoops! I didn't realize the minimum answer was book-length! What have I gotten myself into?"

 

[Math Is Hard]

I just explain how physicists collect the magic lightning gas from rays of starlight and then use it to fill up each tube and make it glow.
That's not so long is it?

 

[Ivan Seeking]

Turns out they don't care how they work, and they really don't want to know!

Funny this comes as a big surprise isn't it?

During my senior hear I had the same Professor for the entire QM series. If we were starting into some really interesting material, he would sometimes start by saying that "if you want to ruin a party, bring up the subject of ..."

i.e. How effectively a topic might ruin a party is a measure of how interesting the subject is to us.

 

[Ivan Seeking]

Be fair, now! The glaze in their eyes is really their way of saying "Whoops! I didn't realize the minimum answer was book-length! What have I gotten myself into?"

I don't agree Zooby. In some cases this is true I'm sure, but I find that the glaze reaction is mostly word, or even concept dependent. Depending on the person of course, I might spontaneously trigger the glaze by accidentally citing a specific unit of measure such as Newtons, ohms, or even amps. Cite a famous scientist like Einstein or Heisenberg, glaze. Cite a “scientific” study, theory, law, or other reference, glaze. Cite anything mathematical, glaze. You can’t carry on a conversation like that. It is like walking through a mine field. Let’s be safe: Let’s talk about the Trailblazers.

 

[TALewis]

Try explaining the difference between energy and power. Complete glaze.

 

[Ivan Seeking]

I think my brother in law still thinks I made up Special Relativity. He simply did not believe me.

I got the same reaction when I forgot myself at a family reunion near St. Louis. I mentioned that trees come as male and female. Whoops. Should have never said that one.

Got the old elbow in the rib years ago when, before it was more generally konwn, I mentioned the connection between influenza, and chickens and pigs in China. Whoops. Should have never said that one.

 

[zoobyshoe]

I don't agree Zooby. In some cases this is true I'm sure, but I find that the glaze reaction is mostly word, or even concept dependent.

Yes, I see what you're saying now. (However, being long of wind, myself, I get the glaze more often from that than anything else.)

 

[Ivan Seeking]

Yes, I see what you're saying now. (However, being long of wind, myself, I get the glaze more often from that than anything else.)

Well, okay. I also had to learn to shut up. Hopefully one day I will.

 

[DarkAnt]

wow, this is the exact opposite of what I experience. People ask me to tell them something interesting (doesn't have to be anything related to science, but almost always does) all the time, mostly when they are bored. Maybe you all just hang around the wrong crowd. Besides all you have to do is post something on the pf and lots of people will be interested in it, like me.

 

[DarkAnt]

Actually, now that I think about it I have recently had a run in like this. Remember when the Hubble took the deepest picture of space that has ever been seen? well my english teacher brought it up and for some reason he thought this meant that the galaxy was much larger than what was previously thought. So he concluded that the big bang and all that had just been proven to be untrue. I just sat there stunned, I didn't even try to tell the guy he was wrong.

 

[Janitor]

I just sat there stunned, I didn't even try to tell the guy he was wrong.- DarkAnt

In my churchgoing days as a kid, I remember that during a sermon, to illustrate some point he was making, the minister said (and this is an exact quote, I'm sure of that): "Did you know that sound and light are the same thing, just at different frequencies?"

Had he said, "Sound and light both have some wave properties," then I would not have had a problem. But I've got all sorts of problems with the thing he actually did say.

 

[Imparcticle]

Actually, now that I think about it I have recently had a run in like this. Remember when the Hubble took the deepest picture of space that has ever been seen? well my english teacher brought it up and for some reason he thought this meant that the galaxy was much larger than what was previously thought. So he concluded that the big bang and all that had just been proven to be untrue. I just sat there stunned, I didn't even try to tell the guy he was wrong.

Don't teachers generally get annoyed when you correct them or try to? Or when you challenge them?

 

[Imparcticle]

Well, okay. I also had to learn to shut up. Hopefully one day I will.

oh, please don't. You're very amusing and interesting to "listen" to.

 

[Njorl]

I find it surprising how rare a skill a good grasp of mathematics is. A friend of mine works as an economist at an energy trading company. He says they have a hard time finding people who are really qualified to do the math modelling they need. Keeping them is even harder. Part of the problem is, at the workplace, they are in competition with "people persons". The people-persons are more skilled at taking credit for work, and selling themselves. The math people see high ranking idiots getting paid for their work, and quit.

Njorl

 

[Njorl]

Don't teachers generally get annoyed when you correct them or try to? Or when you challenge them?

Most do, but the best consider being challenged by a student the ultimate success.

I remember my high-school American history teacher. He was generally hated. He didn't care. He would do the normal teaching chores, but once in a while he would wander off into terribly wrong territory. He was hoping for students to catch on and challenge him. He would then berate us for swallowing the garbage he was feeding us. Eventually, the class learned to think. We would engage in genuine debates, some of us even learned to take up "devil's advocate" positions and argue forcefully. By the end, some of were willing to challenge even well accepted views.

I think it only takes one teacher like this to teach someone to think. I was lucky enough to have more than one. I fear that many people never have one.

Njorl

 

[Chi Meson]

Well, okay. I also had to learn to shut up. Hopefully one day I will.

My wife has taken on the responsibility of letting me know when to stop. This has increased my popularity at parties tremendously! Nowadays, people come up to me and ask how things work: my wife will give me a visual or physical sign that says "that's enough." And everybody's happy!

I learned an important lesson a little late: let people find out how smart you are, but never tell them how smart you are.

 

[Tom McCurdy]

thats hilarious

There are still people who don't know this?

Then again, the Flat-Earth society is still around... http://www.flat-earth.org/. BTW, they believe that Idaho or North Dakota does not exist.

wow... went to the site

wow

 

[Gokul43201]

My advisor (who does low Temp, low noise measurements) has his wife introduce him at parties as a refrigerator repairman !

Eventually, though, the people he is talking to figure out he's a physicist, and amble away.

 

[zoobyshoe]

My advisor (who does low Temp, low noise measurements)...

Low frequency noise or just low volume?

 

[Gokul43201]

Our typical signals strengths are in the picovolts...so yes, low noise-amplitude - of course, the frequency of the noise is important too. You don't really care as much, if there's loads of noise far from your measurement frequency.

 

[Ivan Seeking]

My wife has taken on the responsibility of letting me know when to stop. This has increased my popularity at parties tremendously! Nowadays, people come up to me and ask how things work: my wife will give me a visual or physical sign that says "that's enough." And everybody's happy!

Tsunami and I do the same thing only she prefers to hit me over the head with a heavy, blunt object. This keeps me quiet until I regain consciousness.