How long does it take to become a physics expert?

  • Context: High School 
  • Thread starter Thread starter BillytheBob
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Discussion Overview

The discussion revolves around the time and effort required to become proficient in physics, particularly in the context of engaging with a community of experienced individuals. Participants share their experiences and perceptions regarding the learning process in physics, touching on various levels of expertise and the challenges faced by newcomers.

Discussion Character

  • Exploratory
  • Debate/contested
  • Conceptual clarification

Main Points Raised

  • One participant expresses feeling overwhelmed by the expertise of others, questioning how long it takes to reach a similar level of understanding.
  • Another participant suggests that knowledge and intelligence are distinct, emphasizing that many experienced members have had more time to learn.
  • Several participants note that a year or two of study can make much of the forum's content understandable, contrasting this with the general lack of physics knowledge among the public.
  • Some participants reflect on the continuous nature of learning in physics, indicating that as they study more, they become aware of the vast amount they still do not know.
  • One participant mentions the repetitive nature of physics education, where concepts build upon each other, reinforcing foundational knowledge over time.
  • Humor is present in the discussion, with some participants joking about their own intelligence and the learning process, while others highlight the importance of enjoyment in learning.

Areas of Agreement / Disagreement

Participants generally agree that learning physics is a gradual process and that enjoyment plays a significant role in becoming proficient. However, there are multiple perspectives on how long it takes to reach a level of understanding, and the discussion remains unresolved regarding the specifics of this timeline.

Contextual Notes

Some participants mention the varying backgrounds and experiences of forum members, which may influence their perspectives on learning physics. There is also an acknowledgment of the vastness of the subject, leading to feelings of inadequacy despite years of study.

BillytheBob
I am pretty new to these forums, and although I enjoy physics, I have only 1 year or experience with it in high school (although I will have two more before I graduate).
You people leave me speechless though. Maybe it is just because a lot of GR or quantum stuff is hard to understand without proper background, but nonetheless.. you people all sound like PhD's from Harvard.

I guess the real question is, how long did you study physics before you could really understand most of what is in these forums.
 
Physics news on Phys.org
We breastfed Physics! :biggrin:

Now, the the real REAL question is, what's your favorite fish?
 
I think you're confusing knowledge with intelligence. I'm not saying folks here are not smart, I'm saying that most of us are a LOT older than you and have had time to use whatever brainpower we have to learn stuff. You'll get there. Don't be intimidated.

(P.S. hint --- pick a small fish :smile:)
 
BillytheBob said:
I am pretty new to these forums, and although I enjoy physics, I have only 1 year or experience with it in high school (although I will have two more before I graduate).
You people leave me speechless though. Maybe it is just because a lot of GR or quantum stuff is hard to understand without proper background, but nonetheless.. you people all sound like PhD's from Harvard.

I guess the real question is, how long did you study physics before you could really understand most of what is in these forums.
Like phinds said, many of us are older with a couple of decades or more of professional experience with about another decade or so of university experience. Many here are scientists (mathematicians, physicists, etc), engineers or technologists, as well as business folks, as well as students in high school and university. There is an amazing spectrum of scientific and technical experience here, as well as being geographically (internationally) broad.

Stick around, read as much as possible, and ask challenging questions.
 
BillytheBob said:
I guess the real question is, how long did you study physics before you could really understand most of what is in these forums.
61 years and counting.
 
BillytheBob said:
I guess the real question is, how long did you study physics before you could really understand most of what is in these forums.

I'll tell you when I'm able to. :biggrin:

On a more serious note, I would say a vast majority of what is posted on this forum is understandable with just a year or 2 of real study. Most people outside of the field have effectively 0 knowledge of physics, so it's extremely easy to find things going over your head. I'm sure I'd be dumbfounded if a music major 1 year into his studies started talking to me about music theory simply because I have almost no understanding of it myself.
 
IMO You don't notice the "how long" aspect of it all if you really enjoy learning w/e it is you want to whether its QFT, GR etc. at least until pengy comes around and ruins the fun. Oh the horror. But yeah its all gradual and I don't think you can ever understand 100% everything here; there is too much to learn =D.
 
It's not even just that we're smart, most of us are world-class athletes as well. Around 60% are models.
 
Over the years, as I study and teach more and more physics, I feel stupider and stupider, because I learn about the existence of more and more topics that I don't know anything about, and realize that I'll never have time to learn even a small fraction of them.
 
  • #10
I'm not smart, I just like math :biggrin:

Seriously, it's pretty easy to become good at something if you enjoy it that much.
 
  • #11
KingNothing said:
It's not even just that we're smart, most of us are world-class athletes as well. Around 60% are models.

60% of us make models, not are models.
 
  • #12
micromass said:
Seriously, it's pretty easy to become good at something if you enjoy it that much.

Couldn't have said it better myself. People always get good at the things they like doing. Unfortunately my uncle really likes being lazy.
 
  • #13
You have to realize how "answering questions" on this forum actually works. If somebody reads 100 threads, doesn't understand anything about 80 of them, doesn't post anything to another 15 because there are already some good answers there, and posts to the remaining 5, what YOU see is somebody who posted 5 answers that "look like they came from a Harvard Ph.D". You just see the tip of the iceberg, not the sea of ignorance that it's floating in!
 
  • #14
KingNothing said:
Couldn't have said it better myself. People always get good at the things they like doing. Unfortunately my uncle really likes being lazy.

HEY ... don't knock lazy. It's one of my best things.:smile:
 
  • #15
jtbell said:
Over the years, as I study and teach more and more physics, I feel stupider and stupider, because I learn about the existence of more and more topics that I don't know anything about, and realize that I'll never have time to learn even a small fraction of them.

And isn't it wonderful ... we'll never get bored !
 
  • #16
AlephZero said:
You have to realize how "answering questions" on this forum actually works. If somebody reads 100 threads, doesn't understand anything about 80 of them, doesn't post anything to another 15 because there are already some good answers there, and posts to the remaining 5, what YOU see is somebody who posted 5 answers that "look like they came from a Harvard Ph.D". You just see the tip of the iceberg, not the sea of ignorance that it's floating in!

Aw come on here ... you're giving away our secrets.:smile:
 
  • #17
Oh wow, I thought it was only me who didn't understand 95% of what is posted here.
 
  • #18
first year students always ask me this question, normally I just point out the things they can do better than I do and say we are all good at something :)
 
  • #19
QuarkCharmer said:
Oh wow, I thought it was only me who didn't understand 95% of what is posted here.

That applies only to regular posts; we don't understand 99.93% of what the penguin comes up with.
 
  • #20
I usually just point out that what I'm good at, I've been LEARNING for about 8 years now.
Physics is quite repetitive when you're learning it (in a GOOD way), it really helps strengthen the basics.
In physics 2 you study basic EM waves.
In DiffEq+PDE you study the solutions to the wave equation.
In optics you study light waves.
Then you study sound waves in acoustics.
You take a solid state course, where you learn about phonon vibrations in a lattice(waves).
Then you do Mechanics and learn about SH oscillators (waves of a box on a spring).
Then you take ElectroMagnetism and study more EM waves.
Then you finally get to Quantum Mechanics and study particle waves.
Luckily in Thermo+Stat Mech you don't study any waves really... but its thermo and stat mech...
Then you get to graduate school and take a Jackson EM course, and learn about much much harder waves, same in grad QM, same in Quantum Field Theory.
And so on and so forth...

Now, of course in some of these courses wave mechanics only plays a small portion, but EVERY YEAR you use the stuff you learned prior only with an increase in difficulty, and a change in application. While that might almost sound boring, it almost forces you to master the mathematics from the ground up to a very technical level.

Its never a new course where the math is new, the topic is new, and you're completely lost. Everything builds on what you learn previously, and constantly adds new tools and techniques to your repertoire.
 
  • #21
Google's smart, I'm just a conduit.
 
  • #22
I don't know about anyone else here but I mostly just make it up as I go along. ;-)

Welcome to PF.
 
  • #23
TheStatutoryApe said:
I don't know about anyone else here but I mostly just make it up as I go along. ;-)
And I steal from you, so I don't have to make it up.
 
  • #24
KingNothing said:
It's not even just that we're smart, most of us are world-class athletes as well. Around 60% are models.
I think that the percentage of models might be higher if most of us didn't like beer as much as we do. I don't see how Monique and MIH manage.

I am a world-class athlete, however. I hope to see darts included in the 2016 Olympics. Training is a grind, but I'll make the sacrifice.
 
  • #25
phinds said:
I think you're confusing knowledge with intelligence.
Yep :D
I find that focusing on intelligence prevents me from gaining knowledge. I'm in my first year of physics and am still pretty unfamiliar with a lot of what is said here. I may read a bit, but I prefer to avoid posting about things until I learn more (unless I am asking for help of course). There's not much I can contribute now...but maybe 10 yrs down the line I'll be a force to reckon with :devil:

For now I've also given up on trying to keep Peng Peng in line ...but I've become pretty skilled with a whip in the process
[URL]http://fc08.deviantart.net/fs38/f/2008/319/8/8/Emoticon_Whip_by_Ace0fredspades.gif[/URL]
 
Last edited by a moderator:
  • #26
BillytheBob said:
I guess the real question is, how long did you study physics before you could really understand most of what is in these forums.

I had to study physics for hundreds... literally hundreds... of minutes before I understood everything about the universe.

So, don't get discouraged.
 
  • #27
KingNothing said:
Around 60% are models.

Modeling is a little bit like knowing a whole lot about a little bit. Everyone is good at something.

I'm an ear model.

[PLAIN]http://img150.imageshack.us/img150/1271/bobshatro5.jpg
 
Last edited by a moderator:
  • #28
HeLiXe said:
For now I've also given up on trying to keep Peng Peng in line ...but I've become pretty skilled with a whip in the process
[PLAIN]http://fc08.deviantart.net/fs38/f/2008/319/8/8/Emoticon_Whip_by_Ace0fredspades.gif[/QUOTE]

Helixe is mean! :(

Or kinky, I'm not sure.
 
Last edited by a moderator:
  • #29
Can't resist the hat BobG! :biggrin:
 
  • #30
DRIZZLE!

hai.
 

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