Hypercube
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Please take below as a light-hearted topic suitable for the lounge area, I most certainly do not wish that it gets out of hand.
Part I
How often do you encounter people harbouring various stereotypes of physicists, either good or bad? Is there often a discrepancy between what people think you do for a living, and what you actually do? What are some of the most common misconception laypeople have when you tell them you are a physicist?
Part II
What about you, what are your thoughts? Do you, yourself, notice any common traits among your physicist colleagues (and yourself)? Are there any generalisations of physicists that (in your experience) might be justified?
Part I
How often do you encounter people harbouring various stereotypes of physicists, either good or bad? Is there often a discrepancy between what people think you do for a living, and what you actually do? What are some of the most common misconception laypeople have when you tell them you are a physicist?
Part II
What about you, what are your thoughts? Do you, yourself, notice any common traits among your physicist colleagues (and yourself)? Are there any generalisations of physicists that (in your experience) might be justified?
(Motivation for this topic)
In a show The Big Bang Theory, three physicists (+ 1 engineer) are portrayed as hyper-smart folks who are completely lacking people skills. While this is clearly an exaggeration, it made me wonder (due to its popularity) how strongly are people's opinion of physicists influenced by media, news articles, etc.
In a show The Big Bang Theory, three physicists (+ 1 engineer) are portrayed as hyper-smart folks who are completely lacking people skills. While this is clearly an exaggeration, it made me wonder (due to its popularity) how strongly are people's opinion of physicists influenced by media, news articles, etc.
