Physics, its relevance and career prospects

[jlittle]

I did physics at university, but with hindsight I think I wasn't much good at it, and should have studied computer science.

However, as an education it was valuable. "Thinking like a physicist" I call it sometimes, though I imagine real physicists would scoff at my thoughts. Having some understanding of how and why things work helps me find my place in the world, and is very useful, especially electronics.

But... roughly, in the 19th century it was chemistry that made enormous strides that changed the human condition, in the 20th it was physics, and I predict in the 21st it will be biology. Biology and information science are moving together, mostly in genetics and brain science with AI. Geneticists have barely scratched the surface of the unknown, and neither have neurologists.

[jglen490]

None of the sciences are irrelevant. As you noted, personal interest in a subject is paramount when looking for personal satisfaction in a course of study, or as a basis for a career.

[DoYouKubuntu]

From what I recall of my college physics days, I think the THINKING involved in physics is a good tool to have in your arsenal. If you can think logically and break things down to their core, that's a great resource.

[GreyGeek]

My MS degree is in Biochemistry, and I’ve accumulated major hours in both Physics and Math.
While in grad school I took numerical analysis, which involved writing Fortran IV code to solve physics problems.
Little did I realize that I would spend most of my working life coding, when I wasn’t teaching.

Most of the chemicals I used to do research into anti-cancer metabolites were carcinogens, but we didn’t know that at the time. Of my fourteen classmates I and a good friend were the only ones who didn’t get jobs in the chemical or pharmaceutical industries. We are the only ones in our grad class that haven’t died from Cancer. He recovered from a metastasized Prostate cancer. While I was teaching I was involved in a lab explosion which injured my lungs. I now have COPD (but never smoked). The Pulmonary Hypertension is affecting the Atriums and I go in and out of AFib. Mostly in, now, and taking Warfarin to guard against clot formation. I’m taking steps to avoid my heart remodeling because of the AFib, which would not be a good thing.

If I had the opportunity to do college & grad school over I’d major in Math and Physics with emphasis on electronics, with coding as a tool to help.

[PhysicistSarah]

@jglen I see someone likes hand planes. @GreyGeek Yeesh, studying carconogens, while using carcinogens! Bad combination. Not envious of that. Reminds me of: https://youtu.be/rcaJOM6tBQA?t=44

Do you think that the job market will be semi-stable over the next 30 or so years (I'm in the United States of M'urika, I have no idea where you are), I would probably be expecting a market crash sometime soon honestly. AI & automation kind make me nervous. If people can't buy things, people might not spend so much on R&D if they're trying to stay afloat.

[GreyGeek]

... @GreyGeek Yeesh, studying carconogens, while using carcinogens! Bad combination. Not envious of that. Reminds me of: https://youtu.be/rcaJOM6tBQA?t=44

The first thing I thought of while watching that video about shop safety was the three laws of Thermodynamics:
1) you can't win (get more out of a process than what you put in)
2) you can't break even (getting out of a process all that you put in)
3) you can't get out of the game (0 Kelvin is impossible to reach)
Lose some teeth or break your neck. Some choice...

Do you think that the job market will be semi-stable over the next 30 or so years (I'm in the United States of M'urika, I have no idea where you are), I would probably be expecting a market crash sometime soon honestly. AI & automation kind make me nervous. If people can't buy things, people might not spend so much on R&D if they're trying to stay afloat.

IMO, it will be as stable over the next 30 years as it was during the last 30 years. The economy went up and it went down. That market has done the same. You can make money in the market when it is rising AND when it is falling, but if you can't afford to lose then you can't afford to play.

America exported its debt by leveraging the Dollar's position as a World Reserve Currency. Those days are over. Now, there are 5 currencies in that category and the major players (Russia, China, EU, Britain, Japan) and they are making deals by trading directly and avoiding the use of the Dollar. Normally, that would mean the end of the Dollar because it was over extended by Congress continually spending more than tax revenues supplied. Contrary to the doom & gloom from the MNM it appears that Trump's fiscal actions are having some good effects on the economy. A $344 decline in a $26K market is only a 1.3% drop, not the disaster the MNM makes it out to be. Tax cuts are causing corporations to move manufacturing and JOBS back to America, increasing wages and giving bonuses. The GPD growth in the last quarter of last year was 2.6%. Can't call that "crumbs".

NAFTA caused jobs and factories to ship over seas. The oil embargo in 1974, Black Friday in 1987, Gulf Wars I & II. Kosovo. ISIS. NK & RocketMan. The Housing bubble in 2008. In my opinion that bubble collapse caused a depression, not a recession, which we are still climbing out of. It's a recession if YOU have a job and a depression if YOU do not. Most goods are still being made in China or other 3rd world dictatorships so Apple can sell a phone here in America for the price of a laptop. In November of 1962 the Cuban Missile Crisis scared the pants off of the world. My bride of 56 years and I were married a month later.

America's oil production peaked in 1969 and had been in steady decline since then. That made us vulnerable to mid-East politics and oil imports. That has been reversed with the development of horizontal drilling. Previously, productive fields were a mile wide and a couple hundred feet thick. Vertical drilling couldn't economically produce oil from fields hundred miles wide and 3' thick. Horizontal drilling can and does. America is a net exporter of oil again, independent of mid-East oil. There will probably be enough oil available for America's needs until fusion reactors become practical, even if that is 50 years in the future.

I live in Lincoln, NE and the economy here in the Mid-West is doing well. Lots of folks are leaving the West and East coasts and moving to the Mid-West, like here in Lincoln. Their wallet is guiding them.

Watson and other AI software currently require too much hardware and data for job opportunities of most Americans. Most AI's are based on a "Neural Net", which is just a sophisticated hashing algorithm, but a pretty cool one. They are easy to learn and experiment with. Code and tutorials are available all over the Internet. Believe it or not, many cities, like Lincoln, still use mainframes storing flat ASCII databases accessed by RPG4 programs running on P4 terminals. They are SLOWLY being replaced by applications built with API's like Qt, or web based tools, which requires good, old fashion programming skills. Of course, math and physics skills are an irreplaceable asset when coding.

With my physics, math and programming skills I employed myself for nearly 20 years writing code and investigating homicides, so there is always the self-employment option. The major area of need at that time was accounting and stock market software, so I taught myself accounting, built a skeleton GAAP package and modified it for my clients. The need was caused by the fact that NAFTA forced jobs and factories over seas and employees were laid off with various financial packages and savings. Many spent their savings trying to create a small business, usually around phones or knic knacs, and they needed accounting software.

Here is a view of the last two hundred years of the world's economic progress.

Considering all the chaos that has taken place over the last 200 years the progress shown is remarkable and is a cause for hope.

Now, if I was really convinced that a SHTF scenario was inevitable I'd focus on a skill set that would set me up in a society which would be similar to the 1890-1905 era. Collect seeds for planting, metal parts and car parts to make generators, solar collectors, black smithing, basic health care and products, making black powder and muzzle loading rifles, casting bullets, etc. I'd store lots of freeze dried foods, gallons of H2O2, 90% IsoPropanol, yeast, white vinegar, learn how to raise chickens, goats, horses and oxen, and collect as many books on plants, animals, health, along with medical instruments. But, you'll have to be heavily armed and a good shot because if you are not someone who is will take it all away from you and leave you for dead. Now, that last paragraph is depressing, isn't it. Not much hope in it. To make it worse, what if RocketMan did drop a nuke or two on us and trigger WWIII? See? There's no point to spending time on that path.