by danda » Wed May 27, 2020 4:25 pm
That thread annoyed/inspired me enough to write the following comment:
or maybe, just maybe, it's because most of what is being taught in physics classes today is absolutely wrong and makes no sense. You find it difficult to hold paradoxical concepts in your mind because it should be. They are wrong. You will recognize and know truth when the concepts are simple and elegant.
Your professors were taught wrong theory and they pass it on to you. If you don't figure that out, you will pass it on to others. Your inner voice is telling you this, but the whole system is built around it and so you figure you must be wrong, not everyone else. But if you ever want to achieve breakthroughs in physics (natural philosophy) you must be strong: listen to your gut and internally (at least) call BS when your professors talk about totally unproven things as if they were fact: such as dark energy, dark matter, black holes, big bang, expansion/inflation, quantum mechanics, relativity, etc. These things are just mathematical extrapolations and fantasies.
Stick with what you can verify for yourself, eg: classical mechanics, and then read/experiment for yourself. Look for the real, physical explanation of each phenomenon, not just math. Do thought experiments: what if you keep dividing matter in two? Do you reach a smallest unit, or not? A largest size, or not? If so, what do these endpoints look like, and how do they work? Read up on the works of the real natural philosophers, people like Weber, Maxwell, Tesla, Kristian Birkeland, Charles Townsend Brown, Hannes Alven, Royal Raymond Rife, Ralph Juergens, Anthony Peratt, Halton Arp, Wal Thornhill, Tom Van Flandern, Andre Assis, Paul La Violette, Steven Bryant, Velikovsky, Eric Dollard, even Edward Leedskalnin. People that looked for themselves, rather than trusting and regurgitating wrong ideas of others.
If most of these names are unfamiliar to you, that in itself should be an indictment of your university, professors, and your personal interest/ambition to understand the universe around you. There are fascinating books about or by each one, rich with forgotten/ignored science. Places where scientific mainstream took a wrong turn rather than pursuing the thread of truth. Some are alive today and you can contact them and get involved.
Finally, ask yourself a question. Do you want to "have a comfortable career in physics" or do you want to learn nature's secrets and satisfy your burning curiosity? If the former, forget what I said above, and keep on the mainstream path. If the latter, you'd better take my advice to heart.
[quote=Zyxzevn post_id=691 time=1581617492 user_id=29339]
TIL many scientists have Imposter Syndrome. The science is too difficult.
Link: [url=https://np.reddit.com/r/Physics/comments/f2ibkz/how_do_you_deal_with_imposter_syndrome/]How do you deal with Imposter Syndrome? -reddit.com[/url]
[/quote]
That thread annoyed/inspired me enough to write the following comment:
[quote]
or maybe, just maybe, it's because most of what is being taught in physics classes today is absolutely wrong and makes no sense. You find it difficult to hold paradoxical concepts in your mind because it should be. They are wrong. You will recognize and know truth when the concepts are simple and elegant.
Your professors were taught wrong theory and they pass it on to you. If you don't figure that out, you will pass it on to others. Your inner voice is telling you this, but the whole system is built around it and so you figure you must be wrong, not everyone else. But if you ever want to achieve breakthroughs in physics (natural philosophy) you must be strong: listen to your gut and internally (at least) call BS when your professors talk about totally unproven things as if they were fact: such as dark energy, dark matter, black holes, big bang, expansion/inflation, quantum mechanics, relativity, etc. These things are just mathematical extrapolations and fantasies.
Stick with what you can verify for yourself, eg: classical mechanics, and then read/experiment for yourself. Look for the real, physical explanation of each phenomenon, not just math. Do thought experiments: what if you keep dividing matter in two? Do you reach a smallest unit, or not? A largest size, or not? If so, what do these endpoints look like, and how do they work? Read up on the works of the real natural philosophers, people like Weber, Maxwell, Tesla, Kristian Birkeland, Charles Townsend Brown, Hannes Alven, Royal Raymond Rife, Ralph Juergens, Anthony Peratt, Halton Arp, Wal Thornhill, Tom Van Flandern, Andre Assis, Paul La Violette, Steven Bryant, Velikovsky, Eric Dollard, even Edward Leedskalnin. People that looked for themselves, rather than trusting and regurgitating wrong ideas of others.
If most of these names are unfamiliar to you, that in itself should be an indictment of your university, professors, and your personal interest/ambition to understand the universe around you. There are fascinating books about or by each one, rich with forgotten/ignored science. Places where scientific mainstream took a wrong turn rather than pursuing the thread of truth. Some are alive today and you can contact them and get involved.
Finally, ask yourself a question. Do you want to "have a comfortable career in physics" or do you want to learn nature's secrets and satisfy your burning curiosity? If the former, forget what I said above, and keep on the mainstream path. If the latter, you'd better take my advice to heart.
[/quote]