Terrence Howard could benefit from reading this. But then again, he’d say you’re one of those gatekeepers in mathematics who are suppressing the truth. 😉
Great points. I left research in my original field (experimental particle physics), because I came to realise fairly early on (during my PhD, which leaned heavily towards computing) that my sub-sub-topic was not something I wanted to work on indefinitely. In fact, I came to loathe it. I guess it’s a bad sign when you’re at the premier conference in your sub-field and you think ALL the presentations are deathly boring.
It was in the early 2000s, when the UK research councils were throwing a lot of money at “e-science”. My supervisor talked it up a lot and made it sound really exciting, and I was attracted to that. But by the time I realised I didn’t get to do actual physics, it was kind of late. I guess I could have dropped out and tried something else, but I like seeing things through, so I finished the PhD then kept going with a postdoc while I figured some things out. Eventually moved into academic publishing then teaching.
I do feel there was a fair bit of “randomness” in my choice of supervisor and topic, including UK govt policy at the time, a persuasive supervisor, and just me being an immature 21-year-old who hadn’t learned to make good decisions yet. I sometimes wonder how things would have turned out if I’d landed with a topic I was really interested in. But life has been full and interesting since then and I don’t regret the path, even if I might make a different choice given the chance to start over.
This comment turned out a lot longer than I planned! Anyway, great article!
Thanks, and thanks for sharing your experience. I think it's extremely common that the area someone lands in just turns out to be completely disconnected from their interests and skills, and there's probably nothing that can be done about it. You bring up another thing I should have thought to mention -- the ridiculous fads that used to blow through every field, and burn out a huge amount of talent. Fortunately that doesn't happen any more, because machine learning will solve everything. :-)
I did not "survive" as a researcher, but I also maintain that my research training taught me to think like nothing else I've ever done.
Terrence Howard could benefit from reading this. But then again, he’d say you’re one of those gatekeepers in mathematics who are suppressing the truth. 😉
That would be just like mathematicians, sending a physicist out to watch the gates for them.
(I had no idea who Terrence Howard is. Thanks for introducing me to yet another rabbit hole of stupidity…)
I thought Tyson’s video response was pretty good science communication.
Waiting eagerly for part two ...
Great points. I left research in my original field (experimental particle physics), because I came to realise fairly early on (during my PhD, which leaned heavily towards computing) that my sub-sub-topic was not something I wanted to work on indefinitely. In fact, I came to loathe it. I guess it’s a bad sign when you’re at the premier conference in your sub-field and you think ALL the presentations are deathly boring.
It was in the early 2000s, when the UK research councils were throwing a lot of money at “e-science”. My supervisor talked it up a lot and made it sound really exciting, and I was attracted to that. But by the time I realised I didn’t get to do actual physics, it was kind of late. I guess I could have dropped out and tried something else, but I like seeing things through, so I finished the PhD then kept going with a postdoc while I figured some things out. Eventually moved into academic publishing then teaching.
I do feel there was a fair bit of “randomness” in my choice of supervisor and topic, including UK govt policy at the time, a persuasive supervisor, and just me being an immature 21-year-old who hadn’t learned to make good decisions yet. I sometimes wonder how things would have turned out if I’d landed with a topic I was really interested in. But life has been full and interesting since then and I don’t regret the path, even if I might make a different choice given the chance to start over.
This comment turned out a lot longer than I planned! Anyway, great article!
Thanks, and thanks for sharing your experience. I think it's extremely common that the area someone lands in just turns out to be completely disconnected from their interests and skills, and there's probably nothing that can be done about it. You bring up another thing I should have thought to mention -- the ridiculous fads that used to blow through every field, and burn out a huge amount of talent. Fortunately that doesn't happen any more, because machine learning will solve everything. :-)