I just recently went to a physics conference here in Saint Louis. It started on Saturday and finished on Tuesday. There were many speakers there. I myself gave a 10 minute presentation. I didn’t sleep the night before until 6:00 a.m.. It was a very frustrating night. I slept for a couple of hours and then continued practicing my talk, but by the time I left I still couldn’t finish within ten minutes. However, when the time came to give my talk I was able to speak smoothly and efficiently, and I finished in time. I having practiced before and being in front of an audience helped.
One thing I have noticed about physicists is that many of them are humble, at least among their peers. There are certainly some who are arrogant, but I have noticed that many value being careful about what they can say with certainty and what they cannot. Perhaps ‘honesty’ would be a better word to describe this. I think this is a personal value in many, but physicists are also frequently being evaluated with scrutiny by their peers, through papers that they write, the equipment that they make, and the presentations they give; and let me tell you, I have been to enough talks to know that many physicists are not very tactful when they see a flaw or a lack of understanding.
One evening, after the last talk, two of the physicists in our research group stayed in the room with about 8 other collaborators. They were all talking about their problems with the equipment they were using, or with getting funding, or with internal politics, and they tried to help each other think through some physics issues. We were all in a circle, and after having talked about their difficulties, I felt like we should close in prayer. There were a couple of times when I was gearing up my mind to pray before realizing that this was not a church small group. Ha, ha!
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Thank you for this slice of a physicist’s life. I enjoyed it.
I guess I don’t understand what you are saying, because you said physicists are “honest and humble” but not tactful. So, do you like that?
Very interesting. I’m glad you’re talk went well.
I like physicists.
Audrey, I think that a physicist’s desire for truth is admirable. I have noticed a sense of wonder and satisfaction among many physicists when something is better understood. However, they don’t want to rejoice too much, because there is always more to learn and there is always the possibility that they could be wrong. I think that there would be nothing more embarrassing to a physicist than to celebrate some intellectual victory only to find out later that he or she was completely wrong.
They place themselves and others, then, under careful scrutiny, especially when big claims are being made. I think that in this sense they are humble and honest. However, I have noticed that some physicists seem to get aggravated when someone does not explain themselves clearly or when they make some obvious mistakes. This aggravation can result in lack of tact, but not always.
I read a book by Carl Sagan last semester, and he described a tension that scientists have between wonder and skepticism. He said that the best science is done when wonder and skepticism are married together.
Actually, I wish that physicists would express their wonder more freely; but I think there is a fear of believing something that isn’t true that holds them back a bit.
Here I have been making broad generalizations and interpretations of things that I have noticed, but not every physicist I have met is like what I have described above. There is also selfish ambition and pride among physicists, just like any other group of people.
Very interesting! I like hearing about the Physicist Culture.
This was interesting. Thanks for sharing this with us.