Physics, mathematics and love life?

[ephedyn]

Rather bored, so I was just wondering - only considered generalizations with the underling principle here, but I'm looking for specifics: have your interests in physics/mathematics altered your love life in any way?

Say, have you pissed your significant other off with your obsession with physics/mathematics?

Have you chosen to do work on some problem over a date? Over intimacies?

Has your mathematical acumen conditioned your strategy (for better or worse) in finding a partner? Or do you find better payoffs in mimicking the strategies of those less competent in physics and mathematics?

Are your partying iterations rather Newtonian?

Or have you wandered into this thread with a null set?

 

[cristo]

Rather bored, so I was just wondering - only considered generalizations with the underling principle here, but I'm looking for specifics: have your interests in physics/mathematics altered your love life in any way?

Say, have you pissed your significant other off with your obsession with physics/mathematics?

An interest is not the same as an obsession.

Have you chosen to do work on some problem over a date? Over intimacies?

Err...

Has your mathematical acumen conditioned your strategy (for better or worse) in finding a partner? Or do you find better payoffs in mimicking the strategies of those less competent in physics and mathematics?

Great: another "I'm good at maths/physics thus cannot possibly have a normal social life" thread

Are your partying iterations rather Newtonian?

Or have you wandered into this thread with a null set?

Have you turned into Anne Robinson? (Ok, so I doubt many people will get that)

 

[ephedyn]

Please don't feel offended as I didn't intend to - and it's not possible to because: personally, I think I have barely any social life; or at least people tell me that I don't. But both you and I know that from personal point of view that the named stereotype is untrue. I was just trying to find a casual topic of common interest, and I'm just intending this in good humor that's all - the same way I'm sure Mlodinow meant no insult in Feynman's Rainbow, where he mentioned plenty of social peculiarities among his colleagues.

I'd say an obsession is a subset of interest. And I was suggesting that if one so happened to fall under that category, to share your thoughts.

Please don't feel offended as I didn't intend to - and it's not possible to because: personally, I think I have barely any social life; or at least people tell me that I don't. But both you and I know that from personal point of view that the named stereotype is untrue. I was just trying to find a casual topic of common interest, and I'm just intending this in good humor that's all - the same way I'm sure Mlodinow meant no insult in Feynman's Rainbow, where he mentioned plenty of social peculiarities among his colleagues.

I'd say an obsession is a subset of interest. And I was suggesting that if one so happened to fall under that category, to share your thoughts.

And sorry, I typed that with a pie in one hand and didn't about how I should phrase it. I have no idea who's Anne Robinson though.

(Note on edit: Something seems to have been removed while I was editing)

And I was playing a game over the internet for a moment just a few days ago while I was reading a chemistry article. Darted my concentration back to the game, where I saw an amazing correlation, and

I typed: All your coordination sites belong to me ^_~
and the rest of the blokes (all of which were more related to computational fields by their making) quickly responded: Huh?
then I replied: Uguu~

In fact, I think those who can't appreciate it are rather peculiar themselves (I also doubt you'd understand that) - but I still find them likable as friends.

 

[Evo]

I don't have an understanding of physics or math and I don't have a love life.

 

[ephedyn]

Heh, how did you come across this forum then?

And that seems to alter my question to a new extremity: has your time spent in this forum altered your undertakings at love life?

 

[tribdog]

Please don't feel offended as I didn't intend to - and it's not possible to because: personally, I think I have barely any social life; or at least people tell me that I don't. But both you and I know that from personal point of view that the named stereotype is untrue.

Oh, there's a little bit of truthness to to it. Keep hanging around here for a while, there are some nerds here.

 

[ephedyn]

Oh, there's a little bit of truthness to to it. Keep hanging around here for a while, there are some nerds here.

My bad. I'll surely love to hear their take on the subject too, but I'm guessing the title has turned away these candidates.

Well, he said "... cannot possibly...", which I suppose is a question of sufficient conditions for having no social life.

 

[George Jones]

My wife and I both understand physics and math, and our daughter could pick out equations from prose (can't understand either, though) in books by the age of eighteen months.

Science geeks, all!

 

[BobG]

Say, have you pissed your significant other off with your obsession with physics/mathematics?

Have you chosen to do work on some problem over a date? Over intimacies?

William Hamilton did.

Hamilton spent his honeymoon writing Theory of System of Rays.

He finally figured out the secret to quaternions while on a moonlight walk with his wife. He carved his key equation into the stone of the Broome Bridge over the Royal Canal in Ireland.

[tex]i^2=j^2=k^2=ijk=-1[/tex]


In spite of his sense of romance, Hamilton remained an unhappily married alcoholic with a wife he considered "not at all brilliant" until he finally died of gout.

 

[Kurdt]

There was another thread floating around that suggested half the members of PF were single. I think that tells you all you need to know

 

[renz]

well, here's how conversation goes,

a guy from my class: (at lunch time) so let's go to lunch together!
me: actually i have to go to the lab.
him: You're eating lunch in the lab!?
me: er... no ... just at the department meeting right outside the lab...

oh well, actually i think the school work keep me way too busy to care about love life

 

[BobG]

Rather bored, so I was just wondering - only considered generalizations with the underling principle here, but I'm looking for specifics: have your interests in physics/mathematics altered your love life in any way?

Say, have you pissed your significant other off with your obsession with physics/mathematics?

Have you chosen to do work on some problem over a date? Over intimacies?

I will admit that when confronted with relationship problems, I chose to pursue a degree in Electrical Engineering. Good choice. Really hard courses; very time consuming; doesn't leave much time to worry about personal problems.

There has been one small problem with that approach, though. I haven't quite pinpointed it, but I think I either left out a variable or solved the wrong problem.

 

[rootX]

I will admit that when confronted with relationship problems, I chose to pursue a degree in Electrical Engineering. Good choice. Really hard courses; very time consuming; doesn't leave much time to worry about personal problems.

There has been one small problem with that approach, though. I haven't quite pinpointed it, but I think I either left out a variable or solved the wrong problem.

I also doing the same

I pissed my potential girl friend in high school because I over used my analytical thinking, probabilities (e.g. I am sure with P of 0.7..) and math/curves in our personal communications .

 

[ekrim]

I don't have an understanding of physics or math and I don't have a love life.

that's what I am talking about

 

[BobG]

I also doing the same

I pissed my potential girl friend in high school because I over used my analytical thinking, probabilities (e.g. I am sure with P of 0.7..) and math/curves in our personal communications .

You mean her potential energy was converted into kinetic energy?

 

[moe darklight]

I don't think there's anything wrong about being passionate about something to the point it consumes a large portion of your time. Nor do I think, regardless of the cliché of the "socially awkward mad scientist," that this is exclusive to math-heavy sciences; you see the same "obsessive" behavior in doctors, lawyers, psychologists, or artists like musicians who spend days on end in the studio, writers, painters ... car mechanics.

Hell, in anyone who is very passionate about their line of work, really.

I think this is only a problem if:

a) you're using work as an escape from an actual social deficiency (i.e: it's not that you're sincerely passionate about your work, it's that you really have trouble communicating with people and use work as a crutch to not dealing with your problem)

b) you're in a relationship with someone who needs more attention than you can give them (in this case it's not fair to the other person to involve them in a relationship when you know you won't be able to provide them with the personal time they need to make them happy. You should probably look for someone who either understands your lifestyle and is happy to share it with you, or someone who also leads a similar lifestyle)

But if you genuinely love working day in and day out, and have no desire for a different lifestyle, I don't see why this is unhealthy in any way; regardless of what others might think.

 

[WarPhalange]

Enjoying working day in and day out without a desire for a different lifestyle is like falling from a great height. It's awesome unless you suddenly stop liking all that work. Splat. Then you're 20 or 30 years behind the social curve without any clue where to go or what to do.

 

[cristo]

But work is a social environment, and thus is conducive to learning social skills.

 

[moe darklight]

Enjoying working day in and day out without a desire for a different lifestyle is like falling from a great height. It's awesome unless you suddenly stop liking all that work. Splat. Then you're 20 or 30 years behind the social curve without any clue where to go or what to do.

How is it any less of a lifestyle than working a regular job for the money and spending most of your time with friends and family? You could just as well get sick of that after 20 or 30 years and suddenly decide you want to be a composer or a biochemist; then you'd be just as many years behind the biochemistry curve.

Not doing what I enjoy doing on the off chance that three decades from now I won't like it any more makes no sense.

And like Cristo said, work is a social environment too; I know I'd rather spend time with people who are equally passionate about my interests than at the local bar (which I enjoy too, but not 7 days a week like some of my friends).

Whatever floats your boat, as long as you don't sink anyone else's.

 

[BobG]

But work is a social environment, and thus is conducive to learning social skills.

And at work, those math and physics skills make you popular. Just a few months ago, several peasants, uh, I mean coworkers, came into my office wanting help on an incredibly difficult math problem. They hated to bother me, but I was the only person they could think of that might be able to figure this problem out. I was so excited . That's the kind of thing I live for.

I followed them to their classroom, where they'd just installed a new high quality projection screen. The instructions said that the screen was viewable with no distortion as long as the angle of the viewer relative to the screen was at least 10 degrees. They needed to know how far up they could put the seats at the edge of the room and still have the student see the screen with an undistorted view.

Uh, SOHCAHTOA? Geez, didn't these people even take a junior high math class? I was crushed inside, but I didn't let it show. They were happy. You should be friendly to your peasants, uh, coworkers. I just smiled and solved their tiny problem (IN ABOUT 2 SECONDS! ) and told them I was happy I could help.

 

[WarPhalange]

How is it any less of a lifestyle than working a regular job for the money and spending most of your time with friends and family? You could just as well get sick of that after 20 or 30 years and suddenly decide you want to be a composer or a biochemist; then you'd be just as many years behind the biochemistry curve.

Not doing what I enjoy doing on the off chance that three decades from now I won't like it any more makes no sense.

And like Cristo said, work is a social environment too; I know I'd rather spend time with people who are equally passionate about my interests than at the local bar (which I enjoy too, but not 7 days a week like some of my friends).

Whatever floats your boat, as long as you don't sink anyone else's.

What's more likely? Deciding "I want a friend." or deciding "I want to compose music."?

And that's assuming you have a social environment. I spend at least 5 hours a day alone in my office [strike]browsing PF[/strike] working on code. Then I eat lunch alone, since there are only 4 people that work on my project here with me and they all do other things, so I don't really know anybody.

 

[rootX]

You mean her potential energy was converted into kinetic energy?

yep

I don't really want any relationship, I have my calculator, laptop and math and awesome problems to solve with some classmates!

 

[Cyrus]

What's more likely? Deciding "I want a friend." or deciding "I want to compose music."?

And that's assuming you have a social environment. I spend at least 5 hours a day alone in my office [strike]browsing PF[/strike] working on code. Then I eat lunch alone, since there are only 4 people that work on my project here with me and they all do other things, so I don't really know anybody.

Meeting people is not hard...stop making excuses. When I visited Mass. I walked into a bar the second night and made friends who invited me to a party (but called me to go after I already returned home! )

 

[Cyrus]

How is it any less of a lifestyle than working a regular job for the money and spending most of your time with friends and family? You could just as well get sick of that after 20 or 30 years and suddenly decide you want to be a composer or a biochemist; then you'd be just as many years behind the biochemistry curve.

Not doing what I enjoy doing on the off chance that three decades from now I won't like it any more makes no sense.

And like Cristo said, work is a social environment too; I know I'd rather spend time with people who are equally passionate about my interests than at the local bar (which I enjoy too, but not 7 days a week like some of my friends).

Whatever floats your boat, as long as you don't sink anyone else's.

I think I've become what you describe. I want to sit at home and read my textbooks all day long cover to cover, and I DO NOT want people bothering me. I can't sit there and read straight so I constantly take small breaks every 20 mins or so and think about what I read and surf the web (PF mostly).

I find it much more fun to really devote yourself to your work all week and then relax on the weekends for a limited amount of time. After going out so many times you start to feel like you're wasting your time. I think to myself, 'man, I could do this any time I wanted to'...when I'm at a bar, or going to the store with my friend, or doing some other pointless activity. But sometimes its also nice to just do nothing. Its all about balance.

I don't think enough people have a passion in life. I always ask that question to people I meet, and most don't have an answer -how sad.

 

[WarPhalange]

Meeting people is not hard...stop making excuses. When I visited Mass. I walked into a bar the second night and made friends who invited me to a party (but called me to go after I already returned home! )

Hey! Look at me! I'm Cyrus, I'm a 20-something year old social butterfly! I don't have any problems meeting people, meaning nobody should. Ever!

Did you miss the part where I said "Haven't had a friend in 20 years"? If someone hasn't had a friend in years, don't you think they'd have a bit more trouble than you?

I should probably elaborate further before you think I'm actually talking about myself. This is called a "hypothetical situation" Don't worry, sound it out if you're having trouble. It's a long phrase.

 

[Cyrus]

Hey! Look at me! I'm Cyrus, I'm a 20-something year old social butterfly! I don't have any problems meeting people, meaning nobody should. Ever!

I can see why you don't have any friends. Your constant sarcasm will build a lot of brick walls and is really a sign of immaturity. (You're constantly sarcastic to other members here all the time, so it's fair for me to assume you're like this in real life too). In all honesty, you do realize when you reply to me in sarcasm it makes me just raise an eyebrow and not really care what you say?

Now, you're perfectly fine to disagree with me and bust my chops. But you don't need to resort to the sarcasm all the time. Its a weak form of argument I would expect from a 12 year old, not a college aged adult.

Did you miss the part where I said "Haven't had a friend in 20 years"? If someone hasn't had a friend in years, don't you think they'd have a bit more trouble than you?

Who is this person that has not had a friend in 20 years? I take it this example nothing more than hypothetical nonsense then, yes?

I should probably elaborate further before you think I'm actually talking about myself. This is called a "hypothetical situation" Don't worry, sound it out if you're having trouble. It's a long phrase.

Get used to eating lunches alone for a LONG time to come...

Side: by this

I spend at least 5 hours a day alone in my office

I take it the I means you? Or is that supposed to be hypothetical. I can't tell because your writing is not clear.

 

[Moonbear]

Enjoying working day in and day out without a desire for a different lifestyle is like falling from a great height. It's awesome unless you suddenly stop liking all that work. Splat. Then you're 20 or 30 years behind the social curve without any clue where to go or what to do.

Don't you socialize with the people you work with? I do. My boyfriend does (though, his socializing is going to get him killed...he's out on a dinner cruise tonight...employees only...I was annoyed about not getting to go along at first, but now I'm annoyed he's out on a boat in the middle of a thunderstorm and they seem determined to make the thing last the full 3 hours even though there's LIGHTNING on the water! I have another hour of pacing the floor and calling him every so often to make sure he hasn't been struck by lightning yet).

We're both geeks though, so it works very well for us.

 

[Cyrus]

Don't you socialize with the people you work with? I do. My boyfriend does (though, his socializing is going to get him killed...he's out on a dinner cruise tonight...employees only...I was annoyed about not getting to go along at first, but now I'm annoyed he's out on a boat in the middle of a thunderstorm and they seem determined to make the thing last the full 3 hours even though there's LIGHTNING on the water! I have another hour of pacing the floor and calling him every so often to make sure he hasn't been struck by lightning yet).

We're both geeks though, so it works very well for us.

Uh oh, it was a 3 hour tour....I guess he's 'the professor'

 

[rootX]

Don't you socialize with the people you work with?.

Does that socializing mean talking to coworkers about non-work related things or going out with them?

I think we can't optimize our activities without making teams (that's my socializing - maximizing profits for everyone). Normally, I don't engage in activities that don't have something in return.

And then, there are few mysterious activities which happen rarely.

 

[Moonbear]

Uh oh, it was a 3 hour tour....I guess he's 'the professor'

No kidding! That tune has been going through my mind all night! I think the worst of the storms have passed now, though (at least the worst that will hit until he's safely back on dry land). I still cannot believe they don't cancel a boat ride for a thunderstorm! What idiocy! (It looked like the storms were breaking about the time it was starting, so he thought it was over...I suspected differently when I saw him off...the water looked TOO calm...he should have pretended he had too much to do to make it on time.)

 

[turbo]

My ongoing astronomy project(s) with far-flung collaborators has not bothered my wife of 32+ years. She knows that my forced social isolation is best addressed by letting me focus my energies on research that is time-intensive but that can be done on my own schedule. I have been devoting a lot of time recently to my vegetable garden (including mold and mildew remediation efforts to combat the torrential rains). Our first paper was electronically advanced-published by Springer (Journal of Astrophysics and Space Sciences) and is now in print. Soon, the weather will disfavor gardening, and I'll be able to devote more hours to our next paper. My wife will come home from work and find me mining IRSA, NED, HyperLeda, etc for data, and she'll smile, give me a kiss and ask what I want for supper...

BTW, my 2-years-younger cousin is Lockheed-Martin's project leader in the Space Shuttle's HST service mission and he's pretty excited about some of the implications of our recent paper. Kids from the woods of Maine can end up in some interesting places...

 

[Moonbear]

Does that socializing mean talking to coworkers about non-work related things or going out with them?

Both. We get together for things like cookouts and parties at one another's homes, going out to restaurants, bars, etc. And, when at work, of course we chit chat about non-work related stuff too.

I think we can't optimize our activities without making teams (that's my socializing - maximizing profits for everyone). Normally, I don't engage in activities that don't have something in return.

I'm not even going to pretend I understand what you're trying to say here. Isn't having fun enough? I can't tell if you're confusing networking with socializing? Of if you just have some really skewed sense of what it means to socialize.

 

[rootX]

I'm not even going to pretend I understand what you're trying to say here. Isn't having fun enough? I can't tell if you're confusing networking with socializing? Of if you just have some really skewed sense of what it means to socialize.

I should have put @Warplange with it, this wasn't to you.
But well, I guess I can only do networking. If socializing means talking about non-work related things or going out for short term fun then I am not capable of doing those things. But if socializing means simply communicating to others about the things that you love to do, then I am normal.

 

[Cyrus]

I should have put @Warplange with it, this wasn't to you.
But well, I guess I can only do networking. If socializing means talking about non-work related things or going out for short term fun then I am not capable of doing those things. But if socializing means simply communicating to others about the things that you love to do, then I am normal.

Practice makes perfect. You can't expect to only talk about your work to other people and not bore them to death after 5 mins of conversation.

For some reason, people LOVE to talk about sports. I don't watch sports in any way shape or form. But if you do, people will yap on and on about sports with you. Its an easy conversation starter with a perfect stranger...I just stare at them and go uhuh...he made a field goal...uh-huh...yeah...uh-huh...(what the hell's he talking about?)...yep...uh-huh...wow he missed the pass! (pass? who cares!?)...nodding head in agreement. Then I say excuse me and run away....dont look back just RUN...

 

[rewebster]

Practice makes perfect. You can't expect to only talk about your work to other people and not bore them to death after 5 mins of conversation.

For some reason, people LOVE to talk about sports. I don't watch sports in any way shape or form. But if you do, people will yap on and on about sports with you. Its an easy conversation starter with a perfect stranger...I just stare at them and go uhuh...he made a field goal...uh-huh...yeah...uh-huh...(what the hell's he talking about?)...yep...uh-huh...wow he missed the pass! (pass? who cares!?)...nodding head in agreement. Then I say excuse me and run away....dont look back just RUN...

that's a good rule to follow--about work or anything