/sci/ - Science & Math

PhD theses really dont matter, that guy sounds incredibly jaded. he probably went in to math because he wanted to prove how super genius he was to other people and didnt actually like it, but had too much of an ego to quit earlier on.

>>10594826
been thinking of doing a degree in organic chem to make dru__, will i drop out?

>>10594826
as someone who knew the guy, this is false. but it's the same idea. someone who thought he loved it and clearly didn't. he wasn't even jaded necessarily, just didn't have the chops.
to be fair, berkeley is a harsh and unforgiving place. but that's what a grad student needs to prepare them for pursuing academia.

>>10594865
good grief
how young are you?

>A N E C D O T A L E V I D E N C E

>>10594822
I enjoy math though.

>>10594822
>quitting a phD just because normies won't understant what your research is about

What a fucking idiot

>>10594865
Yes not everyone is like that one super druggie that lurks /sci/

>>10595175
retard

>>10594822
it was a waste of time
but it tuned me

At the end of the day, how many people do anything that will impact other people that much? If you enjoy it and it pays well enough, why not make that thing your irrelevant job?

>>10594822
Solution: Change thesis subject to benefit more people.

Incorrect solution: Quit doing what you are good at.

>>10594822

>>10595043
He's right though.
A PhD in math is practically worthless 99% of the time.
Its a giant waste of time and money and no one will care what you even did your PhD on. After the PhD the likelihood of becoming a professor at a university will be close to zero. Your best bet is to go to a community college but even then its oversaturated with so many others who fell for the same meme as you. You'll be overqualified for most jobs in industry and as you wasted your time on a math PhD you'll have no practical skills to even hope for a job in industry.

What awaits you from this point on is a life of poverty and regret as you longingly stare at the engineers and the computer scientist (especially the computer scientist) who will make more money then you can ever hope to.
Enjoy. This is the future you chose.

>>10595204
RUDE

>>10595204
There are research jobs in industry, though. It's also not that hard to get into data analytics, applied OR, consultancy or software development with a math degree. You should not expect your PhD to be anything but wasted time careerwise if you don't do a research job, though.

>>10594822
>self actualization.

But self-actualization is subjective

How is your anecdotal evidence, relevant in any way?

>>10595264
>There are research jobs in industry,
And then ask yourself how many more PhD's like you are out there looking for a industry research position? And if your field was theoretical you've put yourself at a disadvantage, it might even be impossible.

>It's also not that hard to get into data analytics, applied OR, consultancy or software development with a math degree.
So after 8 or so many years of higher education to complete a PhD you would settle for a job someone with a bachelor's in statistics, finance, or computer science could have gotten?

Lets be honest anon. Yes you could get a research position or a software position but how much would you be earning over your peers who didn't need to get a PhD to get those positions? You might even earn less since your PhD gave you no practical skills. Would the extra amount of time you wasted on a PhD really be worth it?

>>10595359

it's worth doing if it's enjoyable. You will have plenty of time to wage-cuck, if school is enjoyable then stay in school for a few more years, who cares?

If you think the meaning of life is getting the highest possible wage in the lowest amount of time then I don't know what to tell you expect that I don't share that belief.

>>10594826

i know this guy. he was/is VERY VERY active on math.stackexchange .

he regularly comes up with incredibly good solutions to all kinds of problems that even put professors on the site in awe

funnily enough i know another math student just like that , who quit mathematics and joined medicine because of the exact same argument

>>10595119

i can guarantee the guy in OPs pic is 10000x smarter than you

>>10595430
i doubt it

>>10595453

he wrote this answer when he was under 20 years old:

https://mathoverflow.net/questions/102879/bijection-between-irreducible-representations-and-conjugacy-classes-of-finite-gr/102894#102894


let's see the amount of times your answer was highly upvoted by a community of professional mathematicians

>>10595464
i don't give a shit

>>10595470

ofc you dont, you are a non factor

>>10595473
fugg you stupid cawksucker

>>10595476

ok retard, keep slaving away for an irrelevant PhD that nobody will read, cite or even bother to understand

>>10595264
>You should not expect your PhD to be anything but wasted time careerwise if you don't do a research job, though.

Completely false. Most quant positions in hedge funds require a PhD (even if they don't explicitly ask for one, most quants have a PhD). The highest paid ML positions also ask for a PhD but those PhDs are more competitive.

>>10594822
Mathematics obviously wasn't the Chink's passion, then. If it were, he would have found fulfillment in it for its own sake.
Besides, then he could teach people about what he had done!

>>10595482
listen you stupid cocksucker can't you take a hint? i don't wanna talk to you

>>10595486
I work as a quant, you don't need any title. We got plenty of math dropouts from top 10 universities working as quants.

>>10595488
He's smarter than you. He has already achieved more than you ever will. And yet he has reached a conclusion that goes against what your own.

>>10595492

> bby doesn't wanna talk
tell us about the time you barely passed linear algebra

>>10595495
listen you tongue-tied son of a bitch ain't you got something better to do?

>>10595499
still waiting for you to show your own work , big guy

>>10595495

Stop bullying the CS student

>>10595501
you've got the block scared but you ain't got me scared big boy

>>10595504

> nonononononono this can't be real
> oh nononononnononono
> i can't possibly have wasted so much time of my life
> make it stop
> make it stop
> make it stop

>>10595505
speak up, you little son of a bitch, you! Don't be ashamed! You're hiding in your damned basement so your mama won't know you're on the computer making obscene calls! Bet she's proud o' you!

>>10595507

still waiting for the CS brainlet to show his own work here

> Thesis title: machine learning approach to data scientific python tensor flow programming for little kids applicable to women and people of colour in STEM

>>10595511
You know I think you're kinda pulling my leg, lady. I got something better to do than listen to you.

>>10595513

like justifying to yourself pursuing a pointless endeavor such as a PhD?

>>10595516
Now, listen, you stupid son of a bitch, I never called you before and, goddamnit, you bitch about it every third day you call me, so fuck you!

>>10595517

> the power of computer science

>>10595518

What you gotta find out if I don't wanna talk to you, motherfucker?

>>10595519

i can't hear you

did you say something computer science brainlet?

>>10595520
You know what? Hang on just a minute, buddy. You know what I got to say? Fuck you.

>>10595522
Hey dear CS brainlet,
maybe i'll let you pity fuck me after you realize you've wasted 10+ years on pointless endeavors

>>10595523
Bring your wheelchair when you come, will ya?

>>10595526

can't wait to see the phallic power of a computer science student fuckstick

>>10595531
Hey, bring your telephone with you...and you can hide behind it while I beat your goddamn head soft.

Has the bullying of CS students on /sci/ gone too far?

Is this thread just a chatbot talking to itself or actual, geniune autism?

>>10595494
>He's smarter than you. He has already achieved more than you ever will. And yet he has reached a conclusion that goes against what your own.
Irrelevant to my statement. He may very well be smarter than me, and he likely is.
BUT.
Mathematics still obviously wasn't his passion, even if he had significant aptitude for it. If it were his passion, he would enjoy doing it for its own sake.

Try reading instead of jumping to conclusions, brainlet-kun.

Anyone who unironically needs the validation of sub-sapient normies and/or money beyond sustaining an upper middle class lifestyle is a sham and deserving of ridicule.

Math brainlet here, even if this guy’s work has no current application because nobody understands it, won’t it be useful at some point in the future? Or are there problems in math which literally will never have any practical application?

>>10595548
Practical applications are for physicists and engineers.
If you're doing math for math's sake, who the fuck cares? No asks artists if their works have "applications"

>>10595548
No one knows, that's the crux of the P=NP problem

>>10595548

this is a huge meme. most abstract math has no application whatsoever and never will

>>10595548
Practical application of math peaked at the work done by Cauchy and his peers in the 1800s

Almost every new concept after 1900s is just theoretical hooey that will never have a practical application

Btw I am a retard

>>10595540

this is a kid that spent his entire teenager years doing math on a professional level

he went to a top 10 university and arguably got into one of the most prestigious mathematical programmes on the whole planet

if he says a PhD is trash that's something you should strongly consider especially if you haven't done as much math as him

>>10595559
Again, still irrelevant. Think of how many kids played violin from a young age and were really, really, really good at it, but ended up dropping it later on in life anyways.

Competency (even near-superhuman competency) != passion

This is evidenced by the fact that there are many, many more PhD students than just him, and a lot more PhDs at that too, and they're fulfilled with their choice to a sufficient degree.
It truly is a shame that he's not passionate about mathematics if he's that good at it, but that's how it shakes out sometimes.

That or he just had a lizard hind-brain crisis and that shocked him out of doing important things, which is also unfortunate.

>>10595551
>>10595553
Does theoretical math not help us understand our universe better in some way? Or are those branches of math completely independent from the physical universe? It just blows my mind that there are problems out there that don’t describe anything existent in real life.

>>10595568
A particularly bright applied mathematician can usually eke out some useful applications out of previously pure math in some form or fashion, but the mathematician who discovered the math in the first place usually doesn't give a shit.

>>10595568
Unironically nobody knows in a lot of cases.
Theoretical physics are about a century from any practical application and theoretical math is even further into the ether. Some shit might all of a sudden change everything,some might just be big brain stroking forever.

>>10594822
>your autism wont lead to self actualization.
I'm a programmer. I can work on CS problems no one will care about, but I can also crease tools that will improve my life, I can write a meme website that will gain attention, contribute to open source projects with thousands of users or even make an indie game to do something more creative and fun.
It's not autism, it's how narrow her interests and skills that lead to his depression.

>>10594865
Whether this is a serious question or not, I have no clear answer for you as I do not know you. All I know about you is that you like those substances.
However I will say, my interest in drugs have helped me learn organic chem, when I learnt a new mechanism I would see how much closer I was to being able to theoretically make LSD, PCP, meth or something. It kept me enganged and helped me memorise the processes.
However, making drugs is not likely to be your future just because you know how. The chemicals required are usually either heavily monitored or blatently illegal to possess.
Plus i doubt you have the resources available to not poison yourself or the environment in the long run (ie fumehood, approriate disposal of halogenated products, etc)
You're limited to simple A/B stuff which does not require a degree of any kind.
But then again i dont know who you are.

Personally I wouldn't dream of pursuing synthesis of illicit substances, for me there is simply too much too lose.

>>10595597
How about just making it for myself? Do government really track ~500ml bottled chemicals?

>>10595663
I would most certainly bet wherever you are monitors halogenated alkanes in proportions a fraction of what you stated.

>>10595663
In australia, we can expect a visit from authorities for just having simple glassware bought online.

>>10594826
This post hurts.

>>10594822
he's right. pure math is just not a good field to go into: bad prospects, isolating culture, uninteresting research questions. basically all of the meaningful cases of "using math to understand the universe" happen in cs these days.

t. dropout from top-tier math phd, who doesn't want other anons to make the same mistake i did

>>10594822
I study art and have had this exact same realization.

>>10594822
PiQiaochu

I don't understand the amount of appealing to this guys math talent that's going on in this thread. Just because this guy is most likely better at math than anyone that will look at this thread doesn't mean he's necessarily right about getting a PhD.
Getting a PhD is a life choice, being smart or a good mathematician doesn't mean you're the definite authority on whether a PhD is worth for a given person.

It is the study itself which is valuable - not the destination or finished thesis

Learning and discovery is part of humanity's adventurous spirit

I will always study and learn because it has inherent value that extends beyond the academic qualifications it also brings

>>10595539
it's both

>>10594822
imagine being so smart but not enough to solve RH

imagine living in this limbo mode, at least I know I'm stupid enough

>>10594822
Doing it for the lulz is reason enough. The true intellectual elite are beyond plebeian concepts of purpose or fulfillment.

>>10595559
sounds like he's just a burnout

>Be really good at math and sciences
>Realize I just want to do art
>Already have a full-ride to a prestigious Uni for Engineering that I can't decline because I'm a poor immigrant

Well, I kinda understand his feeling.

>>10595494
>don't need any title
>all employees are from a top 10 or have a PhD.
If you really don't need a title, please tell me how someone (assume they're smart enough) would go about getting a job as a student from a non-flagship state university?

>>10595566
>and they're fulfilled with their choice to a sufficient degree.
OH NONONONO

>>10594822
>self actualization
kek, education only gives you a chance to stop being a monkey, nothing more

>>10595568
>>10595548

Not them but here's the issue. Since Mathematics is an interpretation of how we view the universe there is no "1:1" guarantee that it will ever be applicable nor practical to the manipulation of known universe we interact with daily.

And even if the math is applicable/practical there is no guarantee that man will have the necessary tools to feasibly utilize it at present or foreseeable future. There have been models in math centuries to thousands of years old that are just "now" being used to their fullest. The binary number is good example of it as it has existed in various forms of divination such as I Ching which is roughly +2500 years old. Only in the past 300 years did it become applicable and practical via industrialization and digital computation. So when you do work in theoretical math let alone any theoretical field one should be fully prepared that their research will not be "useful" to man in their lifetime.

Reminder that the ancient Greeks were talking about atoms +2300 years ago.

>>10594916
He might still love mathematics, but he might have been institutionally funneled into a very niche subfield that he thought was total minutiae, forced to study it because of the hoop-jumping nature of academia and not because of genuine curiosity or interest. You can never know people's true motivations, though.

>>10595482
You mean like this guy's irrelevant PHD? LMAO

>>10594822
nice

>>10595204
>>10595359

>>10597565
>basically all of the meaningful cases of "using math to understand the universe" happen in cs these days.
Interesting thought, care to elaborate?

>>10598214
lmao

>>10601184
don't care

>>10594822
It really won't. Not even the man himself was immune to these crises.

>>10594826
fpbp
You do reasearch because you enjoy it. If you do it, it doesn't matter if people understand it now or 50 years later.

and then he found out that he's literally being paid for this shit

>>10595566
>and they're fulfilled with their choice to a sufficient degree.
LOL

>>10598271
>RH
How many smart men has this demon devoured? Will it ever be slain?

>>10601367
retard post worst post. you've already been proven wrong read the thread

>>10595191
Its great and all to know math but if you dont know how to apply it youre just a walking calculator

>>10595204
community college retard coping spotted

>>10595520
Why can't I build muscle?

>>10595705
Just decorate your house with sciencey stuff, like pictures of space and Einstein and whatnot. Keep some textbooks with nice covers laying around too. A blackboard with some epic equations chalked on it is a plus. When they come in and ask you about the glassware you just recently ordered, say "Well, officer, I fucking love science". Their normie brains will get the idea and they'll leave you alone.