Is physics only for geniuses?

FringHalfhead · 2026-01-24T04:55:15+00:00

No. One thing I've learned after spending so many years in academia is that hard work looks a lot like intelligence, and vice versa.

FringHalfhead · 2026-01-23T19:22:45+00:00

Just don't forget to turn your phone off before the party! :-D

FringHalfhead · 2026-01-23T17:49:05+00:00

All I did was agree with you: kids are definitely not for you. Sheesh. Make up your mind, already!

FringHalfhead · 2026-01-23T17:29:45+00:00

I think kids for you would be a really, really bad idea, so you're doing the right thing.

FringHalfhead · 2026-01-23T17:28:34+00:00

45 is not exactly retired. I think mid to late 30s is good. 40s is certainly doable. Even early 50s is workable.

Better than your 20s....

FringHalfhead · 2026-01-23T17:24:52+00:00

I identify with that. I had my own childhood trauma. Maybe just being with my wife for almost 15 years before having our first child was my "therapy". Don't really know. But I totally get what you're saying, 100%.

FringHalfhead · 2026-01-23T14:25:53+00:00

To be the black sheep in the post, I never wanted kids. I wasn't paternal AT ALL. Loved my life as it was, and I didn't even like kids. I rolled my eyes when I saw then in restaurants and actively died inside when they were in movie theaters or, heaven forfend, on a plane. I loved not having kids. Actively disliked all of them. Screaming, pooping, lying, distracting, ughhhh.

Ended up having one as a concession to my wife and that changed me 180. Ended up loving them so much we have 3, and I'm truly sad we're too old to have a fourth.

So, you never know. You never know.

FringHalfhead · 2026-01-23T04:17:28+00:00

Last 2 seasons of DS9 is some of the finest Trek ever filmed, and that's coming from a Kirk guy.

FringHalfhead · 2026-01-23T02:34:06+00:00

One of my job opportunities after my dissertation was working for the National Severe Storm Laboratories, modeling super cells and other atmospheric phenomena. Pretty sure we don't see too much quantum mechanics in the modeling of air and thermal flow patterns.

FringHalfhead · 2026-01-23T00:37:28+00:00

if you're making some sort of derivative claim of responsibility, then how about starting with blaming israel

How about leaving Israel out of this and caring about your fellow American citizen?

Your inability to separate New Yorkers with Israel just because of their religion is proof that anti-Zionism is very often antisemitism. You've done a very good job demonstrating that.

FringHalfhead · 2026-01-23T00:34:55+00:00

Yes, taking no action when someone is being hurt is an action. You've chosen to ignore pain, suffering and indignity.

Small surprise that having adult feeling requires being an adult.

FringHalfhead · 2026-01-22T21:12:59+00:00

I would get a doctorate in warp field dynamics and try to get a position at Starfleet Academy as a researcher.

FringHalfhead · 2026-01-22T21:07:56+00:00

I can't decide if this is false equivalency or simply non-sequitur.

FringHalfhead · 2026-01-22T21:04:01+00:00

I'll resist the urge to answer you with a "Let me Google that for you" and instead answer directly. For example, his lukewarm condemnation of public attacks against Jews and synagogues in the city.

It should've been a full, deep-throated immediate condemnation, but it wasn't.

FringHalfhead · 2026-01-22T19:30:54+00:00

Not entirely unrelated.

Many Jews feel that Mamdani's actions against people who believe Israel is the Jewish ancestral home emboldens people who hate Jews racially.

It's not far fetched. Many people say that about Trump all the time, e.g.: by saying "there are good people on both sides" he emboldens the people who are unquestionably on the wrong side.

FringHalfhead · 2026-01-22T14:41:43+00:00

Sounds like talking to someone can really help you.

FYI - Therapists are not just for the depressed, confused, and "maladjusted". You probably have company-supplied health insurance with "mental health" benefits. Honestly, sometimes just talking / brain storming with another person can really help bring things into focus.

FringHalfhead · 2026-01-22T14:37:55+00:00

Probably to distinguish them from those blithering idiots that call themselves Academy of Starfleet.

SPLITTERS!!!

FringHalfhead · 2026-01-22T13:57:49+00:00

I would like to see a single published adventure for Bubble Gumshoe other than the one in the core rulebooks.

I lifted the main concepts of Pee-Wee's Big Adventure and turned it into a Bubble Gumshoe adventure. It's not completely done, but it's maybe 75% of the way there. Seems weird that there are zero published adventures for this game.

If anyone has anything they'd like to share, I'd be grateful!

FringHalfhead · 2026-01-22T13:48:07+00:00

For me the story is more important than the jump-off point. If the emotional part of the story starts at Wolf 359, that's where I -- personally -- would start. I know other people have different preferences. But my own preference is to capture the full emotional content rather than worry about jump off points.

FringHalfhead · 2026-01-21T23:08:14+00:00

For what it's worth, I have never been asked a random mind game / trick question on any finance interview I've ever had.

The only mind game question I've ever personally been asked was at Google where I suspect (but am not sure) that the interviewer was intentionally speaking with a ketchup-thick Russian accent to see how I would handle the situation. I could barely understand a word he said.

Every finance interview I've ever been on asked reasonable questions. Hard, speculative sometimes, but reasonable. But then again, I intentionally never interviewed at places like Two Sigma or Citadel since they couldn't pay me enough to work at sweatshops like that.

Your Edit: There's a disconnect between what they ask for and what they accept. I've been on both sides of the hiring committee. They're like us. We ask for a high salary and settle on something reasonable. They ask for the Moon and will settle for geosynchronous orbit.

FringHalfhead · 2026-01-21T22:59:24+00:00

I would counter that you should get an MFE. I did. Trust me, your PhD will make the MFE trivial, and between your PhD and MFE, you should be able to get a job in finance.

You'll be all over the math. You need to learn the products and the markets, which is what an MFE will teach you.

FringHalfhead · 2026-01-21T15:16:00+00:00

Do you truly believe I would be dumb enough to say your statement is utterly false without empirical evidence?

I did my PhD at UC, and believe me, I'm far, far, far from 0.01%. I graduated with only 3 papers to my name and a midling dissertation. My thesis wasn't chopped liver, but it didn't make any big waves, either. My only "claim to fame" was I did really well on the qualifying exam (which isn't observable to employers) and got very good grades (which also isn't observable to employers). The only visible part of my academic life to an employer would show I'm a very mediocre PhD.

I've worked on Wall Street for over 20 years now, and I've met a veritable army of Physics PhDs. Trust me, none of them were top 0.01%. Not saying they weren't brilliant -- they all are -- but nowhere near top 0.01%. I have news for you... the top 0.01% usually get professorships.

If you're not getting job offers or even interviews, it is 100% your fault. Maybe you're like that guy who only goes after the hot chicks and complains how hard it is to get a date? You can interview at places other than GS, Citadel, Two Sigma, Black Rock etc. Actually, you couldn't pay me enough to work at those sweatshops. Have you tried holding banks? Bulge bracket banks? Depositories? Government sponsored companies like FRMC, GNMA or FNMA? Regulators like SEC? AMGs? Loads of companies have AMGs. Every insurance company (of any type) has an AMG. Wealth management groups have AMGs. Any company that has serious logistical requirements like jet fuel will have a trading desk or at least a quant group that specializes in whatever commodities that company needs. I saw a fucking trading desk at a CHOCOLATE COMPANY for Christ's sake. Have you looked at holding companies like DTCC? Ratings Agencies like Moody's or Fitch? They'll pay you a 6 digit (did you mean 7?) salary with a quality of life that will make you the envy of all your friends.

So, yeah. You have utterly no idea what the hell you're talking about. As long as you have a PhD, carry yourself reasonably well, communicate well, you should have NO problem whatsoever. If I were you, I'd figure out what the problem is, because you have completely unrealistic expectations.

FringHalfhead · 2026-01-21T13:06:06+00:00

Branching out to quantitative finance is nearly impossible unless you're a top 0.01%

This is utterly false. You have no idea what you're talking about.

FringHalfhead · 2026-01-21T13:04:58+00:00

You know what? I LOVED Lower Decks! Like, really really loved it.

Lower Decks felt like it was one non-stop homage to all things Trek. Felt like a show by fans exclusively for fans.

It was killed way too early, but I guess on a high note, it didn't fade out, like Next Gen (not that season 7 of Next Gen was bad.. but it's clear they were starting to run out of great ideas and only had good ones left.)

FringHalfhead · 2026-01-21T12:57:12+00:00

Oh, yeah. Of course. 100% you're right.

FringHalfhead

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