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> It doesn't say how to learn physics. OK, but can any article ever hope to give a real prescription for "how" to learn physics? Far more important than "how"

> It doesn't say how to learn physics. OK, but can any article ever hope to give a real prescription for "how" to learn physics? Far more important than "how" is "why" or "to what end". It's no different than obtaining mastery in any other big subject. The article is perfectly fine as a reading list or set of suggestions for students that have some passion for learning physics. There's other advice out there consisting of long lists of exactly which topics to study and in what order. All good advice, but totally fungible and not critical to anybody's path. I would not take her other article "If Susan can learn physics, so can you" as a "lie". It's a piece of inspiration. So many folks don't live up to their potential because they prematurely self-select themselves out of endeavors which they feel passionate about. If I remember correctly (the link seems to be down), in Susan's case, she was a home-schooled kid living in a not wealthy rural place with few resources and low expectations from her family and peers. She ended up at University of Pennsylvania in a Physics PHD program. Does that mean "everyone" can literally do that? No, but rather, there's no excuse not to try (whether it's a PHD or any other seemingly infeasible challenge). Sometimes people people really need to hear that and she told her story eloquently.

rguzman 6y ago
i was a physics PhD student once and i might have some thoughts on how to learn physics, but i think the parent commenter is spot on -- the only reliable way we have is to have an apprenticeship with someone who works well with you. there are a tons of posts along the lines of this one, which are largely lists of books that people like to romanticize or as the parent comment says, lists of things that someone thinks you should know. the Feynman lectures are a good example of that, actually. i've read them a couple of times and they are wonderful -- like most things Feynman. but very unhelpful. even Feynman was disappointed at how the students they were given to weren't quite learning the physics. Feynman is to explaining science as, eg Joshua Bell is to performing music for the violin. but in terms of actually trying to learn what a physical theory says, to what degree it holds, what are the current open problems with it, and what might be good approaches to solving them, Feynman explanations outside of highly technical works (like his papers or maybe his lecture notes on statistical mechanics) are not too useful. and the more technical works are very difficult to approach by yourself, you'll need a mentor.
dschuetz 6y ago
My frustration comes from the sentiment that supposedly everyone with a can-do attitude can learn Quantum Mechanics (which is addmitedly quite easy to grasp after you have had years and years in studies of the whole physics curricula) It makes physics sound SO easy! I fell for that lie when I was inspired by my physics curriculum in high school which was quite advanced. I dropped out of physics after just 1 semester, because the courses where horrible. I have learned physics in my engineering school and I finally understood what the problems were I was facing: I had approached my physics studies the same way I was learning physics in high school. Inspiration is an illusion, an illusion is a lie, it's concealing the thruth. The physics faculty, instead of taking the realistic approach aka "forget everything you know about physics", had chosen to reinforce the sentiment that everybody can do it. In truth, the faculty needs numbers of students to get grants from the government. The faculty doesn't care about your inspiration. Many of the books she lists I actually do possess and have read them partially, watched a lot of lectures. But nothing can replace how the learn that stuff, how to translate it so that it fits in your own head. Since then, all I read when I see "If Susan can do it, so can you!" is in actuality "If Susan can do it, good for her, moving on!"
- dschuetz 6y ago
  Oh, and to make the whole matter more ridiculous, I have been told repeatedly "maybe studying is not your thing?" and after a while I got it and answered "That's it! Studying on your courses in your university is not my thing! Thanks!"
- crispyambulance 6y ago
  > Inspiration is an illusion, an illusion is a lie, it's concealing the truth. Well, that's a grim and somewhat dramatic view! We're all motivated in large part by inspiration of some form. I think of inspiration as a kind of fuel that gets one through the inevitable rough patches on the way to mastery (it doesn't matter what subject or what aspect of life). It helps drive both curiosity and grit. People without inspiration in life's-work or career are apt to take the path of least resistance, they appear incurious and bored. That's not necessarily a bad thing if there's inspiration in other parts of life. So you dropped the undergrad physics major after ONE semester because the "courses were horrible"?? I don't think so. You dropped it because you were 18 and people at that age are flighty and unsure of what to do, that's totally OK. I do agree, however, that more curricula should take the "forget-everything-you-know-and-start-from-fundamentals" approach. IMHO, undergrad students would be better off if all STEM majors were basically one merged curriculum with a few courses different towards the end. That won't ever happen, of course, as long as people see universities as strictly vocational training and employers think they want subject-matter-experts who can "hit the ground running" on entry level jobs.

rguzman 6y ago

i was a physics PhD student once and i might have some thoughts on how to learn physics, but i think the parent commenter is spot on -- the only reliable way we have is to have an apprenticeship with someone who works well with you. there are a tons of posts along the lines of this one, which are largely lists of books that people like to romanticize or as the parent comment says, lists of things that someone thinks you should know. the Feynman lectures are a good example of that, actually. i've read them a couple of times and they are wonderful -- like most things Feynman. but very unhelpful. even Feynman was disappointed at how the students they were given to weren't quite learning the physics. Feynman is to explaining science as, eg Joshua Bell is to performing music for the violin. but in terms of actually trying to learn what a physical theory says, to what degree it holds, what are the current open problems with it, and what might be good approaches to solving them, Feynman explanations outside of highly technical works (like his papers or maybe his lecture notes on statistical mechanics) are not too useful. and the more technical works are very difficult to approach by yourself, you'll need a mentor.

dschuetz 6y ago

My frustration comes from the sentiment that supposedly everyone with a can-do attitude can learn Quantum Mechanics (which is addmitedly quite easy to grasp after you have had years and years in studies of the whole physics curricula) It makes physics sound SO easy! I fell for that lie when I was inspired by my physics curriculum in high school which was quite advanced. I dropped out of physics after just 1 semester, because the courses where horrible. I have learned physics in my engineering school and I finally understood what the problems were I was facing: I had approached my physics studies the same way I was learning physics in high school. Inspiration is an illusion, an illusion is a lie, it's concealing the thruth. The physics faculty, instead of taking the realistic approach aka "forget everything you know about physics", had chosen to reinforce the sentiment that everybody can do it. In truth, the faculty needs numbers of students to get grants from the government. The faculty doesn't care about your inspiration. Many of the books she lists I actually do possess and have read them partially, watched a lot of lectures. But nothing can replace how the learn that stuff, how to translate it so that it fits in your own head. Since then, all I read when I see "If Susan can do it, so can you!" is in actuality "If Susan can do it, good for her, moving on!"

dschuetz 6y ago
Oh, and to make the whole matter more ridiculous, I have been told repeatedly "maybe studying is not your thing?" and after a while I got it and answered "That's it! Studying on your courses in your university is not my thing! Thanks!"
crispyambulance 6y ago
> Inspiration is an illusion, an illusion is a lie, it's concealing the truth. Well, that's a grim and somewhat dramatic view! We're all motivated in large part by inspiration of some form. I think of inspiration as a kind of fuel that gets one through the inevitable rough patches on the way to mastery (it doesn't matter what subject or what aspect of life). It helps drive both curiosity and grit. People without inspiration in life's-work or career are apt to take the path of least resistance, they appear incurious and bored. That's not necessarily a bad thing if there's inspiration in other parts of life. So you dropped the undergrad physics major after ONE semester because the "courses were horrible"?? I don't think so. You dropped it because you were 18 and people at that age are flighty and unsure of what to do, that's totally OK. I do agree, however, that more curricula should take the "forget-everything-you-know-and-start-from-fundamentals" approach. IMHO, undergrad students would be better off if all STEM majors were basically one merged curriculum with a few courses different towards the end. That won't ever happen, of course, as long as people see universities as strictly vocational training and employers think they want subject-matter-experts who can "hit the ground running" on entry level jobs.