3 ms·

It is not about the age, it is about the time you work in a specific field. If you are newcomer to a field you simply don't know what is difficult and what is

by amai 5mo ago

It is not about the age, it is about the time you work in a specific field. If you are newcomer to a field you simply don't know what is difficult and what is not. So you have a more open mind. See for example https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yuval_Ne'eman https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yuval_Ne'eman This guy was a soldier for 15 years before he studied physics for 3 years and discovered SU(3) and quarks before Gell-Mann did. So switching fields opens your mind for new discoveries. If you stay very long in the same field you're mind gets just used to all the unsolved problems.

embedding-shape 5mo ago
Maybe we shouldn't extrapolate so fast though. Maybe if Ne'eman didn't spend 15 years as a paramilitary militia, he'd be studying physics 15 years sooner, and came up with even more great stuff than he did. But we wouldn't ever know, and we also don't know if the 15 years of paramilitary/military helped him or made things worse.
- sarreph 5mo ago
  I guess that argument can go on forever though -- how do we know if _anyone_ is doing the right thing they're "supposed" to be doing / disrupting?
  - PaulHoule 5mo ago
    In 2026 it is probably not theoretical physics. Around 2000 or so the dam broke and there have been numerous routes to quantum gravity which are plausible from a calculational point of view... but not a lot of experiments to rule them out except for those that are the most blatantly Lorenz violating. Until we see sparticles, proton decay, and the like, we can't say that much about the whole world of GUT and Strings that we're stuck in right now.
  - embedding-shape 5mo ago
    Exactly, much better with just "we do what we do, and the consequences are what they are" without (potentially mis-)attributing it to things like military service or whatever their past experience may be.
epolanski 5mo ago
I see your point, but I believe that age is a contributing factor none the less. It's well documented that as we age we tend to be more conservative, less open to new ideas and more risk adverse. That encompasses anything from work, hobbies, social relations and even politics. There's also another major factor behind age. As we get older our responsibilities grow while our time and energy budget shrinks. E.g. I have always wanted to start my own company, and now that I'm at the peak of my capabilities and in the strongest financial situation I've ever been I just don't feel I have the energy and resilience I would've had a decade ago, when I was younger and more naive.

by amai 5mo ago

embedding-shape 5mo ago

Maybe we shouldn't extrapolate so fast though. Maybe if Ne'eman didn't spend 15 years as a paramilitary militia, he'd be studying physics 15 years sooner, and came up with even more great stuff than he did. But we wouldn't ever know, and we also don't know if the 15 years of paramilitary/military helped him or made things worse.

sarreph 5mo ago
I guess that argument can go on forever though -- how do we know if _anyone_ is doing the right thing they're "supposed" to be doing / disrupting?
- PaulHoule 5mo ago
  In 2026 it is probably not theoretical physics. Around 2000 or so the dam broke and there have been numerous routes to quantum gravity which are plausible from a calculational point of view... but not a lot of experiments to rule them out except for those that are the most blatantly Lorenz violating. Until we see sparticles, proton decay, and the like, we can't say that much about the whole world of GUT and Strings that we're stuck in right now.
- embedding-shape 5mo ago
  Exactly, much better with just "we do what we do, and the consequences are what they are" without (potentially mis-)attributing it to things like military service or whatever their past experience may be.

epolanski 5mo ago

I see your point, but I believe that age is a contributing factor none the less. It's well documented that as we age we tend to be more conservative, less open to new ideas and more risk adverse. That encompasses anything from work, hobbies, social relations and even politics. There's also another major factor behind age. As we get older our responsibilities grow while our time and energy budget shrinks. E.g. I have always wanted to start my own company, and now that I'm at the peak of my capabilities and in the strongest financial situation I've ever been I just don't feel I have the energy and resilience I would've had a decade ago, when I was younger and more naive.