(no subject)
I'd like to explain why I've suddenly taken the decision to, most probably, switch from maths and philosophy which, after all, I never stop talking about, to physics. This may help me get it sorted in my own brain.
Let's get rid of philosophy first. Over the summer it has become increasingly apparent that, despite my love of all things Plato, Russell, Descartes et al, I might not really be up for studying philosophy as a subject. It all really started with Thomas Nagel's book, the View from Nowhere; I know it's a 'modern classic' but - what can I say? - I found it pretentious as hell. I'm really sick of being told what to think, and I'm very worried that that is all this will be: just reading more books, challenging their arguments, but ultimately accepting them as the status quo and never really moving on. Which leads on to: does philosophy ever move on? Does it offer any answers? I don't think it does, not anymore - and certainly I don't think studying other people's reinterpretations of the questions is going to bring me any closer to understanding what I'm looking for. Take Russell. The first time I read Russell's autobiographical essays I thought I'd found what I was looking for, but read deeper and you'll find that, in trying to create Euclid's postulates from pure logic (surely just another human construct anyway?) he set up a couple of postulates of his own. Which is a little bit of a sellout. I love the logic stuff, but maybe I'm not up for the rest of it. This was all supposed to be about Outside the Box thinking. I'm not sure if I want to be syllabused in this just yet. Not to mention, my enthusiasm for philosophy has dropped dramatically since I got a reading list with books I dislike on it.
Maths - it's not really a question of disliking maths, but just of being bored with it. I'm beginning to find proofs pedantic and irritating, after two years of being utterly fascinated by the process. Perhaps I'm just hitting a ceiling and need to learn more, but it doesn't seem to hold its old enchantment. I've been in love with physics for such a long time, and I'm happy to apply the maths I've learnt and can still learn - both the purest stuff and the not-so-pure.
The final thing is, I want to do a PhD, and I probably want to do it in physics - theoretical stuff, but still physics. The plan was always to do it after, but I'm getting to the stage now where I'm really up for physics and maybe I should just switch immediately. Who knows. Maybe I'm just becoming more practical.
If I sound throughly arrogant here, just ignore me. I don't know what to think any more.
Let's get rid of philosophy first. Over the summer it has become increasingly apparent that, despite my love of all things Plato, Russell, Descartes et al, I might not really be up for studying philosophy as a subject. It all really started with Thomas Nagel's book, the View from Nowhere; I know it's a 'modern classic' but - what can I say? - I found it pretentious as hell. I'm really sick of being told what to think, and I'm very worried that that is all this will be: just reading more books, challenging their arguments, but ultimately accepting them as the status quo and never really moving on. Which leads on to: does philosophy ever move on? Does it offer any answers? I don't think it does, not anymore - and certainly I don't think studying other people's reinterpretations of the questions is going to bring me any closer to understanding what I'm looking for. Take Russell. The first time I read Russell's autobiographical essays I thought I'd found what I was looking for, but read deeper and you'll find that, in trying to create Euclid's postulates from pure logic (surely just another human construct anyway?) he set up a couple of postulates of his own. Which is a little bit of a sellout. I love the logic stuff, but maybe I'm not up for the rest of it. This was all supposed to be about Outside the Box thinking. I'm not sure if I want to be syllabused in this just yet. Not to mention, my enthusiasm for philosophy has dropped dramatically since I got a reading list with books I dislike on it.
Maths - it's not really a question of disliking maths, but just of being bored with it. I'm beginning to find proofs pedantic and irritating, after two years of being utterly fascinated by the process. Perhaps I'm just hitting a ceiling and need to learn more, but it doesn't seem to hold its old enchantment. I've been in love with physics for such a long time, and I'm happy to apply the maths I've learnt and can still learn - both the purest stuff and the not-so-pure.
The final thing is, I want to do a PhD, and I probably want to do it in physics - theoretical stuff, but still physics. The plan was always to do it after, but I'm getting to the stage now where I'm really up for physics and maybe I should just switch immediately. Who knows. Maybe I'm just becoming more practical.
If I sound throughly arrogant here, just ignore me. I don't know what to think any more.