Hacker News new | past | comments | ask | show | jobs | submit login

Yep, I got a Bachelor's in Physics, minoring in Computer Science, and did independent study in computational physics, so lots of numerical-analysis type of study. Career paths - without a PhD - were limited, so I got into programming, but the foundation I got made it easy to do a wide range of other things. I got involved in Instructional Systems Design (designing and building training material founded on data-based, empirically validated principles) which Physics helped a lot with. I was also an Industry Analyst during the dot-com boom days, and again being able to think abstractly, looking for patterns, and being able to conduct quantitative market research was all facilitated greatly by a solid foundation in math and physics.

Elon Musk (a Physics student) has a great quote about Physics, where he talks about reasoning from first principles and "try to identify the most fundamental truths in any particular arena and you reason up from there." I agree - you get that foundation and way of thinking, and it can help you in all kinds of work.

If you're good at abstract thinking - a skill seemingly rare among the younger members of society these days - you can do pretty much anything. So it's much less about what you CAN do and much more about what you WANT to do, so focus on that, knowing you have a solid foundation to support you.




Guidelines | FAQ | Lists | API | Security | Legal | Apply to YC | Contact

Search: