Question about "Highly Technical" posters...

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RESmonkey

Diamond Member
May 6, 2007
4,818
2
0
The stuff you talk about, you learn from the internet/books/etc. and college courses, I assume.

What kind of college courses are these? I'm gonna be a comp. engineer, at uiuc, but I'd love to learn about relativity/universe/paradox-like stuff.
 
J

jhu

Lifer
Oct 10, 1999
11,918
9
81
we all have a phd in every field that has been discussed in that forum.
 
sao123

sao123

Lifer
May 27, 2002
12,653
205
106
Originally posted by: RESmonkey
The stuff you talk about, you learn from the internet/books/etc. and college courses, I assume.

What kind of college courses are these? I'm gonna be a comp. engineer, at uiuc, but I'd love to learn about relativity/universe/paradox-like stuff.
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just copy & paste pages from wikipedia on those topics and you'll fit in.
 
E

esun

Platinum Member
Nov 12, 2001
2,214
0
0
If you have a personal interest in those topics, buy a book and read about them. I believe that's how most people learn about those types of things.
 
T

torpid

Lifer
Sep 14, 2003
11,631
11
76
They post non-computer related crap in highly technical? Wow, I need to head over there.
 
frostedflakes

frostedflakes

Diamond Member
Mar 1, 2005
7,925
1
81
Heh. :D

I'm sure your university has classes about theoretical physics and stuff but I'd guess it all either a) requires a lot of physics/math pre-requisites b) is not available to non-physics majors or c) is for grad students.

Probably your best bet would be to find some good books on the subjects you're interested in. Then maybe if you have some cool physics professors at your university you can meet up with them and discuss some of the stuff to better solidify your understanding. I'd assume you'll have to take some physics as a CompE, at my school all engineering students have to take engineering-oriented physics I and II. My TAs were pretty cool and seemed to be willing to discuss higher-level physics with students.
 
J

jagec

Lifer
Apr 30, 2004
24,442
6
81
Higher-level college courses (which generally means you're not a true expert outside that field), and personal experience/knowledge from working related jobs and learning through that.
 
C

CycloWizard

Lifer
Sep 10, 2001
12,348
1
81
Be a physics major. There are quite a few engineering faculty here who got all of their degrees in physics. Engineering is simply applied physics, so learning it as pure physics could actually be advantageous, though they might expect you to know advanced math at an earlier stage in your career. And if you're not interested in grad school, then going into physics might not be the way to go.

That said, if you're an engineering student, you will have to take at least two physics courses and you might be able to take a course on relativity as an elective. It just depends on how far you want to take it and how interested you really are.
 
silverpig

silverpig

Lifer
Jul 29, 2001
27,703
12
81
UIUC has a good physics program. Go to the physics department and look at the list of talks from invited speakers. The faculty will often invite researchers from other universities to talk about their research. Often this will probably be over your head, but if you see something interesting, go for it. What might be better are the ones geared for undergrads or the entire department.

At my school we have several different lecture series.

1. Specific disciplines. eg: Condensed matter seminars. Try to avoid these as they are specific and require direct knowledge of the field.
2. Department colloqiums. Great to go to. You generally need some physics knowledge to understand them, but if you have this, they are very rewarding.
3. Undergraduate lecture series. Typically done by the local faculty, they are very accessible to virtually anyone.

There are of course others, but I think I've demonstrated my point.
 
JohnCU

JohnCU

Banned
Dec 9, 2000
16,528
4
0
Originally posted by: z0mb13
Originally posted by: SSSnail
Originally posted by: JohnCU
engineering teaches you how to learn on your own.

then you can use http://ocw.mit.edu
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Thank you! I can't believe I just ran into this now.
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yes now I know what to do at work today!! :D:D
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yeah, it's been a big help, from EE emag refresher notes to learning more advanced physics, with real notes. sometimes i get bored at work and take some of the exams from the EE department to see what i remember. more often than not i get stuck. :( but, mit engineering exams >>> clemson engineering exams. still a useful site!
 
B

BooGiMaN

Diamond Member
Jul 5, 2001
7,955
0
0
im not a doctor but i play one on ATOT..i can give random advice which may or possible can if you squint be somewhat kinda correct...or just bullshit

oh and i have a poster on my wall that is ..technically higher than the rest..does that count?
 
9

91TTZ

Lifer
Jan 31, 2005
14,374
1
0
1. Bookmark Wikipedia. Copy/Paste liberally.
2. Be a bullshit artist.
3. Have an inflated sense of self-importance.

It seems that most of the threads on the internet start out the same. A guy begins by making a totally ridiculous, uneducated comment on something, and once he's call on it the copying/pasting begins. By the end of the thread he's acting like a damn professor whose wording sounds suspiciously like Wikipedia or science/medical websites.
 
T

Tiamat

Lifer
Nov 25, 2003
14,068
5
71
you take advanced math courses like Chaos and Fractals and Topology, you take physics courses like Modern Physics -> Particle Physics.
 
F

fire400

Diamond Member
Nov 21, 2005
5,204
21
81
Originally posted by: jhu
we all have a phd in every field that has been discussed in that forum.
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...I think highly technical and the news/politics forum are where members post more serious things than anywhere else besides FS/TR.
 
Drekce

Drekce

Golden Member
Sep 29, 2000
1,398
0
76
Originally posted by: RESmonkey
What kind of college courses are these? I'm gonna be a comp. engineer, at uiuc, but I'd love to learn about relativity/universe/paradox-like stuff.
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One of the required courses for my Computer Engineering degree was "Modern Physics." This covered the topics that you mentioned.
 
A

Alistar7

Lifer
May 13, 2002
11,978
0
0
Originally posted by: fire400
Originally posted by: jhu
we all have a phd in every field that has been discussed in that forum.
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...I think highly technical and the news/politics forum are where members post more serious things than anywhere else besides FS/TR.
Click to expand...

P & N is nothing more than sheep battling it out with spood fed talking points.
 
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