Question

How difficult is physics (in your opinion)?

Answer 1

I teach it. I consider it pretty difficult.

Answer 2

I disagree.

Answer 3

Information doesn't have an intensity vector. There's no "simple or complex". The jump from "2+2=4" to String theory is not a leap.

Answer 4

Everyone says that the people who enjoy math enjoy physics as well, but I don't think that is the case for me.

I love "math", but I have a difficult time solving story problems

Answer 5

@Kinged you have a point, but you also don't have a point

Answer 6

The problem is in how people treat mathematics before physics and then in how they treat physics. You can't build a thirty-brick building with 10 bricks unless your 10 bricks have the same volume of the 30 bricks adjust to the formation-dimensions.

Answer 7

I think the difficulty in physics comes from how unwilling you are in how to use your imagination to create and develop your own personal conception of the world around you.

Answer 8

A lot of students in my classes have trouble even comprehending physics problems; exactly like Empty said. Thanks @Empty for finishing my thought.

Answer 9

lol yeah np

Answer 10

@agent0smith What level physics do you teach? Many people say that AP Physics AB (I'm talking about highschool) is pretty easy, but it's Physics C that is incredibly difficult to comprehend.

Answer 11

Although, most of the sciences have an aim, a meaning, except for mathematics. Which shares this property with life, and in thus way is the grandest science, as grand as life.

Answer 12

Nah

Answer 13

I teach AP physics 1. And even that is difficult for most students (but it's a small school which might explain it).

I wouldn't say physics C is that much more difficult to comprehend - a lot of the concepts are the same. And using calculus makes sense in physics.

Answer 14

Come on people... You have to agree that it's people's fault not the science that's hard.

Answer 15

Doesn't really matter whose fault, whether it's the material or the people. The situation is the same, since I can't retroactively make my students brains think more like mine (not at the very beginning anyway)

Answer 16

Which enforce my first point. It's not difficult unless the person asking has unstable scientific thinking...

Answer 17

Which means it's not inherently difficult.

Answer 18

No, I'd say it's still a challenging class regardless.

Answer 19

Physics is not inherently difficult? This just seems like a completely vacuous statement.

Answer 20

All I'm saying is: It's the education that's wrong not the subject that's hard.

Answer 21

Hind sight is 20/20 I guess.

Answer 22

I'd still kinda disagree. Physics can definitely be challenging. The material isn't always super difficult, but you can find challenging problems to make it difficult.

Answer 23

There might exist various factors, but I believe a good teacher is crucial here. A good teacher doesn't bother about the difficulty of a subject and manages to somehow cultivate interest in the students. Once a student finds a particular topic interesting, it doesn't matter how difficult it is. He will most likely try and pursue it on his own

Answer 24

It's all about breading, people.

Answer 25

Humans are smart relatively, but some are just predestined to fail.

Answer 26

Oh yeah.

Answer 27

In my opinion, I think subjects such as psychology is more difficult than physics because the normal rules of logic do not apply, and there are so many possible outputs for each problem. Physics is complicated yet simple at the same time...(?)

Answer 28

It's called luck and in Maths, there is an explanation for luck. It's just probability taking place which one individually perceives as luck. But someone looking at all the data will find that it just distributes about equally.

Answer 29

Physics is fun when it's challenging. I don't want to solve boring easy problems with my students.

Answer 30

I still say that there's no easy or challenging. It's just being taught to not solve a problem with an equation and expect all the problems to be solved the same way.

Answer 31

At the end of the day, I think anything can be as challenging as you want it to be. It's kind of useless to start trying to compare what subjects are more difficult than others unless we start to define a topology and then a metric...

Answer 32

physics is love, physics is life, physics is romance, physics is cuddling...n more!!!

Answer 33

Imagination definitely helps with physics. Think about what is going on when possible, picture it in your head before you start trying to solve it. So many students do not and it aggravates me!

Answer 34

I like physics 2...I really have no problem with it

Answer 35

History subject is like reading a nice story. It is interesting and easy. Physics and math are tough. You can't do them as bedtime fairy tales. You need to apply your 100% thinking faculty, and even then there will be times you get frustrated and feel hopeless. You don't really need a metric. You just need to feel it once ;)

Answer 36

Physics and Maths are only hard because there are other subjects that rely on different things to which we compare them.

Answer 37

Nothing is difficult, it's just the human tendency to either over-complicate or over-simplify everything

Answer 38

@ganeshie8 Oh no I meant we need to define a manifold of all possible different fields of study, history, art, science, whatever. And then and only then after defining a metric on this space that measures how difficult stuff is, we can start comparing... lol 100% tongue in cheek BTW.

Answer 39

In fact, we are the ones who decided to categorize things as difficult, but we have the same amount of power to categorize that same thing as easy

Answer 40

Have you, anytime, tried to understand the proof of fermat's last theorem ?

Answer 41

It's just that Maths and physics are used in the biggest things, then people notice this and say it's the hardest, then it's downhill from here on out.

Answer 42

Physics is the best science subject known till date. It is difficult for those who're not interested to learn.

Answer 43

My previous reply is for kinged

Answer 44

And greenbanana I guess..

Answer 45

There are no good and bad sciences. if it was only physics this life would be even more boring.

Answer 46

@Don3 agreed that it's the most interesting branch of science. And also the most fundamental.

Answer 47

Thank you @agent0smith

Answer 48

@ganeshie8 I've been trying to understand the Fermat's Last theory for like the last 5 minutes :/ A video won't help lol

Answer 49

I partly disagree. I think physics isn't the best science simply because it's too clean. Chemistry and biology are real sciences; the people who do them are really doing the dirty work in labs with their hands dealing with substances. Modern physics is pretty much just mathematics.

Answer 50

Who cares, honestly?

Answer 51

@Empty Had there not been Physics, there would have been no electricity and you wouldn't have been typing this message right now.

Answer 52

@jh99 have you taken abstract algebra before ?

Answer 53

@Empty So particle physicists that are working with the Large Hadron Collider aren't getting their hands "dirty"?

Answer 54

@ganeshie8 I've never heard of that

Answer 55

@Don3 lol. I know.

@greenbannanabob That's what I'm saying, yep.

Answer 56

Abstract algebra is needed before going anywhere near to that proof @jh99

Answer 57

@ganeshie8 I've tried and have not yet understood Fermat's last theorem, but I will take this challenge and I will understand it one day, just not today.

Answer 58

You must take linear algebra before taking abstract algebra

Answer 59

You can see the list backtracks forever. I brought Fermat in this thread only to show you how physics/math are different from subjects like history and other trivial ones. We can't say all are of equal levels of difficulty is what I feel

Answer 60

Nah, history is easily just as difficult as math or physics in the same kind of way, mentally speaking.

Answer 61

You must be confusing history for economics or commerce

Answer 62

No.

Answer 63

I really can't say much except that you misunderstand history just like most people misunderstand math unfortunately. :/

Answer 64

You're still thinking about this.

Answer 65

k

Answer 66

It's caring about this silly metric that's the problem.

Answer 67

LOL

Answer 68

Maybe I have. But that is what I think till somebody gives me strong evidence to think otherwise

Answer 69

Imagine some kid comes to you and says, "Math is just arithmetic until somebody gives me strong evidence to think otherwise."

Ok, that's a great attitude lol.

Answer 70

everything that you have interest in becomes easy so it depends on the person and not the subject ig

Answer 71

I'll try to tell h why he is wrong. I'm not saying history is boring. I love history.
I'm saying it is trivial. You don't need to exercise your brain too much on it to grasp it. Having average cognitive abilities is sufficient to study history

Answer 72

Y'all are dumb. Pls don't ban me...

Answer 73

If physics that was easy, then we wouldn't have so many unanswered questions or mysteries to uncover. Why don't you enlighten us with some of your research papers, @kinged

Answer 74

it depends on interest.
I preferred physics to History.

Answer 75

This is a silly argument. Anything that takes 2000+ years to develop is not going to be easy to understand completely. Physics is impossible to master so there is that also.

Understanding 1st year physics is going to be easy to some people but not to others but I feel anyone can learn it. Having said that, I do not think just anyone can completely understand string theory.

Answer 76

(In my opinion) any subject is going to be difficult without knowing the language in which it is written ;-)

Answer 77

how hard a subject is depends on how deep you want to go... and i feel this is true for absolutely any subject, math,physics, art, history, cooking,... anything...