I am in the field of applied math, and it took me 6 months to produce a paper. And now, I am out of ideas for new papers.
What should I do? How do I even continue? This is sooo difficult…
I am in the field of applied math, and it took me 6 months to produce a paper. And now, I am out of ideas for new papers.
What should I do? How do I even continue? This is sooo difficult…
My math prof loved math. He pursued a B.Sc. in Mathmatics and looked for work. He could teach high school, or go back to school. He got his M.Sc in mathmatics. Looked at what he could do as a career. He could teach mathmatics at colleges, or go back to school. He got his PhD. in mathmatics from a prestigious school. He looked for a career. He could teach mathmatics at a 3rd rate University or die of hunger, homeless and chased by wolves.
He taught at my school and was a very strong proponent of not studying pure math. Comp Sci, Actuarial Sciences anything but pure math. He said math was a rich kids hobby, not a career.
I had a military history professor, and he felt the same way. He opened his entry level classes with a speech that amounted to “nobody should be here because they want to work in military history. ROTC kids and military buffs only; all you can do with what this class covers is teach this class, and this lecture hall has as many students in it as there are jobs in this field.”
Well, I am in applied math rather than pure math.
I can go do programming, but that scene seems just as hostile now.
More seriously, applied math is great, especially if you are good at probability and aren’t too disgusted by AI. Most of AI as far as I can tell is a mix of quite old fashioned probability, linear algebra, and numerics. There’s tons of money in it. Watch some fast.ai videos and a lot of marketing BS will be demystified.
If your math is applied, is there not some field of research where it is applied?
If you’re not planning on staying in academia, you should be developing professional connections right now.
Thing is, I suck at developing connections. Also people seem to dislike me by default…
For me it was far far far easier to get a decent job in computers than academia. More importantly my computer job is far easier than teaching or doing research. It pays far more money. I have far more job security, healthcare security, geographic security, etc. I have co-workers than I know and like…
My advice would be to ditch academia and just get an entry-level computer job, but it took me far too long to take this advice myself.
(Also you’re in another country, so I don’t know how that affects any of my questionable advice.)
The only guy I know who has a PhD in math is a postmaster at one of my local post offices. He seems to be doing okay.
That’s great to hear, but it sounds like he’s doing okay despite his PhD…
If someone doesn’t love “pure math”, then they don’t love math. Like most people, they don’t even know what “pure math” is. If your teacher only got a masters, it’s probably because they couldn’t finish the PhD.
Realistically academia is a terrible career for any field. But it’s not like everybody in academia is a “rich kid”. Many people love their field or like teaching or have no choice, etc.
If you want to make money, then you need to serve capital, militarism, etc. and not education, not science, not truth. Sure, “actuarial science” is a great way to do that.
It’s the age of conflict between doing what capitalism wants you to do versus doing what you love, what is true, etc.