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YIPPEEEEE

guess who just got into grad school :-)

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my quantum mechanics professor: "a good quantum number is one that conserves with the hamiltonian"

me, woke, tumblr user: "what if we just didn't moralize quantum numbers and described them simply by their properties"

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Prelim in 1 hour!

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"what's 2+2?" the well-educated snow leopard:

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Surprise! Tumblr just got turned into an epic fantasy RPG, just like [your favorite appropriate media franchise]. And the Tumblr RPG's plot needs to have all of its characters covered, in roles both large and small.

That means that you are assigned to a stereotypical RPG role inside our new fantasy world. Spin this wheel to find out what you are now doing for a living.

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Sometimes, if you’re lucky, there will be a tree outside your bedroom window. It is very important to romanticize this tree as much as possible.

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"what's 2+2?" the well-educated snow leopard:

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I know it's been a while since I've offered unsolicited advice to college students. But I've had a couple of experiences recently that impel me to say this: part of what your professors expect (well, hope for) from you is courtesy. Think of it as professional courtesy, if you like. This goes at least double for graduate students.

"Are you mad at me?" asked a student recently, regarding poor communication around deadlines. Because (obviously) we have a good relationship and I like the kid, I kept myself from scoffing at the notion when I said "Of course I'm not mad at you; here is what better communication would look like, and why it's desirable." We are not mad at you. We are not your parents. I cannot emphasize enough: we are not your parents.

Part of this professional courtesy, in my view, includes clear communication about your own desires, ambitions, and goals. This helps you respect your professors' time, and helps us use it well in your service. I've had students (yes, plural) use hours and years of my time before excluding me from their thesis committees. The fact that this is allowed to happen also has something to do with my colleagues. Also yes, the students were male. Multiple other students in the department have had faculty members, including me, rearrange our schedules entirely around alleged thesis projects they have then abandoned. One of these students came into my office recently, apparently to use my knowledge of secondary literature as a replacement for a basic library catalog search string. It's just... it's tiring. Yes, I am working on changing the professional/cultural norms of my department. In the meantime, PSA.

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My favorite show is watching racists get their shit absolutely rocked

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If Newton's Third Law is where a person gets the notion of these various things, it demonstrates a misunderstanding of that on top of completely misunderstanding the various axes of bigotry. Like, you can "consider" a notion of cisphobia, but it's only doable with the understanding that the "equal and opposite reaction" is between cis people, let's say, a long, heavy freight train traveling at 150 kmph, and trans people, in this metaphor, a fly. The force is strictly equal, yes, but the impact of the force on the fly is far, far more destructive with the mass backing the train, while the train just has like, "a bug on its windshield" now. Easily wiped off. Equal and opposite means the value of the force is the same, not that the effect of the force is the same. Also, social dynamics aren't something governed by natural laws anyways so this metaphor, in my mind, is STILL bad outside of a very specific axis if it could help explain it to someone.

a lot of you people try to apply newton's third law of motion to social dynamics and come away with some incomprehensible takes.

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people keep calling me a nerd for being a phd student but what they don’t understand is that the university has a chad quota. yeah. if there aren’t enough chads in there they get defunded. I’m there on positive discrimination. couldn’t possibly be a nerd personally

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my date: I had a really nice time in this picturesque meadow, this date was so romantic me, noting that, despite revering nature, we didn't even idealize the past as a nobler era: I mean kind of

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Something so liberating about pissing in the shower

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"maybe you could come to class and help me sometimes"

okay this computational physics class is on LOCK