The problem is many people don't know how to learn, or haven't developed good habits-of-mind. That goes under the terms executive function and metacognitive skills. They are force multipliers throughout your education, and you're right that schools don't teach them.
If I can do it, so can you! It just takes a few years developing those skills, and ideally a little bit of mentorship to point you on the way.
And no, people don't learn differently. That's one of the biggest lies fleeced upon us. The reference there is: "Learning Styles: Concepts and Evidence." Turns out we all learn more-or-less the same way. Many of us believe we learn differently, but we actually don't. A big part of executive function is differentiating between activities which /feel/ like learning, and ones where skills actually grow.
Everyone can learn, but not everyone can learn any arbitrary subject or discipline to an arbitrary level of depth. We all have different levels of intellectual capacity.
The arrogance displayed here by saying “If I can do it, so can you!” when that’s exactly what OP is complaining about is astounding.
Does everyone have the same level of intelligence? Are you really telling me that absolutely any member of the public could learn QFT, even people with a severe learning disability and low-IQ? Anyone you just randomly plucked off the street? Just no.
As a practicing physicist, i would compare the amount of time, effort and skill needed to complete a PhD to that needed to become a professional session musician. Some people will find aspects of it much easier than others because of talent, some will get a big head start in childhood, some will learn much faster than their peers because they practice 6 hours per day and are driven by their passion. Some people get lucky and have the trifecta.
This doesn't mean that there isn't value in an adult choosing to learn an instrument (i.e. study physics). It can be enriching even if one never reaches the point of quitting their day job to play music full time.
Apologies if I came off as needlessly combative, my phrasing could certainly be improved.
Don’t get me wrong, I completely agree with what you’re saying. In fact, I encourage anyone with even the slightest inclination to study essentially anything, but especially physics, in their own free time to do it. You’re spot on in saying that there’s value in doing that.
The only assumption I wanted to challenge was that absolutely every human on Earth could do it. I just think that’s patently untrue, and betrays an inability to view things from other people’s perspective.
I wasn't referring to mental disability, but aside from that, yes, a typical random person plucked off the street could generally learn quantum field theory, given about a decade of appropriate focused effort.
Mathematical maturity takes about a half-decade to develop, maybe a little more. Working through physics up to QFT takes a bit under a half-decade, in my experience. It's slow-going at first, and then accelerates.
I've seen people go through very similar transitions before.
No they can't. Thinking so is just the Dunning-Kruger effect on show. You don't realise your own strengths.
It's probably easier to understand through the lens of your weaknesses. Pick something you've never been good at. Maybe it's art, or singing, some sport like pitching a baseball, training animals, rally driving, working with 2 years olds 8 hours a day, or god help me making the perfect weld. And now imagine someone saying whose really good at it (and anyone who truly understands basis for the 2nd law of thermodynamics is such an outlier) oh, anybody can be as good as me - your just not trying hard enough.
> And now imagine someone saying whose really good at it (and anyone who truly understands basis for the 2nd law of thermodynamics is such an outlier) oh, anybody can be as good as me - your just not trying hard enough.
I'd agree with them!
Seriously. I can't get good at all of those -- there isn't enough time in my life -- but I could get good at any one of those given time and effort. I'm really bad at art. Would I be Van Gogh? No. But I could get up to the same level as a professional illustrator in a few years. Anyone* can. Could I learn to sing? Sure, again, given a few years of hard training. I wouldn't be the next Susan Boyle, but I could definitely go from zero to where I could perform in a local performance or sing as well as a professional backup singer or chorist.
Going back to quantum field theory, I'm not claiming anyone can make the next breakthrough in physics, but anyone* can learn quantum field theory at the level of a e.g. a typical grad student in the field.
And a perfect weld just ain't that hard. Anyone can learn to do that. I've seen welding artwork which is hard (people building up metal to make beautiful artwork completely additively, for example), but you could be a professional welder if you set your mind to it.
* Standard exclusions apply. No, a blind quadriplegic with cerebral palsy might not be able to train to run a marathon, or by "everyone," I mean everyone from, say, the 20th percentile up.
The problem is many people don't know how to learn, or haven't developed good habits-of-mind. That goes under the terms executive function and metacognitive skills. They are force multipliers throughout your education, and you're right that schools don't teach them.
If I can do it, so can you! It just takes a few years developing those skills, and ideally a little bit of mentorship to point you on the way.
And no, people don't learn differently. That's one of the biggest lies fleeced upon us. The reference there is: "Learning Styles: Concepts and Evidence." Turns out we all learn more-or-less the same way. Many of us believe we learn differently, but we actually don't. A big part of executive function is differentiating between activities which /feel/ like learning, and ones where skills actually grow.