Why I didn't go into physics

Before getting serious about startups, I was somewhat destined for a future in physics. At some point during the summer of 2009, I realised that it wasn't to be. Partly because I'm a capitalist, and the thought of 5-6 years' studies with minimal to no income was a clear no-go, and partly because I had half a year of interaction with actual physicists in the preparation for the International Physics Olympiad. That interaction taught me, that working in this sphere tends to make you "weird," especially as your career is coming to an end.

A lot of scientists are driven by the belief that they can find the "one truth" in their field, like the Standard Model for physicists, but when they can tell that they've achieved all they really will in their lifetime without finding that "truth," they start looking for alternative explanations. Many default to God or similar devine entities, although to varying degrees of extremes. Great scientists like Albert Einstein are on the more reasonable end of the scale as a self declared "religion agnostic" yet still clearly religious in his more philosophical writings. Others, like the Danish physicist, Holger Bech Nielsen, father of the string theory, are moving towards the other end of the scale — an extreme best expressed by his Divine Sandwich Theory (Danes can enjoy his appearance on TV.)

While divinity seems to be a human default, new sources of explanation are appearing as religion gets an increasingly bad reputation. Recently, NASA scientist, dr. Rich Terrile, gave an interview speculating very heavily that due to the nature of Moore's law it is very likely that we're simply the result of a simulation of humans from the future:

So there’s a possibility we’re living in a super advanced game in some bloodshot-eyed goober’s PlayStation right now?

Exactly. The supposition here is how do you know it’s not 30 years in the future now and you’re not one of these simulations?

This is the kind of thinking you only start publicly discussing once you know you have nothing more to contribute in the realms of reality and science. That is the greatest reason I never became a physicist — the search never ends.