I should have loved biology • Hacker News Board

Re: I should have loved biology

#211

Post by stevenjgarner » Sun, Jul 10, 2022, 2:34 PM UTC

Me too! At the time I did not realize just the quality of undergraduate education I was getting in the University of Otago, Dunedin, New Zealand. Jack Dodd was Professor of Physics and had just won the NZ Hector Medal [1]. Phenomenal teacher - his passion for understanding was captivating. True of most of the faculty. The same Hector Medal by the way was awarded in 1916 to none other than the New Zealand physicist Ernest Rutherford himself [2]. Yeah that Rutherford.

But my humble first year intention was medical intermediate on track to medical school. I absolutely loved biology, and loved the labs most of all. But it was in those labs where I hit a brick wall. With every lab (e.g. dissections etc), we were required to pencil draw our work. A significant part of our grade was on the caliber of fine artistry. I was a scientist damn it! Not an artist. The best I could do was stick figure level illustration. Needless to say I did not shine as a life scientist, so I moved my major into physics.

Looking back I have often wondered how many burgeoning life scientists had their careers cut short in those labs. I have also wondered if I would have stayed stymied artistically my whole life if that had never happened. I love art and would love to be able to draw. Just never went there again.

[1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jack_Dodd

[2] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ernest_Rutherford

Re: I should have loved biology

#212

Post by discordance » Sun, Jul 10, 2022, 2:40 PM UTC

april_22 wrote: post #208

todd8 wrote: post #186

I had been putting off quantum physics and time was running out. I was worried forth semester physics at MIT was going to be tough, but then through some miracle of providence the EE department decided that a solid state chemistry chemistry class plus Into to Biology could be substituted for quantum physics. Because I had already taken a solid state chemistry class, all I had to do was take a basic introductory biolo…

The amount of things you need to learn in biology is truly hard, though from what I've heard, there's nothing harder than quantum physics, since it's so fundamentally different from how we're used to seeing things.

Don't believe the hype. Follow the math where your instincts fail you. Check out HyperPhysics if you haven't seen it. Provides a super useful map where you can see how all the concepts relate and how they fit together:

http://hyperphysics.phy-astr.gsu.edu/hbase/hframe.html

Re: I should have loved biology

#213

Post by keeptrying » Sun, Jul 10, 2022, 2:50 PM UTC

smokey_circles wrote: post #203

keeptrying wrote: post #201

I have always wanted to learn medicine slowly - over years. So I read medical text books slowly over years. I find it amazing that we give so much agency to doctors over our health while we know relatively very little about our own bodies and health. And biology is a big part of that learning. I now study medical books on my soare time. Would recommend “Clinical Methods” as your first foray. You will understand your…

> psychology for example while I'm pretty despondent with the replication crisis in psychology, medicine isn't much better. but to dismiss it outright is pretty ignorant. curious how you explain the state of America if your assertion is psychology and mental health are "relatively useless" fields

the western medicine solutions are useless.

Eastern techniques seem to be much more practically useful for handling mental health tecniques.

Re: I should have loved biology

#214

Post by y0ungarmanii » Sun, Jul 10, 2022, 3:05 PM UTC

I originally went into premed in college and struggled a lot, I had other family members who were premed & or doctors and didn't understand how I could be getting C's in biochem or physiology.

I finally gave up realizing there was no chance i was getting into medical school with bad GPA and switched to EE where I admittedly had to study a lot less and got much better grades. People underestimate just how difficult bio is and i think the high volume of information and importance of memorization is just training you for medical school where the volume of material you need to study is magnitudes more.

I don't envy anyone who went through it. When it came to physics, math, circuits, etc. you could really get away with just doing a couple practice problems and understanding the core concepts. The experience of going through two very different fields and being an utter failure in one made me believe that people's brains can just be wired differently.

Re: I should have loved biology

#215

Post by JKCalhoun » Sun, Jul 10, 2022, 3:10 PM UTC

y0ungarmanii wrote: post #214

I originally went into premed in college and struggled a lot, I had other family members who were premed & or doctors and didn't understand how I could be getting C's in biochem or physiology. I finally gave up realizing there was no chance i was getting into medical school with bad GPA and switched to EE where I admittedly had to study a lot less and got much better grades. People underestimate just how difficult bi…

Sounds like learning a new (human) language vs. learning a new math concept.

Every attempt I've made into learning a new language has been a failure. I've resigned myself that only through immersion will I ever learn a new language. I suppose there is no equivalent in the medical field. :-)

Re: I should have loved biology

#216

Post by hgomersall » Sun, Jul 10, 2022, 4:14 PM UTC

todd8 wrote: post #186

I had been putting off quantum physics and time was running out. I was worried forth semester physics at MIT was going to be tough, but then through some miracle of providence the EE department decided that a solid state chemistry chemistry class plus Into to Biology could be substituted for quantum physics. Because I had already taken a solid state chemistry class, all I had to do was take a basic introductory biolo…

The thing I found about biology in my limited study of it is that if a physical effect can happen, it's almost certainly used somewhere as a functional effect.

I'm regular puzzled that people think that biology is tractable. It seems to me the best we can hope for towards a complete understanding is a computational generative model.

Re: I should have loved biology

#217

Post by y0ungarmanii » Sun, Jul 10, 2022, 5:01 PM UTC

JKCalhoun wrote: post #215

y0ungarmanii wrote: post #214

I originally went into premed in college and struggled a lot, I had other family members who were premed & or doctors and didn't understand how I could be getting C's in biochem or physiology. I finally gave up realizing there was no chance i was getting into medical school with bad GPA and switched to EE where I admittedly had to study a lot less and got much better grades. People underestimate just how difficult bi…

Sounds like learning a new (human) language vs. learning a new math concept. Every attempt I've made into learning a new language has been a failure. I've resigned myself that only through immersion will I ever learn a new language. I suppose there is no equivalent in the medical field. :-)

Funny enough my only bad grades in high school were with languages, I think your analogy is apt. I could understand bio and learn it but performing at the level needed to be a doctor was not going to happen. Although, I have no regrets very happy with where I ended up!

Re: I should have loved biology

#218

Post by brooksbp » Sun, Jul 10, 2022, 5:06 PM UTC

Myrmornis wrote: post #183

joshuahedlund wrote: post #160

If I’m an experienced programmer who is fascinated by molecular biology and would love to transition from e-commerce to biotech, what sorts of jobs would I look for or what would I do to prepare for such a switch?

The easiest and fastest and most financially preferable option would probably be to join the software engineering team of a fairly software-oriented biotech company and then, once you're established, let it be known that your personal career advancement aims are to move more in the direction of scientific work. That would be fine at many companies, assuming you can make them think of you as a valuable asset for your…

A lot of job descriptions I see are looking for people who already have the scientific formal education background and expect them to do the software engineering aspect too. I haven't really seen generic Software Engineer job descriptions where a science background is the secondary requirement. If you have any pointers I would greatly appreciate them!

Re: I should have loved biology

#219

Post by brooksbp » Sun, Jul 10, 2022, 5:10 PM UTC

AlbertCory wrote: post #45

When I was in college, I took Entomology and Zoology for my bio requirement. The first one was because the teacher had such high ratings in the student reviews. At one time, I could name all the orders of insects. No longer. It did seem like just a bunch of memorization to me then. Much, much later, I took an Extension course in Molecular Biology, and what a difference! I still think the diagrams they draw for biolog…

I pre-ordered the 7th Edition a month before release and it still hasn't shipped. The demand for this new edition is nuts!

Re: I should have loved biology

#220

Post by dbtc » Sun, Jul 10, 2022, 5:20 PM UTC

thanatos519 wrote: post #91

bonniemuffin wrote: post #88

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I recall the same "everything coming together" feeling, but for me it didn't happen until Applied Biochemistry in grad school. I recall the final exam being only a single question, with a bunch of blank lined pages to write your answer, and the question was something like "You just ate a ham sandwich. What happens to it?" A good answer needed to include everything down to the molecular/chemical level and tie it toget…

I love it! Much like the "I type a URL into my browser and press enter. What happens?" tech interview question.

My finger gently depresses the black plastic key. As the machine begins to pull in data from the net I shift my weight back in the chair and look up over the top of screen, out the window at the lunch hour foot traffic passing silently by beyond the steam tinted cafe window. The overheavy graphics begin to render, but my gaze is caught by a momentary glimpse between the rushing cars of a woman in a red dress on the far side of the street...