First, I think you are making an unfair comparison- sure, upper level physics classes like quantum mechanics are unlikely to help in your everyday life. However, upper level mathematics are similarly useless. Quantum mechanics is as good a place as any to cement the concepts of linear function spaces. General relativity is as good a place as any to learn differential geometry, etc. If you stop at undergrad, the mathematician and the physicists have basically overlapping skillsets (often physics majors double major in math because its so few additional courses).
The same idea (intro is useful, beyond that diminishing returns) is true of almost any discipline. Intro microeconomics is fairly useful,but DSGE modeling is essentially useless outside of specialized career tracks.
I work as a data scientist/statistician, and have a phd in theoretical physics. I would say that physicists seem much more capable of handling actual data and making interesting statements about it than mathematicians, at least at the post-phd level. I would say the generalized skill of “engaging with data” is the single most useful skill my phd left me with, but thats at least in part because of my work life.
Also, I’ve found that if you build things, physics insight is absolutely invaluable, and I think that many smart people have an interest in building cool things. I recently designed and built a stirling engine to turn my window fan. Previous projects include a small zip gun (to settle an argument with a guy about how useless current 3d printing is), three go carts armed with nerf-projectiles that temporarily deactivate your enemies go-cart when struck, a small programmable mouse for my cat to play with, a lighted “dancing” fountain for the backyard. For the fountain, I designed a small solenoid valve. None of this required anything beyond a good intuition for classical physics (em, thermo, etc), but I’ve found that intuition for classical physics invaluable.
First, I think you are making an unfair comparison- sure, upper level physics classes like quantum mechanics are unlikely to help in your everyday life. However, upper level mathematics are similarly useless. Quantum mechanics is as good a place as any to cement the concepts of linear function spaces. General relativity is as good a place as any to learn differential geometry, etc. If you stop at undergrad, the mathematician and the physicists have basically overlapping skillsets (often physics majors double major in math because its so few additional courses).
The same idea (intro is useful, beyond that diminishing returns) is true of almost any discipline. Intro microeconomics is fairly useful,but DSGE modeling is essentially useless outside of specialized career tracks.
I work as a data scientist/statistician, and have a phd in theoretical physics. I would say that physicists seem much more capable of handling actual data and making interesting statements about it than mathematicians, at least at the post-phd level. I would say the generalized skill of “engaging with data” is the single most useful skill my phd left me with, but thats at least in part because of my work life.
Also, I’ve found that if you build things, physics insight is absolutely invaluable, and I think that many smart people have an interest in building cool things. I recently designed and built a stirling engine to turn my window fan. Previous projects include a small zip gun (to settle an argument with a guy about how useless current 3d printing is), three go carts armed with nerf-projectiles that temporarily deactivate your enemies go-cart when struck, a small programmable mouse for my cat to play with, a lighted “dancing” fountain for the backyard. For the fountain, I designed a small solenoid valve. None of this required anything beyond a good intuition for classical physics (em, thermo, etc), but I’ve found that intuition for classical physics invaluable.