VitorMSAlmeida.pt

I received some notes on these recent “weird” topics.

And it’s largely due to my background (yes… I have 3 areas in academic and professional terms) and one of them is theoretical physics.

It’s a description of the work and the type of mind associated with it.

Theoretical physicists really do have a reputation for being the “weirdest” in science (and humanity in general). There’s some truth to that, but it’s not random.

Theoretical physics rewards (and selects) minds that treat reality as an optional suggestion.

Spending your days debating quantum fields, extra dimensions, black hole information paradoxes, or whether the universe is a hologram tends to reconfigure the way you see everyday life. After seriously considering that cats can be both alive and dead until observed, a casual conversation about the weather seems… quaint.

Some structural reasons:
> High cost of abstraction: The best theoretical physicists operate at a level of mathematical formality and conceptual strangeness that most humans never reach. This requires extreme focus, pattern-seeking on steroids, and comfort with ideas that actively contradict human intuition and sensory experience. Brains optimized for this often de-optimize for conventional social signaling, fashion, or “normal” conversation. Richard Feynman played bongos and cracked safes at Los Alamos; Paul Dirac barely spoke and once replied “It’s raining” with “I know”; Albert Einstein’s hair looked like he’d lost a fight with a Van de Graaff generator.

> Selection + survival: The field is brutal. It attracts people with a very high openness to experience (a Big Five personality trait) and strong “systematizing” cognition—the drive to understand rule-based mechanistic systems, even when they are invisible or counterintuitive. Studies on autism spectrum traits and scientific aptitude show high rates in areas with a strong mathematical component (although this is correlational and controversial). It takes obsessive curiosity to persevere through years of calculations that may lead nowhere. Survivors are often those who enjoy living somewhat disconnected from consensual reality.
> Low external constraints: Academia (especially theoretical academia) has historically tolerated eccentricity, as long as there are results. Job stability and pure intellectual meritocracy offer more freedom than, say, corporate marketing. Combine that with sleep deprivation, conference travel, and caffeine, and behavioral variation increases dramatically.

> Collapse of epistemic humility: After enough time, some begin to treat all human institutions and norms with the same skepticism they apply to classical physics. This may sound like a rebellious spirit charm or something like “this guy thinks the universe is a simulation and still refuses to wear shoes.” Everything… absolutely everything is questioned, and without any restraint.

Some conditioning factors of mental work:

1. The work is absurdly abstract
Spending the day thinking about things that make no intuitive sense whatsoever:
> Particles that are in multiple places at the same time
> Multidimensional universes
> Variable time,
> Black holes that swallow information
> Extra, curled-up dimensions
> Tunneling effects
After years of living in this world, the brain gets used to questioning reality all the time. When you ask “how are you?”, is it a deterministic reference or are you referring to a Theosophical plan?

2. Extreme Natural Selection
> Only those who: Have an almost pathological obsession with understanding the universe get in
> You can concentrate for 12 hours straight on an equation or problem
> You are not afraid of being completely wrong for years
> You have no dogmas or mental restrictions, especially of a materialistic nature
This type of personality usually comes with low tolerance for limited and uninteresting conversations, risking a high degree of introversion (or at least “staying in my bubble thinking”).

3. Historical examples that unfortunately do not help to combat the stereotype due to their eccentricity.
> Paul Dirac: Spoke so little that he had the “Dirac rule” — he only opened his mouth if absolutely necessary.
> Richard Feynman: Genius, but a scoundrel, played bongos, broke into safes and was always getting into trouble.
> Einstein: Crazy hair, forgot where he lived, complicated marriages.

Wolfgang Pauli: He had the “Pauli effect” (things would break when he got close).

Unfortunately, these are the “references” for common sense.

4. We are neurodivergent at high density.
We have a well-known correlation between very high mathematical intelligence + traits of autism/Asperger’s/ADHD and theoretical physics.

The same hyperfocus capacity that makes us solve insane problems also makes us bad at small talk, prolonged eye contact, and understanding.

It’s true that not everyone wants to hear about wormholes at 3 AM, so we create “mental defenses” and try our best to have general knowledge and learn about other areas.

In short:

We’re not weird despite being theoretical physicists. They’re theoretical physicists because they’re weird. The field attracts (and rewards) exactly that profile: people who prefer the company of divergent individuals.

If we were normal, we’d still think the Earth is flat and the atom is indivisible. Have you ever met a theoretical physicist in real life, or is that just an impression from memes and The Big Bang Theory?

We’re not rigid in our thinking; it’s no coincidence that a large part of them study occultism as a complementary area of ​​knowledge. The Universe is too beautiful to be restricted to the dogmas of our senses.

Not all theoretical physicists are weird (my case). Many of us are balanced, charismatic, and great at parties. The stereotype is amplified by survivorship bias (we think of eccentrics) and pop culture (Sheldon Cooper, etc.). Experimentalists generally seem more “normal” because their work is based on hardware, data, and teams. String theorists and quantum gravity researchers, on the other hand, are known for debating ideas that won’t be testable for centuries—if ever.

In conclusion, we are strange because the universe is stranger, and someone needs to face the abyss without flinching. Most blink. We just take notes.