How many successful filmmakers, authors and musicians do you know personally? Let’s keep the bar real low: ones that can feed themselves and retire without supplemental income from a spouse that does something more pragmatic?
I was a Physicist before leaving for industry. What would you like to know about how science works and how it is funded?
I’m not blaming anyone for studying anything. I’m simply stating that the bill for that education will come due and it might be a good idea to have acquired a skill to help pay it if the projected return on investment is non-existent.
Ever have a conversation with people in your local service industry? I live in a major US city and this is a common story:
Do you think they’d have advised a younger version of themselves to do something else?
A nice thing about Physics: quantitative reasoning is a highly valued skill in many paying jobs and something you have to acquire along the way to learning things like QED. The end result of knowing, say, if a neutrino has mass isnt terribly useful.