However, when I've graduated I don't think I would ever call myself a physicist like yourself unless I actually went on to do research in physics as a career, which likely means following the traditional academic path of doing a PhD (since I'm not Freeman Dyson).
Sorry for the nitpick but such titles should be earned don't you think?
i did a phd, got highly cited and was promised to a successful career. i did not continue tho because:
1) the high-energy field is in deep crisis, unlike in Dyson era there is almost no new experimental data.
2) seeing people trying to get a temporary position looked pretty much like a pack of dog on a single bone with few left scraps of meat. for getting to the bone marrow (aka permanent pos) one basically had to kill all the other dogs then wait the bone crack open (i can tell you the resulting science is not always of high quality)
3) i wanted to do sth useful for mankind.
so yes i was not masochistic enough to become a career physicist, even if i am a respected expert in my field. also i don't think you can compare present day physics to Dyson era, science careers these days are more about social skills and PR.
so you're correct: i'm an aborted / half-backed physicist, who is highly p* of what the field has become, converted to computer sciences, just to realise my new field is as scientifically crooked as the first one.
i'll try to get it right next time :)
... at least this time i didn't get down voted too much on HN
(Thanks for the effort, though, it might just be me, in the end I changed profession for a reason)