Yup. Ideally you need a primary mentor (PhD advisor) and a community of near-peers, some a bit ahead of you (your advisor’s research team). If one or the other of those is dysfunctional, it can still work, just. Without either… it’s maybe not impossible, but extremely unusual.
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Replying to @Meaningness @The_Lagrangian and
I’ve made a habit of helping rescue brilliant Thiel fellow types, who oft lack such a community of practice in research, into the most open-minded bio PhD programs/advisors/labs who themselves like to “hack the system“ a bit. & I’m in one myself now as a newbie to AI in my 30’s.
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Replying to @AdamMarblestone @The_Lagrangian and
This is extremely interesting; the Fellows program was a fascinating experiment, but I was afraid it might have exactly this downside. I’d love to learn more about how it has gone for people.
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Replying to @Meaningness @The_Lagrangian and
It is frightening that truly enabling settings are so rare. A twist is to bring ppl up in traditional universities, but fund & network them in ways that partially insulate from some of the “coercive” aspects. That’s what Hertz Foundation’s “freedom to innovate” means, in part.
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Replying to @AdamMarblestone @The_Lagrangian and
Yes, the Hertz Foundation is a great thing; I had several friends in grad school who were supported by them. In their cases, the summer programs didn’t seem to do a whole lot for them, though. Maybe more significant in other fields, or the model has improved since ~1990
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Replying to @Meaningness @The_Lagrangian and
The latter, plus a broadening para-academic sphere they can enter when graduating, is starting to help, I think. But even with fellowships, the environments that can take the best ppl from ~0 through your “cargo cult” phase, and also do the truly new, are rare...
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Replying to @AdamMarblestone @The_Lagrangian and
Oh, this is really great to hear! I wonder how much of the program enhancement was explicitly designed and thought out, versus developing gradually through trial and error. And stuff like that? I suppose this is not described anywhere publicly?
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Replying to @Meaningness @The_Lagrangian and
I’m not sure it is really understood. But they grow up knowing each other now and collaborating at least somewhat more short term and maybe a lot more long term.
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Replying to @Meaningness @The_Lagrangian and
One Thiel fellow actually then got a Hz fellowship, but, lacking an undergrad degree, couldn’t enter most PhD programs. Fortunately, a non-traditional one took them. But that’s just one case.
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Back in the Good Old Days, you could get hired even as a professor without having a degree. That’s unimaginable now.
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Replying to @Meaningness @AdamMarblestone and
The problem is accountability. Back then, the faculty ran the place, and hired whomever they wanted. In principle this could lead to cronyism and other sorts of corruption. So all decisions have to be justified “objectively” to the administration. Which means H-index
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