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When I was a student (undergrad and postgrad) I liked the constant judgement and competition. It can be quite addictive if you're good at it. Even the subjectiv

When I was a student (undergrad and postgrad) I liked the constant judgement and competition. It can be quite addictive if you're good at it. Even the subjective assessments where half the game is figuring out and playing to the lecturer's biases, which I imagine is quite a bit like the academic review process. In the end though I do prefer working commercially, in a field where I can get intrinsic satisfaction from solving real-world problems instead of just having my name at the top of a list or being judged worthy by my peers. (P.S. Not wanting to be too critical, but this page is almost impossible to read on mobile due to all of the pop-overs coming from different directions.)

yodsanklai 11y ago
> When I was a student (undergrad and postgrad) I liked the constant judgement and competition. It can be quite addictive if you're good at it The problem is that you're never good enough. Considering research is global competition, it's likely that there will be a bunch of people much better than you, in more prestigious institutions. They will be very critical of your work. Some will dismiss your work publicly in conferences or seminars and so on... not my idea of fun :) > In the end though I do prefer working commercially, in a field where I can get intrinsic satisfaction from solving real-world problems instead of just having my name at the top of a list or being judged worthy by my peers. It's possible to do both. Some researchers do try to solve real-world problems :)
- tominous 11y ago
  I'm not trying to minimise the real-world impact of research! I guess I'm saying in some fields (e.g. IT, and startups in particular) there is much tighter feedback between ability+effort and real-world results. I can imagine two situations as a researcher where constant criticism is damaging. (a) If you've built your self-image on being the best, and suddenly you're a small fish in a big pond, you're left with not much. (b) If you want to make a real difference but the culture of negativity/elitism holds you back, you end up frustrated. But if you are actually making a difference then you can probably withstand any amount of sniping!
- deleted 11y ago
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yodsanklai 11y ago

> When I was a student (undergrad and postgrad) I liked the constant judgement and competition. It can be quite addictive if you're good at it The problem is that you're never good enough. Considering research is global competition, it's likely that there will be a bunch of people much better than you, in more prestigious institutions. They will be very critical of your work. Some will dismiss your work publicly in conferences or seminars and so on... not my idea of fun :) > In the end though I do prefer working commercially, in a field where I can get intrinsic satisfaction from solving real-world problems instead of just having my name at the top of a list or being judged worthy by my peers. It's possible to do both. Some researchers do try to solve real-world problems :)

tominous 11y ago
I'm not trying to minimise the real-world impact of research! I guess I'm saying in some fields (e.g. IT, and startups in particular) there is much tighter feedback between ability+effort and real-world results. I can imagine two situations as a researcher where constant criticism is damaging. (a) If you've built your self-image on being the best, and suddenly you're a small fish in a big pond, you're left with not much. (b) If you want to make a real difference but the culture of negativity/elitism holds you back, you end up frustrated. But if you are actually making a difference then you can probably withstand any amount of sniping!
deleted 11y ago
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