4 ms·

I think I agree with him at this point. Which is a bit sad. 12 years ago I went into academia because I wanted to do self-driven research, but then I realized a

I think I agree with him at this point. Which is a bit sad. 12 years ago I went into academia because I wanted to do self-driven research, but then I realized academia isn't a good place to do research unless you are at the top of the hierarchy. Then ~6 years ago I tried starting a startup, working for startups, but as Kay points out that's not a great place to do research either. Really, you need to be ruthlessly market- and production-focused. So I guess my first two guesses for where I could do my own research were wrong. My new theory: The best place to do research is in your garage. Let's see if I still feel the same way 6 years from now.

TDL 10y ago
Aren't some BigCos a good place to do research? Have you tried that approach?
- sjg007 10y ago
  Hard to afford a garage in Silicon Valley unless you rent it.
metaphorm 10y ago
Taleb has the right idea for how to do research, in my opinion. First you get "fuck you money" (which is not necessarily millions and millions of dollars, just enough money so you don't have to be a wage slave anymore). Second, you move to some place cheap with low upkeep costs and a nice garage/mad-science-laboratory on premises. That's where you do your research.
- dunkelheit 10y ago
  This is a really compelling vision but I've always wondered how one stays relevant in this scenario. Science is a conversation and it is really hard to avoid becoming an equivalent of a babbling madman standing on a soapbox when doing research on your own terms in your own garage.
  - metaphorm 10y ago
    well, I recommend you ask https://twitter.com/nntaleb https://twitter.com/nntaleb about it directly then. he is not a hermit withdrawn from the world, but he doesn't work in academia, or for a private corporation, or for a government agency. he does research (in mathematics mostly, as well as finance, risk modeling, and interestingly enough ancient Levantine languages) and participates in those communities even though he is not employed by an institution.
    - dunkelheit 10y ago
      Mr. Taleb is an outlier - a black swan if you will ;) And he is a bit of a babbling madman - with his share of controversial ideas and vocal rejection of establishment.
  - erikpukinskis 10y ago
    You just need some form of reckoning. You can use markets. You can use advisors. You can use some metric you set for yourself. You don't need society to be sane, but you do need to replace it with something.
TeMPOraL 10y ago
Pulling straight from my quotes file: "What one wants is to be able to talk with a diverse club of smart people, arrange to do short one-off research projects and simulations, publish papers or capture intellectual property quickly and easily, and move on to another conversation. Quickly. Easily. For a living. Can’t do that in industry. Can’t do that in the Academy. Yet in my experience, scientists and engineers all want it. Maybe even a few mathematicians and social scientists do, too." -- Bill Tozier, [[http://williamtozier.com/slurry/2006/07/17/diverse-themes-observed-at-gecco-2006][Diverse themes observed at GECCO 2006]]

TDL 10y ago

Aren't some BigCos a good place to do research? Have you tried that approach?

sjg007 10y ago
Hard to afford a garage in Silicon Valley unless you rent it.

metaphorm 10y ago

Taleb has the right idea for how to do research, in my opinion. First you get "fuck you money" (which is not necessarily millions and millions of dollars, just enough money so you don't have to be a wage slave anymore). Second, you move to some place cheap with low upkeep costs and a nice garage/mad-science-laboratory on premises. That's where you do your research.

dunkelheit 10y ago
This is a really compelling vision but I've always wondered how one stays relevant in this scenario. Science is a conversation and it is really hard to avoid becoming an equivalent of a babbling madman standing on a soapbox when doing research on your own terms in your own garage.
- metaphorm 10y ago
  well, I recommend you ask https://twitter.com/nntaleb https://twitter.com/nntaleb about it directly then. he is not a hermit withdrawn from the world, but he doesn't work in academia, or for a private corporation, or for a government agency. he does research (in mathematics mostly, as well as finance, risk modeling, and interestingly enough ancient Levantine languages) and participates in those communities even though he is not employed by an institution.
  - dunkelheit 10y ago
    Mr. Taleb is an outlier - a black swan if you will ;) And he is a bit of a babbling madman - with his share of controversial ideas and vocal rejection of establishment.
- erikpukinskis 10y ago
  You just need some form of reckoning. You can use markets. You can use advisors. You can use some metric you set for yourself. You don't need society to be sane, but you do need to replace it with something.

TeMPOraL 10y ago

Pulling straight from my quotes file: "What one wants is to be able to talk with a diverse club of smart people, arrange to do short one-off research projects and simulations, publish papers or capture intellectual property quickly and easily, and move on to another conversation. Quickly. Easily. For a living. Can’t do that in industry. Can’t do that in the Academy. Yet in my experience, scientists and engineers all want it. Maybe even a few mathematicians and social scientists do, too." -- Bill Tozier, [[http://williamtozier.com/slurry/2006/07/17/diverse-themes-observed-at-gecco-2006][Diverse themes observed at GECCO 2006]]