3 ms·

What would you do to get a good idea? I have an area I'm really interested in, but it just seems like any ideas I have could have the potential to be a dud. Com

What would you do to get a good idea? I have an area I'm really interested in, but it just seems like any ideas I have could have the potential to be a dud. Coming up with an idea that you'd be willing to commit several years to just seems incredibly hard. I'd imagine that working at a real company isn't really the best occupation and place to generate new ideas unless what you're interested in is more practical. It just seems like it'd be more distracting than inspiring. I've thought about getting a second undergrad degree (math, very closely related to the area) to broaden my horizon and I'm from Europe so I wouldn't be in debt or anything, but the idea feels quite silly.

anjc 6y ago
> I'm from Europe so I wouldn't be in debt or anything Do a Masters and it will help with all of your questions
- ImprobableTruth 6y ago
  I'm in the process of getting my master's degree, but so far it just feels incremental to the bachelor's. Does the thesis make a huge difference?
  - algorias 6y ago
    Yes. The master's thesis is often the first time someone does real research from start to finish. Make sure it's not just implementing some already existing idea, there are a lot of "easy" topics like that being offered. You want the opposite, being part of defining what the solution looks like, or what the goal should even be.
barry-cotter 6y ago
> I have an area I'm really interested in, but it just seems like any ideas I have could have the potential to be a dud. Yes, that’s research. Sometimes you try to do something only to discover either that you can’t do it or that it can’t be done. To get a good idea you learn and work on bad ideas. Doing a thesis is closer to doing real research than what you’ve done before, more than likely. Rather than doing another Bachelor’s consider doing another Master’s or getting a job as a research assistant.

anjc 6y ago

> I'm from Europe so I wouldn't be in debt or anything Do a Masters and it will help with all of your questions

ImprobableTruth 6y ago
I'm in the process of getting my master's degree, but so far it just feels incremental to the bachelor's. Does the thesis make a huge difference?
- algorias 6y ago
  Yes. The master's thesis is often the first time someone does real research from start to finish. Make sure it's not just implementing some already existing idea, there are a lot of "easy" topics like that being offered. You want the opposite, being part of defining what the solution looks like, or what the goal should even be.

barry-cotter 6y ago

> I have an area I'm really interested in, but it just seems like any ideas I have could have the potential to be a dud. Yes, that’s research. Sometimes you try to do something only to discover either that you can’t do it or that it can’t be done. To get a good idea you learn and work on bad ideas. Doing a thesis is closer to doing real research than what you’ve done before, more than likely. Rather than doing another Bachelor’s consider doing another Master’s or getting a job as a research assistant.