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> Unfortunately they are not using them in real life You don't suppose that's because the N on "get the type of professorship you want" is too low to draw reas

> Unfortunately they are not using them in real life You don't suppose that's because the N on "get the type of professorship you want" is too low to draw reasonable statistical inferences? > Not teaching economics I took undergrad econ, it didn't keep me from making stupid decisions, especially if those stupid decisions are rational, e.g. "I'm willing to roll the dice on a high beta event". The problem is not a lack of rationality; it's that the system is actively irrational, and it is in the interest of continuation of the scientific industrial complex to continue to lie to grad students about the nature of scientific promotion. If they knew the truth they would quit doing good science, or quit science.

jackcosgrove 5y ago
I'm not sure if I would call the system actively irrational. It's extremely well-measured, as scientists are good at measuring things. The academic job market is hyper-efficient and gets close to a Pareto distribution very quickly. I agree that economics programs don't do a good enough job teaching about the implications of systems which distribute outcomes according to a Pareto distribution (which are many).
- dnautics 5y ago
  Hyper efficient for what? I can tell you it does not select for good researchers. It selects for people who are able to play politics. There are a lot of nonrational things that go into politics, for example the color of your skin (e.g. good luck getting an academic position if you're asian! Or if you're ugly), Just random shit like "who your boss was. Is your boss gonna write a letter of recommendation for you", or timing. I had a grad student friend who worked for prof who was very good at placing his students in academic positions, but oops the prof had twins during his second year and the grad student got absolutely fucked for mentorship at a critical time.

jackcosgrove 5y ago

I'm not sure if I would call the system actively irrational. It's extremely well-measured, as scientists are good at measuring things. The academic job market is hyper-efficient and gets close to a Pareto distribution very quickly. I agree that economics programs don't do a good enough job teaching about the implications of systems which distribute outcomes according to a Pareto distribution (which are many).

dnautics 5y ago
Hyper efficient for what? I can tell you it does not select for good researchers. It selects for people who are able to play politics. There are a lot of nonrational things that go into politics, for example the color of your skin (e.g. good luck getting an academic position if you're asian! Or if you're ugly), Just random shit like "who your boss was. Is your boss gonna write a letter of recommendation for you", or timing. I had a grad student friend who worked for prof who was very good at placing his students in academic positions, but oops the prof had twins during his second year and the grad student got absolutely fucked for mentorship at a critical time.