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I think it’s likely folly to think that the big city is only place where intellectual pursuit and learning can happen. I often tell people that living in a rur

I think it’s likely folly to think that the big city is only place where intellectual pursuit and learning can happen. I often tell people that living in a rural area is much like living in the city, but living next to the city is like neither.

fragmede 2y ago
It's a simple matter of density. It's not about intellect or intellectual pursuit at large, rural people are plenty smart. It's that intellectual pursuits can be very niche, and you're more likely to find someone that shares that very specific intellectual pursuit the more people there are, in close proximity. If you're located somewhere rural, your closest neighbors maybe 30 mins away, and friends often further. That's a totally different experience compared to having your friends live in the same high rise or be your neighbor 3 mins away. Not saying that one is better than the other, but they're clearly different.
- wenc 2y ago
  This is it. It’s proximity. Let’s say you’re interested in transformers. In a big city, you could go to a meetup, talk to different people working on this stuff at a production level (maybe there’s even some guy who works on it at Google), talk about tips or pitfalls that no one ever publishes and potentially have the conversation veer off to DuckDB or some obscure topic. When you have a gathering of like minds, the conversation can go in unpredictable directions and you can potentially land in very interesting places. In a less urban area, this is far less likely to happen because there are just fewer people with the same interests (unless you’re lucky). I grew up with friends who were absolutely brilliant (high fluid intelligence) who come from farming families. But they just weren’t interested in what I was interested in. The core of intellectual pursuit isn’t just smart people, but the confluence of people who have the same interests and who are also well positioned. You might ask, can’t you just learn this stuff online and talk to people on Reddit? But the reality is that positive effects of randomness require real life undirected interactions with the right people. (This is for instance why people are willing to relocate to a cold city like Montreal (-30°C/-22°F in the winter) to work in Bengio’s lab for a couple of years, just so they can overhear lunchtime conversations about how to train certain models. A lot of this knowledge is caught and not taught.) I’ve gotten so many ideas from just random conversations with well positioned people who happened to be doing something important and interesting. It’s not just about being smart.
  - theGnuMe 2y ago
    You can do all that online… however in-person networking is important.
    - philosopher1234 2y ago
      No you can’t, because the depth, pace, and honesty of conversation doesn’t exist online
      - davkan 2y ago
        This has not been my experience. Are you just trying to find that level of communication in places like this?
        philosopher1234 2y ago
        It is not possible for it to exist in any text based forum because it depends on: * body language, non verbal communication * the ability to respond instantly * the ability to interrupt * the ability do develop relationships over time Which do not exist altogether anywhere on the internet
        davkan 2y ago
        It sounds to me like you’re just describing the limitations of textual communication, which I agree is limited in all the ways you have written in this post except the last. But, it’s entirely possible to have thoughtful, deep, honest discussions with individuals over a textual medium and to develop meaningful relationships in that way. I have done so. Often these relationships start in a more open public setting and become more meaningful in a private space, similarly to real life.
        theGnuMe 2y ago
        Or you know, video conference. I have zoom calls with AI folks from all the world weekly.
rgrieselhuber 2y ago
Agreed, the comment reminded me of the secret king in the corner meme “they don’t know I have intellectual pursuits.” People outside of cities can read good too.
vel0city 2y ago
It's like the people who think the only tech people are in SV. I've had lots of good tech discussions in several of towns that don't crack the top 20 biggest US cities. And I wouldn't argue I'm incredibly well travelled.

fragmede 2y ago

It's a simple matter of density. It's not about intellect or intellectual pursuit at large, rural people are plenty smart. It's that intellectual pursuits can be very niche, and you're more likely to find someone that shares that very specific intellectual pursuit the more people there are, in close proximity. If you're located somewhere rural, your closest neighbors maybe 30 mins away, and friends often further. That's a totally different experience compared to having your friends live in the same high rise or be your neighbor 3 mins away. Not saying that one is better than the other, but they're clearly different.

wenc 2y ago
This is it. It’s proximity. Let’s say you’re interested in transformers. In a big city, you could go to a meetup, talk to different people working on this stuff at a production level (maybe there’s even some guy who works on it at Google), talk about tips or pitfalls that no one ever publishes and potentially have the conversation veer off to DuckDB or some obscure topic. When you have a gathering of like minds, the conversation can go in unpredictable directions and you can potentially land in very interesting places. In a less urban area, this is far less likely to happen because there are just fewer people with the same interests (unless you’re lucky). I grew up with friends who were absolutely brilliant (high fluid intelligence) who come from farming families. But they just weren’t interested in what I was interested in. The core of intellectual pursuit isn’t just smart people, but the confluence of people who have the same interests and who are also well positioned. You might ask, can’t you just learn this stuff online and talk to people on Reddit? But the reality is that positive effects of randomness require real life undirected interactions with the right people. (This is for instance why people are willing to relocate to a cold city like Montreal (-30°C/-22°F in the winter) to work in Bengio’s lab for a couple of years, just so they can overhear lunchtime conversations about how to train certain models. A lot of this knowledge is caught and not taught.) I’ve gotten so many ideas from just random conversations with well positioned people who happened to be doing something important and interesting. It’s not just about being smart.
- theGnuMe 2y ago
  You can do all that online… however in-person networking is important.
  - philosopher1234 2y ago
    No you can’t, because the depth, pace, and honesty of conversation doesn’t exist online
    - davkan 2y ago
      This has not been my experience. Are you just trying to find that level of communication in places like this?
      - philosopher1234 2y ago
        It is not possible for it to exist in any text based forum because it depends on: * body language, non verbal communication * the ability to respond instantly * the ability to interrupt * the ability do develop relationships over time Which do not exist altogether anywhere on the internet
        davkan 2y ago
        It sounds to me like you’re just describing the limitations of textual communication, which I agree is limited in all the ways you have written in this post except the last. But, it’s entirely possible to have thoughtful, deep, honest discussions with individuals over a textual medium and to develop meaningful relationships in that way. I have done so. Often these relationships start in a more open public setting and become more meaningful in a private space, similarly to real life.
        theGnuMe 2y ago
        Or you know, video conference. I have zoom calls with AI folks from all the world weekly.

rgrieselhuber 2y ago

Agreed, the comment reminded me of the secret king in the corner meme “they don’t know I have intellectual pursuits.” People outside of cities can read good too.

vel0city 2y ago

It's like the people who think the only tech people are in SV. I've had lots of good tech discussions in several of towns that don't crack the top 20 biggest US cities. And I wouldn't argue I'm incredibly well travelled.