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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 stuf
by 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 agoYou can do all that online… however in-person networking is important.
- philosopher1234 2y agoNo you can’t, because the depth, pace, and honesty of conversation doesn’t exist online
- davkan 2y agoThis has not been my experience. Are you just trying to find that level of communication in places like this?
- philosopher1234 2y agoIt 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 agoIt 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 agoOr you know, video conference. I have zoom calls with AI folks from all the world weekly.
- BehindBlueEyes 2y agoDid you not experience the golden age of ICQ, irc, msn chat? It is absolutely possible to form strong friendships entirely online - it just takes the same amount of time and effort to nourish them. I still have fond memories of friendships with the people I used to chat with a couple hours almost daily, and we still know what's going on in each other's lives 20 years later! Consider the collections of letters from snail mail friendships some classic authors used to maintain. Also purely done in writing.
- deleted 2y ago[deleted]
- willturman 2y ago> In a less urban area, this is far less like. 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. The idea that spontaneous interactions lead to innovation is wonderfully captured in Kevin Simler’s essay Going Critical https://meltingasphalt.com/interactive/going-critical/ https://meltingasphalt.com/interactive/going-critical/