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Not to be that guy but PG has a great one on this: https://paulgraham.com/love.html https://paulgraham.com/love.html And here's another great one about how eas

by andrewrn 11mo ago

Not to be that guy but PG has a great one on this: https://paulgraham.com/love.html https://paulgraham.com/love.html And here's another great one about how ease, and not grind, arguably led to some of the biggest discoveries ever, like General Relativity: https://www.strangeloopcanon.com/p/on-thinkers-and-doers https://www.strangeloopcanon.com/p/on-thinkers-and-doers I am currently doing a masters degree at Carnegie Mellon and I gotta be honest, this place is so dehumanizing for the exact reasons discussed in the link. It's just a grind pit here. And its harder to swallow this pill when you realize that university campuses are one of the few remaining venues well suited for exploring new ideas and having intellectual serendipity. When you're in a job, you can't easily just find a biology expert or economics expert and chat with them. When students are assaulted with work, they lose the ability to take advantage of that unique quality of the university environment.

titanomachy 11mo ago
Why do you think it’s such a grind? Do you think there’s somewhere else that wouldn’t be? I’ve been interested in doing more school as well, but I took a class in-person at a top school and it seems like CS students at least are so career-focused that there’s very little room for curiosity or joy. I guess it’s a big luxury to be a mid-career person doing it mostly out of interest.
- all2 11mo ago
  I worked adjacent to many masters and PhDs when I was going to school. It was a trope that 'if you aren't mentally ill, you aren't working hard enough', as if the expectation was to destroy any enjoyment or wonder in your work. Or something.
  - andrewrn 11mo ago
    Ah so its just that way everywhere huh. Very frustrating because as the article says, its genuinely less productive to engage in the grind. This feels true to me.
- andrewrn 11mo ago
  I think they've just built a ton of momentum around that kind of culture here and its hard to reverse. They just set up some new committee to troubleshoot suicides on campus. If I tried to compare it to other schools with similar prestige (like ivies) I'd be speculating, so I couldn't say if it'd be the same elsewhere. I do hope its different elsewhere because to me grad school is something one does if they're not satisfied with their career direction, so in that spirit there should be some exploration built in. CMU doesn't include this at all, so its like paying to work even hard than you would in a normal job. I would very much not recommend coming here for a graduate program. This is something you might consider checking out, all the work is discretionary by definition, so I assume its more joyful and personal: https://www.recurse.com/ https://www.recurse.com/. Might be hard to get in, idk.
  - titanomachy 11mo ago
    I’ve heard of recurse, a few years ago. I’ll check it out now that I’m in a place where it could make sense. Thanks

titanomachy 11mo ago

Why do you think it’s such a grind? Do you think there’s somewhere else that wouldn’t be? I’ve been interested in doing more school as well, but I took a class in-person at a top school and it seems like CS students at least are so career-focused that there’s very little room for curiosity or joy. I guess it’s a big luxury to be a mid-career person doing it mostly out of interest.

all2 11mo ago
I worked adjacent to many masters and PhDs when I was going to school. It was a trope that 'if you aren't mentally ill, you aren't working hard enough', as if the expectation was to destroy any enjoyment or wonder in your work. Or something.
- andrewrn 11mo ago
  Ah so its just that way everywhere huh. Very frustrating because as the article says, its genuinely less productive to engage in the grind. This feels true to me.
andrewrn 11mo ago
I think they've just built a ton of momentum around that kind of culture here and its hard to reverse. They just set up some new committee to troubleshoot suicides on campus. If I tried to compare it to other schools with similar prestige (like ivies) I'd be speculating, so I couldn't say if it'd be the same elsewhere. I do hope its different elsewhere because to me grad school is something one does if they're not satisfied with their career direction, so in that spirit there should be some exploration built in. CMU doesn't include this at all, so its like paying to work even hard than you would in a normal job. I would very much not recommend coming here for a graduate program. This is something you might consider checking out, all the work is discretionary by definition, so I assume its more joyful and personal: https://www.recurse.com/ https://www.recurse.com/. Might be hard to get in, idk.
- titanomachy 11mo ago
  I’ve heard of recurse, a few years ago. I’ll check it out now that I’m in a place where it could make sense. Thanks