Working in the [field] is a bizarre experience. No one seems to be interested in the most interesting applications of their research
depending on field, it might be crackpottery or straight up criminal. but if you post shit like this on linkedin, then it’s suddenly “inspiring” and “thought-provoking”
Our knowledge has advanced to the point where, if we had a safe and reliable means of modifying genes in embryos, we could literally create superbabies
Isn’t it all a bit like Ludic’s writings on software engineering which have been shared approvingly here a number of times? The profession is shit, office politics dominates actual work, most other people are NPCs who instead of moving mountains just go through the motions etc – but I bear the Spirit and dare to stand on higher ground! Or am I dumb and getting stuck in superficial similarities here, discounting the substantive differences?
ymmw but for me ludic comes off a bit as a sort of a benevolent grifter. difference being that unlike lw poster, ludic probably knows what he’s talking about, also i’m not in that field. some of unseriousness and money sloshing around comes from the fact that both dev space and biotechs are quite startuppy, unlike many other fields
Yeah, I suppose academia and the tech industry are quite different things, for all their problems.
Still, there’s a way to critique systemic issues without mixing it up with self-aggrandizement and the implication that all your coworkers except a few friends are idiots. He really reminds me of Nassim Taleb in that regard, who (among other things) has made some valid criticisms of IQ but whose style is just a bit too much for my sensibilities. ‘Benevolent griftiness’ seems just the right descriptor here. =)
depending on field, it might be crackpottery or straight up criminal. but if you post shit like this on linkedin, then it’s suddenly “inspiring” and “thought-provoking”
and from that point on it’s all counterfactual
Isn’t it all a bit like Ludic’s writings on software engineering which have been shared approvingly here a number of times? The profession is shit, office politics dominates actual work, most other people are NPCs who instead of moving mountains just go through the motions etc – but I bear the Spirit and dare to stand on higher ground! Or am I dumb and getting stuck in superficial similarities here, discounting the substantive differences?
ymmw but for me ludic comes off a bit as a sort of a benevolent grifter. difference being that unlike lw poster, ludic probably knows what he’s talking about, also i’m not in that field. some of unseriousness and money sloshing around comes from the fact that both dev space and biotechs are quite startuppy, unlike many other fields
Yeah, I suppose academia and the tech industry are quite different things, for all their problems.
Still, there’s a way to critique systemic issues without mixing it up with self-aggrandizement and the implication that all your coworkers except a few friends are idiots. He really reminds me of Nassim Taleb in that regard, who (among other things) has made some valid criticisms of IQ but whose style is just a bit too much for my sensibilities. ‘Benevolent griftiness’ seems just the right descriptor here. =)