Busy, busy...

[mathemajician]

7 months left on the PhD. Lots to do and not much time to blog. I almost have a committee sorted out, and hopefully in a few weeks I'll move to "PhD candidate" status. I know that seems a bit strange at this point, but it's because I've joined the program after a few years at a research institute so I'm doing all this in a compressed amount of

Comments

[radiantsun]

You may know google people. You certainly know people who know google people who could slip a resume in. And I hear that google let's you spend 20% of your working time on your own projects. Also, I'd liek to know your exact LA dates, so I can plan to be a part of whatever the group decides to do . . . assuming you know, that you want to see see if I'm too heavy just in photos or in person too. :)

It looks like you have a choice, married to academia, or ?

[mathemajician]

Arrive LA 12:55pm Fri 12 Jan
Depart LA 7:25pm Mon 15 Jan

. . . assuming you know, that you want to see if I'm too heavy just in photos or in person too. :)

As my on-again, off-again, on-again relationship is on and will be with me, I'll have to refrain from any "hands on" testing.

It looks like you have a choice, married to academia, or ?

Start an evil multi-national corporation and make A MILLION DOLLARS!!

[nerissacm]

Just a million dollars? I'd think you'd dream bigger than that ;)

PS: What does your itinerary look like for your weekend in LA? (ie, where are you planning on going?) I feel a bit of an inclination to meet you in person... :P

[mathemajician]

I haven't planned anything yet. The first day I'll be there with my girlfriend, and then the next day I'll be by myself.

[jenarael]

If you propose something really radical with a high chance of failure, it's almost sure to be rejected by the funding agencies. You simply can't go away and try something crazy for a few years, instead you have to produce small units of publishable work all the time as this is a key measure of how your performance is judged. Of course if you are the head of the department you can do some crazy stuff as you have a permanent position. But by then it's probably too late as your really creative and crazy days are already over - you've been molded to the norm and blinkered by the dogma of your field.

This oh-so-true statement makes me want to hug you, Shane. I can't imagine you doing anything academically "safe" -- you have too great a mind for that -- but I know many people who remain in academics for its feeling of "competitive safety". Uni faculty are rarely as edgy as we hope they are as graduate students.

It's so exciting to see you close to completing your PhD; I'm ready to sell my things and open a ranch for emus in Australia.

[mathemajician]

This oh-so-true statement makes me want to hug you, Shane.Sigh, I was hoping it was my firm masculine body

[mauitian]

"If I had $1 million in the bank, I'd shift somewhere cheap to live and embark on research so unconventional it would make respected academics wince."

Why does it take a million? Do what you love. Hell, if you actually came up with good AI, instead of writing papers about it, money wouldn't be a problem.

We must support the ideal of the renegade academic! :)

[mathemajician]

Actually US $200k in the bank would be enough, maybe even $100k. But I don't have that and so somehow I need to have an income. That's where things start to get a bit more tricky. If I get a normal job then that takes up all my time. I also have the problem that I have a girlfriend in Switzerland and so if I don't find a real job then I'll most likely get kicked out of the country. For the last few years the compromise has been reasonable: Work on things similar to what I would really like to be doing, get paid to live and get my PhD in AI at the same time. I think it has worked out ok. But now what... that's more difficult. How do you survive money-wise?

[spoonless]

For the last few years the compromise has been reasonable: Work on things similar to what I would really like to be doing, get paid to live and get my PhD in AI at the same time. I think it has worked out ok. But now what... that's more difficult. How do you survive money-wise?

I'm kind of dreading the same decision arising for me in a couple years. I turn 30 in 2 weeks, and I'll probably be graduating in about 2 years. So I'm in the same boat with being a bit too old to make the wrong decision. I kind of go back and forth weekly about whether I really think I could get a permanent faculty position doing what I'd like to do.

Best of luck on that decision. I'll be curious to see how it works out. If nothing else, getting a PhD is fun and builds character (and respect), so I don't see it as wasted time.

[mathemajician]

No, I don't think it was wasted time. I learnt many things.

When you say that you "go back and forth weekly", what is the other option to getting a permanent faculty position?

[spoonless]

Oh, and by the way... you might be interested in this if you haven't seen it. They're looking for people who are interested in participating in a new journal/conference devoted to AGI:

http://agiri.org/AGI_Group.pdf

[mathemajician]

Yes, Ben Goertzel send me an email about this.

[rck_girl]

I hear you!! You just mentioned most of the reasons why I needed to leave academia after finishing my PhD.

The son of a woman I used to work with has just been offered a job with google (in Ireland i think!)