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j7ake

3,987 karma · joined September 27, 2015

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j7ake··on We do modern frequentist statistics: Using fake-data simulation
This should be automatic now in any statistical analysis given ubiquity of coding agents.
j7ake··on I like 'em thick: an apology to my English teachers
Yes, imagine classical physics were taught by studying the original works from Newton.

It would never work!

j7ake··on Em dashes are amazing
Some of the best writers, such as Marcel Proust and James Joyce, might disagree with short sentences.
j7ake··on So you want to learn physics (second edition, 2021)
The analogy seems to be like learning classical music (like piano or violin) after as an adult.

You learn the basics like scales and chords to build and build to modern jazz.

But if you’re an adult, life is too short, just go straight to a few pieces you like. Get a simplified version and learn the bits you need from there from a teacher.

j7ake··on Top researchers leave USA for the Netherlands (in Dutch)
That’s not salary that’s research funds to hire students and start the lab.
j7ake··on The fall of the theorem economy
Does the the ⁡(,1) conjecture paper in annnals of Math say 7 years between submission and acceptance? Insane
j7ake··on What even is food authenticity? Why we guard carbonara, and flatten chicken rice
No it’s not. Chinese restaurant cuisine is not defined by home cuisine at all. They are almost orthogonal.

You go to a Chinese restaurant to eat something that cannot be made at home, almost by definition. The only exception might be breakfast food.

j7ake··on What even is food authenticity? Why we guard carbonara, and flatten chicken rice
Italian restaurant cuisine today is judged by whether it tastes like the way their particular Italian grandma made it.

Asian restaurant cuisine is judged by partly by how different (technique, taste, looks) the dish is from what they can make from home.

j7ake··on The computer science degree isn’t dead
It is better to be overworked than underworked
j7ake··on New U.S. college grads now have higher unemployment than the average worker
How is this different than telling people to do a PhD, then run your own research group as a professor, get tenure and get lifetime job security?

Or work in start up, get acquired, and chill after ?

j7ake··on WH proposes rules giving political appointees final approval on research grants
Check Physics and Chemistry Nobel prize of last 5 years, Google was involved in half of them.
j7ake··on Fields Medal Video: Maryna Viazovska (2022)
I think it technically means they have a permanent endowed position.
j7ake··on Swiss AI Initiative (2023)
Most researchers in Switzerland are non-Swiss, and many institutes have English as language of business
j7ake··on The threat is comfortable drift toward not understanding what you're doing
Essentially a PhD thesis style grilling to replace the current text slop
j7ake··on We asked 15k European devs about jobs, salaries, and AI [pdf]
It doesn’t matter honestly, 65k versus 80k after 42% tax on the extra 15k is about 800 euros a month. Not qualitatively different.
j7ake··on 2025 Letter
I found it the right granularity. He talks about USA, China, and Europe: within each have considerable diversity in culture, history, and identity.

He mentions Europe without more nuance for the same reason he mentions China without more nuance: he’s talking big picture.

j7ake··on My role as a founder-CTO: year 8
At 9 figures I’m sure the founder can trickle down a few for everyone including employers after the sale.
j7ake··on My role as a founder-CTO: year 8
Do you have a family or people you need to take care of? Life is more than sustaining your own existence.
j7ake··on My role as a founder-CTO: year 8
You forgot to account for the 100+ employees. The liquidity event would have helped their families as well.
j7ake··on Warren Buffett steps down as Berkshire Hathaway CEO after six decades
Can you imagine a singer who will continue singing even after getting 50 million ?

To some people, their careers are interesting in and of itself, beyond money.

This applies to many professions: scientists, CEOs, writers, painters.

j7ake··on Kids Rarely Read Whole Books Anymore. Even in English Class
Literature, music, art; they are all intertwined aren’t they? I find at their purest form they are striving for similar goals: pulling out from our collective unconscious a life affirming theme that can be viewed in a new perspective.
j7ake··on A quarter of US-trained scientists eventually leave
Are you suggesting science and innovation are distinct?

Scientific progress is largely driven by the “Steve Jobs” of sciences.

Only a tiny fraction of papers remain relevant. So that means the quality of the average paper doesn’t matter as much as the quality of the best paper.

j7ake··on A quarter of US-trained scientists eventually leave
I think a mix of the current system with more permanent researchers makes sense.

There is a lot of work in research that fits the permanent worker better than the fresh 22 year old. But having that fresh talent is really beneficial to science.

j7ake··on A quarter of US-trained scientists eventually leave
Your suggestion would have fewer fresh eyes to look at the problem. If the scientific enterprise were just about churning out widgets, then yes it’s better to have permanent staff.

But having a strong training pipeline for the globe is a huge plus for US prestige, and the top people are still offered jobs as faculty or industry within the country, so it still a net gain for USA. But it’s brutally competitive for the individual scientists

j7ake··on Kids Rarely Read Whole Books Anymore. Even in English Class
Literature is like classical music. One can argue Beethovens 9th symphony is one of the greatest pieces of music of all time, but that doesn’t mean we all have time to sit through 70 minutes a day listening to it.

I bet important people don’t even have time to sit and watch a full movie.

j7ake··on Will West Coast Jazz Get Some Respect?
The meme of dude standing in corner while everybody else dances as he utters an elitist thought to himself explains many jazz musicians, especially the protagonist in whiplash
j7ake··on All it takes is for one to work out
This is also the philosophy espoused by Taleb. You want that job that involves tinkering, playing, and an option to select winners.
j7ake··on Why Fei-Fei Li and Yann LeCun are both betting on "world models"
John Von Neumann would disagree with you :

"If people do not believe that mathematics is simple, it is only because they do not realize how complicated life is."

j7ake··on I took all my projects off the cloud, saving thousands of dollars
With the use of chat bots and agents, managing these on prem should be easier than ever right?
j7ake··on Novo Nordisk's Canadian Mistake
A drug is almost never acquired that can then be put directly to patients and sold.

Large pharma makes strategic bets on several drugs, some initiated in house, others acquired, but they all just go through further optimization and testing before it is approved.

Huge RnD is required even if drug is “simply acquired”

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