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All of anonymous_123's Comments + Replies

Careers Questions Open Thread
anonymous_1233y1
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Oh, and regarding the degree itself... I liked my MS CS program for the most part. The cost of tuition is becoming a tougher sell with all the cheap options to learn online. Hour-for-hour, you could probably get a better education by reading articles and practicing skills, because you can learn exactly what you want, and classes are not quite as cutting edge as podcasts/articles/meetups/etc.. For example my neural nets class taught theory but no practical skills like tensorflow/keras/pytorch, which really annoyed me. But the structure does help you stay fo... (read more)

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Oliver Sourbut
3y
I really appreciate these data points! Actually it's interesting you mention the networking aspect - one of the factors that would push me towards more higher education is the (real or imagined?) networking opportunities. Though I get on very well with most people I work or study with, I'm not an instinctive 'networker' and I think for me, improving that could be a factor with relatively high marginal return. As for learning practical skills... I'd hope to get some from a higher degree but if that were all I wanted I might indeed stick to Coursera and the like! It's the research aspect I'd really like to explore my fit for. Trying to negotiate a break with the company had crossed my mind but sounds hard. Thanks for the nudge and anecdata about that possibility. It would be a big win if possible! I'm really glad to hear that your path has been working out without regret. I hope that continues. :)
Careers Questions Open Thread
anonymous_1233y2
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Hey Oliver, this is a tough call. I would hold out for the promotion and vesting if it's only a couple years. Personally, I did a MS in CS/ML part time while working. It was a little brutal at times, took almost 4 years, and limited my choice of schools. But it was very good for my career, since I didn't have to sacrifice any job progression time. It's not the right choice for everyone (I don't have kids, so more flexibility), but it's one option.

I will say that while a year or two to wait for a promotion/vesting might seem like a lot, it will fly by, and ... (read more)

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anonymous_123
3y
Oh, and regarding the degree itself... I liked my MS CS program for the most part. The cost of tuition is becoming a tougher sell with all the cheap options to learn online. Hour-for-hour, you could probably get a better education by reading articles and practicing skills, because you can learn exactly what you want, and classes are not quite as cutting edge as podcasts/articles/meetups/etc.. For example my neural nets class taught theory but no practical skills like tensorflow/keras/pytorch, which really annoyed me. But the structure does help you stay focused and organized for multiple years. Mine was online, so I can't speak to the value of networking. The value of the degree on the resume is definitely real, but only a little better than 2 years of experience, and probably not much better than a promotion. I can't speak directly to a PhD, but I was on the fence, skipped it, and definitely do not regret my decision.
Careers Questions Open Thread
anonymous_1233y2
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I agree with Oliver. This is a tricky question, and the path might be narrow. I was a management consultant and am now a data scientist (basically a software engineer). From your project description, I also immediately thought of management consulting. However, it can be difficult to gain technical consulting credibility without technical skills. In fact, I've read that  Elon Musk  hates consultants, presumably for this reason. I've applied for jobs managing technical projects, and I'm ALWAYS asked about my technical skills. Presumably Musk also ... (read more)

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Careers Questions Open Thread
anonymous_1233y7
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Hello! I am a math BS, CS MS w/ 8 years experience, am in Fintech doing AI and deep learning (not as a quant, but close), so hopefully I can shed some light for you :) To cut to the chase, I'd strongly consider the quant trading firm option, largely just because you have a great offer and shouldn't overlook that. (especially if you think the work-life balance will be good! That is a major downside to many trading jobs)

First, you can get 1000 opinions about a phD, but my personal opinion is to skip it. It does help lend some credibility, but sacrificing 5 y... (read more)

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Why animal charities are much more effective than human ones
anonymous_1235y1
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You are relying quite heavily on the 18 animals/dollar figure, which seemed very high to me. Does it really seem likely that spending 6 cents on corporate outreach can save a life that brings several dollars in profit per month?

In fact, it seems that ACE has updated this to less than one for THL in 2018. Granted, ASF, another ACE top charity, does maintain a very high figure, however, I'm concerned by this fluctuation year-over-year that we saw with THL. It seems driven by one-off wins, not a sustainable, predictable pattern.

To be very specific, I... (read more)

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MichaelStJules
5y
I don't really see a strong connection between these two numbers. To start, it's primarily not sparing animals from factory farming but changing the conditions in which they live. That being said, welfare reforms do tend to increase food prices, and assuming animals don't produce any less food per animal, the number of animals used per year would tend to decrease, too (but not necessarily the number of animals alive at any time, e.g. if companies switch to slower growing broiler chickens, there may be more of them alive at any moment because they have to be alive longer before they're slaughtered). A company has to consider what happens to their profits if they're viewed as particularly unethical. However they respond, their expected profits will suffer because of a campaign. There's also been recent research by Rethink Priorities and Charity Entrepreneurship on this. Is this just because of data on new campaigns, or did they also change their model? Or has THL's work focus changed? I'm not sure if this is an implicit assumption in your comment, but it does sound like you think credit should not sum past 100%, but this need not be the case. Abstractly, if A and B are together necessary and sufficient causes for C, then A and B both deserve 100% of the credit for C, if C happens. For example, biological parents are 100% responsible (in causal terms) for everything that happens to their children and that their children do, because if they hadn't had their children, they wouldn't exist for anything to happen to them or for them to do anything. Similarly, you are 100% responsible for your own veganism, but others are also partially responsible for it, too. Credit should be thought of in causal terms: what would have happened otherwise. If, without the involvement of a given charity, a given company would not have made (with certainty) the switch but did in fact make the switch, then that charity is 100% responsible. When you consider the possibility that they might