Dear Louis,
Thank you for your kind reply. Luckily, I have read the book Why Nations Fail some time ago, the idea that political and economic inclusion prevents stagnation and is better in the long run is appealing. After reading that, I became integrating institutions in my views.
You made me realize that the question “what’s enough for one’s ambitions?” does not have a clear answer. Balancing fun, well-being and impact seems the right way to go. However, it is sometimes hard to accept that (by definition) there is always an impact level we won’t ever reach.
Coming back to institutions. Do you think I should aim to create them or to help them as an employee?
These are doubts I have been accumulating, I started writing the list of questions and it’s huge. Sorry. Please feel free to answer only one or just link a resource.
Background:
23. Signal processing engineer. In prestigious AI master in Paris. I have published and worked with AI applied to energy.
Summary:
despair for not being able to make a significant difference, intensely considering the idea of starting companies that change the world (vs PhD), worried about how to find interested and capable people outside developed countries, looking for a tutor.
Questions:
1 - what does the community think about starting a company? I find that companies can scale, be self-sustainable and be a great force for good. However, I haven’t seen a lot written on this. Do you see profit and doing good as incompatible?
2 - related to last question. What about the general idea of starting a company in a market X and competing by reducing the profit margin? Isn’t that good for humanity? I imagine things like food, shelter or transport being cheaper.
3 - I am very afraid of the opportunity cost of taking a PhD path. I like my area (AI), but I don’t see myself developing any huge breakthrough. I’m thinking about breakthroughs as information theory, or alexnet moments. I think we don’t really know yet what AI will be like, so I don’t think there are well posed questions in AI safety (a lot of work is assuming RL=AGI). In the other hand, maybe I can create cool things outside or cultivate abilities that are very important (human relations). What’s your take in this opposition?
4- Where can I find a tutor? I wish I had one when I was a teenager. I find most researchers are happy with contributing a little bit to a very specific area of science. Is that all we can do? All my potential tutors are on the academic world and/or don’t think a lot about making a BIG difference.
5- What do you think about “slow motion multitasking”? I saw the concept in a ted talk, is the opposite of specializing, but promises better results in the long term.
6-I’m from south america (SA), although doing my masters in Paris at the moment. Is not very easy to find very capable people interested in making good I can work together with in my home country. What do you recommend to gather such a team?
7-Living in Paris was mindblowing. The difference vs SA is subtle and not that obvious, but huge. Why aren’t we working more outside the developed work? I find there is a bias in tech and research towards the tech wealthy people will use.
8- How do you personally manage the feeling of despair when realizing the we (as individuals) can not change the world?
9-Does the community support capitalism and/or free markets? If not, do you have an alternative in mind? This could permeate the given advice. To which extent?