USD 100.00 Bounty for Idea #3639Beta
Idea to criticize
Option 2: Go on hiatus from the day job/career, and focus on creative pursuits and research, full-time, for some number of months (duration perhaps depending on job opportunities).
Terms
Seeking powerful criticisms of option 2 which lead to a clear choice for concrete action in a defined time frame. The questions are when and for how long to go on hiatus, or not. (End of hiatus means, say, to resume seeking employment, which can itself take months...).
For context, from the 'about' section of this discussion:
I have a BS + MS in optical engineering, and have had a profitable three or so years in the field as an engineer. I enjoy learning about and applying physics, including optical physics, but this makes up a tiny percentage of the tasks performed as an "engineer" so far in my experience, and I see no sign of change on the horizon. Many of the tasks I am assigned seem eminently automatable, and performing them is excruciating for me (though I recognize my good fortune overall). Even when there are micro-problems which require creativity to solve, I still find the process painful, given that they are other people's problems rather than my own. It is the same pain of school: creativity forced to work toward answers to questions not asked.
So, where to draw the line? I think I have fallen in love with AGI research, having followed the area for years, learning and reading bits and pieces. I've been working on independent research in my free time for over a year, in addition to related content (for several years) which is meaningful, creative, educational, largely very fun to produce -- and perhaps ultimately valuable. I'm confident I could publish ideas which will be of interest to the field, and that I would be happy working on all of these things for many years to come.
The question: Should I take a hiatus from my career to pursue independent research (and related content creation), full-time, for some number of months?
Site-wide terms apply. To be eligible for a payout, participants must connect a Stripe account in good standing and submit at least one direct criticism of idea #3639 meeting all bounty terms and having no pending counter-criticisms by the time the review period starts. Counter-criticisms do not need to meet the bounty terms.
Timeline
- Finished
- The bounty started. Participants could submit criticisms.
- Finished
- The bounty closed early because there were no eligible submissions.
Funding
| # 1 | Tyler Mills | USD 100.00 |
|---|---|---|
| Total USD 100.00 | ||
Submissions
There were no eligible submissions.
Ineligible submissions
Submissions are rejected automatically if they have pending criticisms at the beginning of the review period.
One rule of thumb financial advisors have told me in the past is to have enough cash on hand to last at least six months without an income.
If you don’t, quitting your job right now could be a bad idea, and your first priority should be to build enough runway.
(This is not financial advice – follow at your own risk.)
Consider your current balance of working and research.
Could you cut other activities, keep the job, and increase focus on research?
Have you fully used your cash to free time/energy after work?
You may have money for laundry services, cleaning, cooking, and so on. All the other things that take time in your day can be removed with money, giving you space to do research just fine