USD 100.00 Bounty for Idea #3638Beta
Idea to criticize
Option 1: Continue working the day job and balancing the other pursuits on the side.
Terms
Seeking powerful criticisms of option 1 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?
Running this bounty on behalf of @tyler-mills. See his other bounty for option 2.
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 #3638 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 review period started. Dennis Hackethal reviewed eligible submissions.
- Finished
- The review period ended. Eligible critics received prorated shares of the bounty.
Funding
| # 1 | Dennis Hackethal | USD 100.00 |
|---|---|---|
| Total USD 100.00 | ||
Submissions
How much time and energy do you really have for research while working? 1hr daily? 2 hours daily? 4 hours daily?
Leaving your job allows for the possibility of consistent high quality research daily.
Ineligible submissions
Submissions are rejected automatically if they have pending criticisms at the beginning of the review period.
Leaving the job means more time for research. It also means more time to find a much better job that allows you the energy for research.
Leaving gives space for better balance.