Life Choice: Should Someone Highly Interested in AGI Research Jeopardize Their Existing Career to Pursue It?

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Tyler Mills’s avatar
Tyler MillsOP, 6 days ago·#3639
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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).

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Zakery Mizell’s avatar
Zakery Mizell, 1 day ago·#3782

Consider your current balance of working and research.

Could you cut other activities, keep the job, and increase focus on research?

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Tyler Mills’s avatar
Tyler MillsOP, about 8 hours ago·#3819

I think I've compressed other activities as much as possible. With the current job, I don't think I can increase focus on research any further. The concerns are over the tradeoffs of leaving the day job (finances, impact to employability, etc.).

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Tyler Mills’s avatar
Tyler MillsOP, about 8 hours ago·#3820

A related idea is to become more disciplined with my time, getting more out of the off days.

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Tyler Mills’s avatar
Tyler MillsOP, about 8 hours ago·#3821

So far this has proven ineffective, though a skill which could be improved. However, questions remain for me over whether self-disciplining is good, in general, and where to draw the line between coercion and healthy structure.

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