Academia is a cult?
washingtonpost.com
Academia is a cult?
1–10 of 135 posts
Re: Academia is a cult?
#2Are PhD degrees required to do machine learning research? Or can someone be completely self-taught and contribute to the field as much as those with PhDs?
Re: Academia is a cult?
#3Are PhD degrees required to do machine learning research? Or can someone be completely self-taught and contribute to the field as much as those with PhDs?
A PhD is not required.
Re: Academia is a cult?
#4Are PhD degrees required to do machine learning research? Or can someone be completely self-taught and contribute to the field as much as those with PhDs?
Do you mean to be able to do machine learning research or to be able to get someone to pay you to do machine learning research?
Re: Academia is a cult?
#5Are PhD degrees required to do machine learning research? Or can someone be completely self-taught and contribute to the field as much as those with PhDs?
Conferences / other publication venues don't require you have a PhD to submit to them. However, figuring out what a good novel research problem is and solving it rigorously is much much easier in an academic environment --- both because you are financially supported to work on said problems and because you have a community of people to tutor you and give you feedback.
Re: Academia is a cult?
#6A cult with levels that you literally have to pay for is also a pyramid scheme.
Re: Academia is a cult?
#7Washington Post is a cult.
Re: Academia is a cult?
#8Something that David Graeber said that opened my eyes.
Until the 1970s or so, Universities were actually a guild for academics geared towards the production of knowledge. They had self rules, titles, apprenticeship systems, and to some degree the backing and protection of the state. Plus like a true medieval guild, they were run by the masters of the guild itself. Sure, they did not call themselves guilds, but in form and function they behaved like one.
The reason why this arrangement was allowed to stay from ancient days is that the universities performed a useful function for local and federal governments, unlike craft guilds. Governments need a lot of trained clerks, always have. Universities however only need professors to replace the dying batch, as the production of knowledge really wasn't tied to markets or social whims per-se. So a large part of the educated students were turned towards government jobs, a useful arrangement for both parties.
This setup appears to have broken down pretty recently, although exactly why is left as an exercise for the reader.
Re: Academia is a cult?
#9A cult with levels that you literally have to pay for is also a pyramid scheme.
To be honest, it's the publishers that are to blame. I believe most scientist dont really care how it's published as long it is. The publishers run a pyramid scheme.
Re: Academia is a cult?
#10Something that David Graeber said that opened my eyes. Until the 1970s or so, Universities were actually a guild for academics geared towards the production of knowledge. They had self rules, titles, apprenticeship systems, and to some degree the backing and protection of the state. Plus like a true medieval guild, they were run by the masters of the guild itself. Sure, they did not call themselves guilds, but in for…
What would be your theory ?