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A Dishonest, Indifferent, and Toxic Culture

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Re: A Dishonest, Indifferent, and Toxic Culture

#141

Post by dbcurtis »

ojnabieoot wrote: post #119
jdthedisciple wrote: post #79

I never understand why phd students who are going through mental torture don't just quit their phd program. I mean ... noone can force you to finish a shi*y phd right? Why not just drop out and pursue sth that actually fulfills you? With your Masters degree / diploma in your pocket and the vast theoretical knowledge you have all doors standjng eide open for you, don't you?

As someone who quit a graduate program: - it looks really really really bad on your CV to not finish a graduate degree. I dropped out for health reasons with an A+ GPA and still have to delicately explain what happened to interviewers. It looks worse than just having a masters degree. - “just one more year of misery and then your career prospects will increase dramatically” is a very powerful argument and not just a…

In computer science, though, I have several “ABD” (all but dissertation) acquaintances that have had fine and lucrative industrial careers. I don’t see it as such a black mark.

Re: A Dishonest, Indifferent, and Toxic Culture

#142

Post by ojnabieoot »

k33n wrote: post #127
ojnabieoot wrote: post #119

Earlier quoted context omitted.

As someone who quit a graduate program: - it looks really really really bad on your CV to not finish a graduate degree. I dropped out for health reasons with an A+ GPA and still have to delicately explain what happened to interviewers. It looks worse than just having a masters degree. - “just one more year of misery and then your career prospects will increase dramatically” is a very powerful argument and not just a…

> it looks really really really bad on your CV to not finish a graduate degree. That's something people who have no real world experience say. For one thing, nobody is forcing you to put any information on your CV. Lastly, only the lowest of the low judge such things so harshly that they won't even interview you.

> That's something people who have no real world experience say.

I was speaking to my real-world experience!

Re: A Dishonest, Indifferent, and Toxic Culture

#143

Post by AnHonestComment »

lotsofpulp wrote: post #88
AnHonestComment wrote: post #50

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It’s a trade off: Younger workers have less to lose, so tend to leave more — but they’re also less experienced and tend to have lower expectations for the workplace. Older workers are less likely to leave because it’s disruptive, but they’re also more experienced at the political side of life — and tend to insist on things like reasonable hours, professional management, etc. My personal stance is that trying to explo…

> My personal stance is that trying to exploit your workers is a losing game Maybe in highly paid and creative fields, but for the vast majority of business around the world, I observe exploiting the power imbalance between employer and employee to be very beneficial for the employer.

How so?

My experience is that you get small gains (eg, 10-100M) but you see an uptick in similarly sized faults (eg, tax audits or plane defects) and then go negative on the occasional preventable disaster (eg, 737 MAX). Edit: this is different than being beneficial for some employee at the employer — ie, it probably improves some VPs bonus even though it’s negative for the company, overall.

Then you have the various examples that succeeded by treating workers well — Ford, Avis, Boeing, etc.

I’m curious how you’re comparing companies to reach that conclusion.

Re: A Dishonest, Indifferent, and Toxic Culture

#144

Post by ojnabieoot »

dbcurtis wrote: post #141
ojnabieoot wrote: post #119

Earlier quoted context omitted.

As someone who quit a graduate program: - it looks really really really bad on your CV to not finish a graduate degree. I dropped out for health reasons with an A+ GPA and still have to delicately explain what happened to interviewers. It looks worse than just having a masters degree. - “just one more year of misery and then your career prospects will increase dramatically” is a very powerful argument and not just a…

In computer science, though, I have several “ABD” (all but dissertation) acquaintances that have had fine and lucrative industrial careers. I don’t see it as such a black mark.

My point was that PhD dropouts can land on their feet but it’s not a question of “following their passions and do something that makes you happy.” It’s really a question of “give up your passions and do something pragmatic.”

My career in software is also “fine” and even somewhat “lucrative” given that I don’t work at for-profit companies. But it’s not how I pictured my life going and it was a difficult adjustment.

Re: A Dishonest, Indifferent, and Toxic Culture

#145

Post by jgeada »

adev_ wrote: post #11

I'm gonna get enemies for that .... But let's face it: the Academia peer review process is pretty rotten. - Many organisations could not care less about whatever crap you publish as long as you publish. And if possible a lot. - Many journal's reviewers are friend of friends and you can often easily guess their names, even in double blinded review. - Many reviewers care more about you quoting their own paper than givi…

The reason you know about academic fraud is that lots of the process is public and has many unaffiliated people involved that are potential leaks. So, sure, fraud happens and clearly that’s bad. But you do hear about it.

By contrast the same events within corporate culture happen behind veils of secrecy and HR departments & heavy hitting lawyers to make life hell if you don’t toe the line. And the cult of personality and oversized egos is very well represented in boards and upper management.

Re: A Dishonest, Indifferent, and Toxic Culture

#146

Post by M277 »

coldtea wrote: post #110
M277 wrote: post #99

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Even if you don't subscribe to that belief, you still have something to lose -- conscience. Conscience doesn't really die overnight (and this is from my experience of living in a corrupt society), it's a death-by-a-thousand-cuts situation. The beginning is "Come on, everyone is doing it" and you can guess the end.

> Conscience doesn't really die overnight Well, some are ruthless and competitive without coscience even as kids, and continue so...

Yes, but do they really start out like that, or is it a gradual descent? There's usually a catalyst that starts it in kids. Parents demanding success at all cost / rampant cheating around them (or just being surrounded by ruthless kids) / a very competitive rat race that turns out to be pretty dirty / the parents themselves are without conscience / etc.

Re: A Dishonest, Indifferent, and Toxic Culture

#147

Post by loveistheanswer »

coldtea wrote: post #121
sojournerc wrote: post #113

Earlier quoted context omitted.

There's a secular interpretation too. What good is all the money in the world if you don't respect/ recognize yourself after you get it.

Well, there's the even more secural interpretation "who said I don't respect/recognize myself? Those 'morals' are just ideals and don't exist, meanwhile I have the world".

That would be a great rationalization for a narcissist to use while wreaking havok on other people's lives with no remorse.

Re: A Dishonest, Indifferent, and Toxic Culture

#148

Post by greenonions »

coldtea wrote: post #121
sojournerc wrote: post #113

Earlier quoted context omitted.

There's a secular interpretation too. What good is all the money in the world if you don't respect/ recognize yourself after you get it.

Well, there's the even more secural interpretation "who said I don't respect/recognize myself? Those 'morals' are just ideals and don't exist, meanwhile I have the world".

That's not an interpretation, that's just pointing out that people who do not have a strong conception of themselves or have self-imposed limits on their behavior according to their moral system have no reason not to blindly pursue enhancing their material wealth.

Re: A Dishonest, Indifferent, and Toxic Culture

#149

Post by dang »

aerovistae wrote: post #13

The sheer amount of typos here is....challenging. And I'm not one to pick on someone who's doing their best to communicate in a second language or anything but shoot this really could've used a copy editor.

> I'm not one to pick on someone who's doing their best to communicate in a second language or anything

In that case, please don't. It doesn't help to shame people.

Re: A Dishonest, Indifferent, and Toxic Culture

#150

Post by Gatsky »

adev_ wrote: post #11

I'm gonna get enemies for that .... But let's face it: the Academia peer review process is pretty rotten. - Many organisations could not care less about whatever crap you publish as long as you publish. And if possible a lot. - Many journal's reviewers are friend of friends and you can often easily guess their names, even in double blinded review. - Many reviewers care more about you quoting their own paper than givi…

Peer review is an ok idea. Academia is the problem. I saw two wasps fighting on the carcass of a dead bird the other day, it was a very apt analogy.
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