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All these Brilliant People at Facebook Make Me Sad

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Re: All these Brilliant People at Facebook Make Me Sad

#151

Post by scythe »

jtheory wrote: post #135
scythe wrote: post #114

Earlier quoted context omitted.

>This really disappoints me. Sure, somebody needs to work in Finance for the sake of liquidity and other things I don't understand. But, 35% or so of my social group that are pursuing degrees in Physics are headed to Finance instead of research. Every cloud has a silver lining, and this one is as bright as it gets. Until the rise of e.g. finance and actuarial science, getting a physics or math degree meant just going…

But, but, but... thanks to modern technology, aren't there so many better options for seriously smart folks with physics and math degrees? The "other" option isn't dusty academia and obscure research anymore. It also doesn't involve being a self-sacrificing saint and giving up any chance of ever having a nice car, though finance may still pay better in some cases than a high-math-content tech career.

>But, but, but... thanks to modern technology, aren't there so many better options for seriously smart folks with physics and math degrees?

If people want to pursue money, who are you to judge?

See, I don't think you quite get how much this sentiment pisses me off. I'm 19. I just got a bachelor's in physics. I've done research in a bunch of fields. And I'm going into graduate school next year.

People who think I'm somehow obligated to pursue anything beyond money can go blow a goat. Am I? You're goddamn right I am. I'm looking at tenure track or something similar because I love the people in academia, and because I love the work that I do. I love the people in academia because they don't think like this. They aren't generally judgmental pricks who will fault someone for pursuing their own interests. "generally".

I've dealt with so much shit from people who treat me like some sort of fucking alien for being good at goddamn math. Every-fucking-body else in this fucking country is more self-centered than a gyroscope. If I could reach you, right now, I'd strangle you. Seriously. God-fucking-damnit.

It's bad enough that I get to watch the ivory tower crumble around me. It's worse when people act like I'm obligated to live there.

In conclusion, go fuck yourself. You have no ground to stand on being 'disappointed' in me or any of my peers.

Re: All these Brilliant People at Facebook Make Me Sad

#152

Post by code_duck »

georgieporgie wrote: post #145
code_duck wrote: post #140

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Facebook is a mish-mash of previously existing communication technologies, mainly being presented to people who haven't used the prior forms extensively. A chat system, a 'twitter' like system, a limited blog with comments system, photo sharing with comments, and the familiar followers/contacts that many site have these days. While amazingly successful, I'd hesitate to call Facebook 'a technology'. They haven't pione…

Facebook is a mish-mash of previously existing communication technologies, mainly being presented to people who haven't used the prior forms extensively. Alternatively: Facebook is a collection of wide-ranging social technologies combined in a tasteful, approachable manner, which has captured the interest of a wider range of the general public than anything before it, by a wide margin.

And will a Chinese student meet a German one and bah blah etc. on Facebook in 10 years? I guess we'll see whether it's even around in 10 years. My belief is that people will have moved on by then. 10 years is a long time and there's nothing particularly special about Facebook.

Re: All these Brilliant People at Facebook Make Me Sad

#153

Post by astrofinch »

syllogism wrote: post #101

It's easy to under-estimate the value web technologies provide their users, because it's hard to visualise large numbers of people. It's the well known "your brain doesn't naturally multiply" problem. Let's say you have a technology product that does something pretty trivial, but has non-zero value. Let's say you do something that's worth about 30c per day of utility to each user. If you give this value to 10 million…

I'd guess that for most, Facebook delivers negative value. Using Facebook and Twitter represent things we're programmed to do without enjoying.

Re: All these Brilliant People at Facebook Make Me Sad

#154

Post by georgieporgie »

code_duck wrote: post #152
georgieporgie wrote: post #145

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Facebook is a mish-mash of previously existing communication technologies, mainly being presented to people who haven't used the prior forms extensively. Alternatively: Facebook is a collection of wide-ranging social technologies combined in a tasteful, approachable manner, which has captured the interest of a wider range of the general public than anything before it, by a wide margin.

And will a Chinese student meet a German one and bah blah etc. on Facebook in 10 years? I guess we'll see whether it's even around in 10 years. My belief is that people will have moved on by then. 10 years is a long time and there's nothing particularly special about Facebook.

I invite you to reread my original comment on the subject, particularly the bit in parentheses. The point isn't that Facebook is the place where things will happen, but that all this seemingly inane social software focus will likely reap indirect benefits that are being ignored by the original author.

Re: All these Brilliant People at Facebook Make Me Sad

#156

Post by slowcpu »

danking00 wrote: post #111
frossie wrote: post #58

Earlier quoted context omitted.

To be fair to the OP, their argument isn't "since I don't use it, nobody uses it". Their argument was a (totally defensible IMHO) personal expression of disappointment about all the brain work going into something whose impact seems to have peaked (in that those who want it already have it, and the rest of us don't have a problem it can solve). Sure, Facebook is a utility to millions or even billions of people, but s…

I know three very bright, young graduates who have decided to enter the Financial industry (i.e. Algorithmic Trading). One has a Bachelor's in Physics & CS, another a Bachelor's in Physics & Math, and the other is finishing a PhD in Astrophysics. They view the Financial industry as an intellectually stimulating game (I don't disagree), and an opportunity to make 6-figures in their early 20s. This really disappoints m…

> My perspective is that of a Junior CS & Physics major reaching towards grad school and some sort of research

Your friends are smart enough to know that grad school in Physics is a blackhole. Once you finish the PhD, it becomes an endless round of hunting for poorly pair post-doc jobs.

Re: All these Brilliant People at Facebook Make Me Sad

#157

Post by adrianN »

kahawe wrote: post #89
frossie wrote: post #58

Earlier quoted context omitted.

To be fair to the OP, their argument isn't "since I don't use it, nobody uses it". Their argument was a (totally defensible IMHO) personal expression of disappointment about all the brain work going into something whose impact seems to have peaked (in that those who want it already have it, and the rest of us don't have a problem it can solve). Sure, Facebook is a utility to millions or even billions of people, but s…

I think the point he made that "the internet is stale" resonates heavily with something I have always been feeling and wondering about the twitters, myspaces and facebooks... the whole "web 2.0" shenanigans. Those were by no means "new inventions", it has all been there before on the web just on a different scale.. and now the non-techs are catching up and celebrating all the "great, new technology". But the last tru…

Wikipedia is roughly ten years old. Does that still count?

Re: All these Brilliant People at Facebook Make Me Sad

#158

Post by adrianN »

wisty wrote: post #92
ma2rten wrote: post #86

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Of those 2,000 employees only about 300 are actually engineers, if I recall correctly. But the point is, I guess, more about quality then quantity.

I think the real cost is in the ~50,000 engineers* who are trying to clone Facebook, not in the ~300 who are actually working on it. * Made up number.

If they think they can make any serious amount of money by trying to beat Facebook at their own game, they aren't so bright, I think.

Re: All these Brilliant People at Facebook Make Me Sad

#159

Post by adrianN »

danking00 wrote: post #111
frossie wrote: post #58

Earlier quoted context omitted.

To be fair to the OP, their argument isn't "since I don't use it, nobody uses it". Their argument was a (totally defensible IMHO) personal expression of disappointment about all the brain work going into something whose impact seems to have peaked (in that those who want it already have it, and the rest of us don't have a problem it can solve). Sure, Facebook is a utility to millions or even billions of people, but s…

I know three very bright, young graduates who have decided to enter the Financial industry (i.e. Algorithmic Trading). One has a Bachelor's in Physics & CS, another a Bachelor's in Physics & Math, and the other is finishing a PhD in Astrophysics. They view the Financial industry as an intellectually stimulating game (I don't disagree), and an opportunity to make 6-figures in their early 20s. This really disappoints m…

To be fair, the tools they develop to understand a chaotic system like the stock market might be interesting outside of the field of algorithmic trading.

Re: All these Brilliant People at Facebook Make Me Sad

#160

Post by hessenwolf »

danking00 wrote: post #111
frossie wrote: post #58

Earlier quoted context omitted.

To be fair to the OP, their argument isn't "since I don't use it, nobody uses it". Their argument was a (totally defensible IMHO) personal expression of disappointment about all the brain work going into something whose impact seems to have peaked (in that those who want it already have it, and the rest of us don't have a problem it can solve). Sure, Facebook is a utility to millions or even billions of people, but s…

I know three very bright, young graduates who have decided to enter the Financial industry (i.e. Algorithmic Trading). One has a Bachelor's in Physics & CS, another a Bachelor's in Physics & Math, and the other is finishing a PhD in Astrophysics. They view the Financial industry as an intellectually stimulating game (I don't disagree), and an opportunity to make 6-figures in their early 20s. This really disappoints m…

I am working in finance because the professors I knew were not salty enough. I have to do a lot of scut work, and I really am not on an impressive salary, but I see massive real-world problems on a daily basis and get a live view of the things that really matter in the world economy.

Running trading algorithms would be pretty pants, but managing risk is not quite so ignoble.

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