PhD holders waste their potential on teaching

[LSD-Rumi]

Teaching science is a silly job actually. Anyone could do it. Students in my university used to make paid courses that teach science better than any professor, actually most of them sucked at teaching.

I think if you investes so much in a certain science that you now hold a PH.D in that field, you should focus all your attention on research. A professor shouldn't teach. This is a job for kids. A professor should research and make advancement in their field.

Imagine if Einstein tought how to solve physics problems instead of the discoveries he made 

Edited August 4, 2023 by LSD-Rumi

[Jodistrict]

Richard Feynman loved to teach.   I had the pleasure of attending one of his lectures.  

[LSD-Rumi]

50 minutes ago, Jodistrict said:

Richard Feynman loved to teach.   I had the pleasure of attending one of his lectures.  

Maybe it is good as a sidekick.

[Leo Gura]

Many such people enjoy teaching and it can be hard to do research 365.

Also, advanced university classes require a pretty knowledgeable and qualified teacher.

Also, being a good teacher requires a lot of skill and experience. Just some college kid will not be a great teacher of anything. To be a great teacher requires at least 5-10 years of teaching experience.

Edited August 4, 2023 by Leo Gura

[Ulax]

Often professorships require the professor teaches a certain amount for the university

[LSD-Rumi]

1 hour ago, Leo Gura said:

Also, advanced university classes require a pretty knowledgeable and qualified teacher.

Also, being a good teacher requires a lot of skill and experience

I am talking about the basics of the field. Most professors teach basics not advanced stuff which is sad. 

[Leo Gura]

1 hour ago, LSD-Rumi said:

I am talking about the basics of the field. Most professors teach basics not advanced stuff which is sad. 

A lot of that needs to be revolutionized with video courses and lectures.

The whole university system is quite an outdated model.

Then again, something is lost with video.

Hard to say how to strike a good balance there. It needs some creative innovation.

Edited August 4, 2023 by Leo Gura

[caspex]

For the basic stuff AI can do a good job if specifically trained to teach for a particular subject... even better, for a particular syllabus in a subject.
You could supply videos with an AI trained to answer questions regarding that video/topic.

Humans can then focus on teaching more advanced topics.

[gettoefl]

you cant sit in your lab all day

you have to mingle with the up and coming, who are smarter than you since younger and cuter than you since younger

sitting in your lab wastes your life no matter how many papers you write

you need vibrant younger minds to spur you on to greater heights

you are yesterday's news

edit: you need the muse they need the mentor, tale as old as tyme

Edited August 4, 2023 by gettoefl

[Jodistrict]

I have taken a few science classes with Coursera.   The teachers were excellent and made things clear.  This is a solution for teaching basic and even advanced subjects.  Have the best teachers in the world record their lectures and make them available on the Internet.  

[MarkKol]

On the topic of teaching @Leo Gura how does Actualized.org feel after burning yourself out, It's kinda a sweet and sorrow blog post IMO. Does it feel less worth it now? Was there a different way of doing it all along? or perhaps a different way now that we live in 2023 for us starters. You also said you're making your own video game so doesn't that just add more weight to this 'burning out' thing?

You're saying this in the midst of me rethinking how I'm gonna live my life and whether or not I should start my own company, and even though it was obvious that you worked hard I'm thinking of people who built unicorns and billion dollar companies, wasn't it much worse for them? e.i Disney, Jensen Huang, Larry page. What I'm trying to say is that If it was so bad for you then how bad was it for them? Something tells me that many of these people didn't necessarily have to be on the same burn out level as you are on right now.

It really seems that none of these successful people ever expressed any regret in what they did with their lives. If I recall correctly Steve Jobs said "This was the most fun thing I ever did" in his thank you/goodbye letter.

It's Interesting to see how life works, a balance of killing yourself and healing it back. you had to build a business and If you didn't you'd suffer, but now you're suffering because you built it, for a completely different reason. I'm sure you'd experience burn out even if you worked at McDonalds up to this point.

Edited August 4, 2023 by MarkKol

[Leo Gura]

@MarkKol I don't regret my work on Actualized. It was all part of my path.

I don't function like typical business leaders. Many of them can do what they do and not burn out. I'm just not built like that and the kind of work I do is very different from traditional business leadership. Although some of them can burn out too.

I have a somewhat unique situation given my genetics, health, and personality type. So you shouldn't draw too many conclusions from my situation to yours.

But in general, doing great work requires great health. The reason who leaders are able to work so hard for so long is because they were lucky to have great health and energy. If they lost that they would burn out and not be able to keep their jobs. Your ability to keep a job hinges entirely on your health. And health is a very individual thing. So you have to get in touch with your own health situation.

Also keep in mind there are different kinds of stress and not everyone handles the same stresses as well. So you need to find your niche.

Running your own company is usually very labor intensive and requires unlimited energy and great health. If you look at typical successful CEOs the one thing they all have in common is exceptionally high energy levels and solid health. Which is the only way they can sustain their jobs. That is a rare quality, which is why CEOs are rare people. The average joe does not have what it takes to be a CEO. Some jobs you gotta be born for. People are born suited to some jobs and not others. So, again, it's all about finding your niche.

Steve Jobs is a good example. In the end his health just gave out. It wasn't in his control.

Edited August 4, 2023 by Leo Gura

[undeather]

I am a PhD holder and I find this thread offensive  

[StarStruck]

Teaching is one of the most honorable jobs. All of great men had great teachers. 

[LSD-Rumi]

57 minutes ago, Leo Gura said:

the one thing they all have in common is exceptionally high energy levels and solid health

I experienced a manic episode a couple of months back in which  I tapped into unlimited energy and I became extremely social then I realized that some people experience life this way on a daily basis. Those who can do lots of work and a lot of socializing without being tired at the end of the day.

 

[LSD-Rumi]

48 minutes ago, undeather said:

I am a PhD holder and I find this thread offensive  

 stop teaching silly medical student And focus on doing some groundbreaking research 

Medicine is a stale science anyway.

[undeather]

6 minutes ago, LSD-Rumi said:

 stop teaching silly medical student And focus on doing some groundbreaking research 

Medicine is a stale science anyway.

Oh my sweet summer child

[Carl-Richard]

On 3.8.2023 at 10:39 PM, LSD-Rumi said:

This is a job for kids.

What do you mean by kids exactly? Regardless, if I had to listen to a kid lecture me about something, I would never go to class.

[Carl-Richard]

17 hours ago, Swarnim said:

For the basic stuff AI can do a good job if specifically trained to teach for a particular subject... even better, for a particular syllabus in a subject.
You could supply videos with an AI trained to answer questions regarding that video/topic.

Humans can then focus on teaching more advanced topics.

Please, no, just no. I would rather let a kid teach me than ShitGPT.

[Jodistrict]

I have found chatgpt useful for learning Spanish.   I can ask it questions about word usage that would take a lengthy search of reference material and get an instant answer.   It is useless though for any controversial subject because it is heavily censored.   

Edited August 5, 2023 by Jodistrict