Some Academic Struggles and Survivorship Bias

Public Service Announcement: When you look at somebody's fancy CV (or fancy job or other hallmark of success), don't assume that they didn't have to go through major struggles — often many of them — before they got there.

PSA 2: Survivorship bias is a good thing to remember. pic.twitter.com/XaPk2Eoo0f

— Mason Porter (@masonporter) April 4, 2021

Cubicles & Careers

Cubicles & Careers hits a bit too close to home at times (although my +5 Ivory Tower helps quite a lot). Let's go on a quest!

(Tip of the cap to Meredith Alden.)

Two Tricks Are Better Than One

John Preskill has written a blog entry about how being a two-trick pony versus being just a one-trick pony can make all the difference in the world when it comes to scientific contributions.

I keep wanting to learn more and more tricks primarily to prevent my own boredom, but John is absolutely right about how important it is to know at least two scientific tricks.

Why Science? (Revisiting My Essay From a Decade Ago)

When I was in graduate school (over a decade ago), I wrote an essay about becoming a scientist that was published in Beverly Hills Weekly. (I also posted a slightly modified version on my website.)

I just reread both of these documents. And, damn, I still agree with almost everything I wrote over a decade ago! I surprise myself sometimes. :) It also goes to show that---for all of my supposed cynicism---I still am an extremely idealistic person. I will do my best to stay that way!

"Being a Professional Mathematician"

Tony Mann of University of Greenwich has conducted a very nice "Being a Professional Mathematician" project. I participated in this, and you can find my entry and interview on this page.

Tenure

I received a letter today telling me that I now officially have the Oxford version of tenure. It's known as "reappointment to retirement age" and is in fact rather different from the US version of tenure. In particular, the bar is much lower than is the case for tenure in the US, and it's pretty much a box-ticking exercise. (In Oxonian language, I am no longer in my "probationary" period.) Now hopefully I will be a full professor soon. I'll let you know when that happens.