5,420 karma · joined March 12, 2018
The reason there are 1400 analysts: research studies each require one or two analysts. At this very moment, there are thousands of research studies taking place in the US medical system. Without these number of analysts, you'd have to completely revamp the system, killing all current projects, all current code, and creating a HUGE HUGE headache for everyone, not to mention laying off 1000+ through a system which it is NOT easy to layoff individuals through.
As a matter of fact, they want to transition to a new data infrastructure at the VA, but it's been delayed many times and the logistics have been very vague.
One of the biggest limits is weather and climate. Mosquitos don't exist here in New England for half the year, but if we increase the temperature by 2 C, we'll probably be facing them for 7-8 months and they'll rebound harder and faster.
Within a system of 1400 analysts, it makes a big difference if everyone's taking 2X or 4X the time pulling that they could be. Then, even the efficiently written pulls get slowed down, so you have to run things overnight...and what if you had an error on that overnight pull? Suffice to say, it'd have been much simpler if people wrote solid SQL from the start.
Especially during the pandemic, I became very used to hanging out with only my partner, and I think our bubble has amplified my introverted habits.
I am an Irish-American who plays the music, hates the food, but if I wanted to call myself of "European" ancestry, that wouldn't abandon all of my musical culture, it may just be a trendy label in the zeitgeist.
The most basic aspect of Western music theory overlooked here is the relationship between tonic and dominant. If you know the "home" chord aka "the I" aka "tonic" is C major, the dominant will be G major, aka the V chord. Add just the F major chord, and you'll know 1-4-5 in a "basic" key: C major. 1-4-5 is the simplest chord progression, you can play amazing grace, you are my sunshine, even The Beatles, you'll be rocking with 1-4-5.
Next level, if you add in the minor 6 (a minor) and minor 2 (d minor), you realistically know 95% of the chords you'll ever hear in C major pieces. And on the piano, this is ALL white notes, so even someone with zero musical knowledge can "solo" over your chords by just plunking any white notes while you play these chords (kids LOVE LOVE this btw, highly recommend trying with a kiddo).
I wouldn't consider double-sharps and double-flats "basic" music theory. They really aren't needed for beginners, since they're relegated to keys like C# major where you'll occasionally sharpen a note like E# (aka F) into E## (aka F#). I didn't run into these until around 5 years into my piano training, playing Chopin's F# major nocturne Op 15 No 2, there's a bunch of double sharps in that piece.
In any case, don't worry about double-flats and double-sharps or the precise notes of various modes and scales. Just learn pieces you enjoy, preferably with a mentor or teacher who can suggest improvements based on their trained ear.
Meanwhile, nature is just raw competition, we're used to talking about genetic evolution in natural populations. Natural creatures aren't deemed to have any right to their own life, liberty, or pursuit of happiness, or at least not by most humans outside environmentalists.
When I was in HS, I joined debate club, where we spoke for 5-10 minutes at a time in front of anywhere from 5-20 club friends or opponents. When you do this repeatedly, for most people, your anxiety and nerves eventually go away, and it's just "what you do" now.
The same was true of musical performance: I hated performing until I did it about 50 times. Then I got comfortable and my average performance was no big deal.
Another idea: which language are you native in, and which are you using to speak confidently? If it's not your primary, that could be part of it. There's also focus-related disorders, if you have ADHD or similar, then your symptoms would make sense.
My Pet Peeve: Some people will interrupt others conversationally, and it's not nice. Conversation should be back/forth, not interrupting. You can always say "Let me finish my thought first". You can also have default responses to buy time: "Thank you, that's a great question" gives them a nice compliment and buys you 5 seconds to think.
And questions are a GOOD thing: they force you to really know the pitfalls, the details, and the trade-offs of your engineering strategy. People aren't trying to "getcha" and one-up you, they're trying to improve your approach, that's great for you if you can handle it emotionally :)
Good luck, you'll do well!!
But still, having 300k coming in pre-tax earnings puts you in the top 0.2% of earners globally, not 5%, which was the original point in question.
Why do I stress this point? Because we need to realize we're not just the top 5% here on this forum. Globally speaking, we range from well-off to EXTREMELY well off, and we should have the humility to post the proper stats about ourselves.
Globally, 300k USD income would put you in the top .2%, so you're richer than 998 out of every 1000 other people in the globe.
Think of all the amazing writers across our civilization whose work is linkable, and we're worshipping these decent but not amazing blog posts?
You know the story, it's Christmas, you're the only one in the office this week because you're new and your PTO is garbage, you're young and have no family to go back to anyway. You stroll in an hour late through the side door, check emails briefly, okay no one is here, then you fire up the YT clips or the novel reading or whatever it is. By 3pm, after 5 hours of pure faffing around, you surely deserve the christmas cookies left in the break room. By 315, you're pooped, time to head home, sneak back through the side door, and you're off to use the screen at the apartment.
Is there some nagging feeling in your stomach? That you could've explored the database, you could've dived into that long-term project you've thought of. You could've been writing up a research proposal, searching for new grants, or helping someone at a volunteer organization. Instead, you're "half on" so you're half-assing your life, not fully relaxing, not working at all.
Honestly, it wasn't for me. I want to feel fully into what I'm doing, and having to half-ass my way through a boring job was causing serious depression. I'd only recommend this if you can use less of your ass, preferably remotely, and if you're sure you won't have a crisis of meaning in life.
Do you know WHY boys are more likely to be diagnosed as "combined type" ADHD and treated than girls? It is primarily because their motor-dominant brains develop differentially: the dopaminergic systems in their motor cortex make them move more and disrupt more than girls.
Girls, whose motor-cortex and executive function develop differently, are much more likely to be the primarily-inattentive subtype, which leads to day dreaming and aloofness, but not to the disruptive behaviors that boys with ADHD exhibit. Therefore, girls fly under the radar and are missed because boys simply move more and have less control over their movement.
Nevertheless, your post is a bit reckless in my opinion. Add some real scientific evidence to your generalization. These are children who have less friends, abuse drugs more, are more likely to have depression or anxiety, and are far more likely to kill themselves. This neurodevelopmental disorder really matters, it's not a flippant case of drugging boys whose parents didn't raise them right.
If 5 college freshmen take Ritalin together, four may be bouncing off the walls and struggling to direct their attention, whereas the fifth may be having a revelation: is this what normal thinking is like? Did I have ADHD this whole time?
I've heard a few personal accounts of people sobbing their eyes out once their medication actually works...they think of all the times they struggled with ADHD, and that this pill could've helped them chart their desired course more smoothly.