orzig

That is true, and underappreciated. But it is also worth noting that he tried to be CEO of two companies at once - so in a very objective way he obviously could have done more to improve twitter.

I’m related to a well-known science journalist. They absolutely consider it their job to verify.

There are irresponsible people who try to cram in more visible output by skimping on less visible quality. Everyone else grumbles about those reporters behind their back, like a developer whose code is undocumented and insecure.

Setting incentives to deter that behavior is management’s responsibility, as in any industry.

Since it’s an open secret in the business: The New York Times Science section has failed to do this in notable situations over the last decade.

I think there’s value in trying to understand the thought process, instead of just throwing a label on it and walking away

I would also be very interested in a six-month update. Thanks for living and learning out loud!

Although it will struggle in the first few months of a library‘s update, because its training set does not include the latest examples

(I would be curious to see whether it accounts for freshness at all - does it know the difference between examples in Python 2 and 3?)

You are a legit hero. Our society focuses exclusively on contributions that involve some dramatic moment, and doesn’t recognize those who show up for what’s right every day.

Thank you, seriously.

Exactly. And, while it's true we're in a different environment than we evolved for, our instincts are obviously still relevant. We still get hungry, crave connection, etc. They're just filtered through different specific objects

Agreed. My grandmother was lovingly cared for by my grandfather until he died (he was physically able until the end), but in many ways her health was better in the nursing home for the next several years. For her level of needs, 24/7 professionals with a regular rotation of visiting family was the right arrangement.

That said, the savings which had seemed perfectly sufficient when he'd retired from a big solid American company (pension, etc) were just obliterated by the black swan of American medical costs, and we had to sell the home which had been in our family for generations.

I may not ever use it, but I love that such innovative interfaces exist. Huge congratulations to the team

I'd long assumed that writing success was mostly a function of exponential returns on randomly-assigned initial success[0], so as someone who tries to practice Active Open Mindedness[1], I mentally noted this mere hours ago:

> I’m always suspicious that everything is fake and good writers aren’t actually good and it’s just a social conspiracy to believe that they are, but these results are a vote in support of our existing writer-identification-institutions (are they all Substack? I guess it’s just Substack)[2]

[0] https://www.princeton.edu/~mjs3/salganik_dodds_watts06_full.... [1] https://rufuspollock.com/2017/12/10/tetlock-gardner-2015-sup... [2] https://astralcodexten.substack.com/p/book-review-contest-20...

Yeah, the fixed “cost“ (in effort) of bringing someone in can totally dominate the financial cost for smaller engagements. Especially when a manager is spending their large company’s dollars.

Have you considered finding somebody to act as your “talent agent“? I don’t know exactly how this would work, but with so much money being left on the table I think it makes a ton of sense to be creative. I totally understand how awkward it can be to ask for more, but if part of the block is your own personality, there must be someone out there who would have less of a problem asking for what you deserve. The ROI would almost certainly be huge regardless of their cut.

Unless there is a massive recession, I would consider scaring off more than 80% an opportunity to spend time prospecting for better clients. I can’t speak for the UK, but I really suspect you can find them.

Also don’t forget that some fraction of the clients who balk at the increase from their anchor-bias price will come back to you after they see the low quality they get from other vendors at that price. Just be gracious when they leave.

Every technical meetup group I have been involved with his perennially desperate for speakers. If you make the effort to be present both physically and virtually for about three meet up groups over the course of about three months, I think it’s very likely you could get slotted in to speak by month 6. It’s possible they would add you on as a moderator for the group, guaranteeing persistent visibility if you are willing to put in the work (assuming you are a honest and decent person, this is a win-win because these communities have a huge positive externalities)

With the caveat that I charge a bit less, and have only had two clients (but kept them each >1y, and have gotten other client interest I did not have bandwidth for): Keep up with the talented people you worked and want to school with. If you are in your 30s, some significant fraction are managers with budgets. At any given time, a few will have a need which is too time-sensitive for the whole hiring cycle (which can take >>$10k and still return a dud).

If they remember you as dependable and all-around competent, they would be thrilled to be able to deploy their budget against the problem nearly instantly.

There is an interesting audiobook about the place by the founders son (who worked there). It’s obviously biased, but does not turn a blind eye to all of the issues, I found it pretty interesting and certainly a fascinating story:

https://www.audible.com/pd?asin=0593214315&source_code=ASSOR...

Anecdata to counteract the file drawer effect:

I read a little bit about grounding, shrugged my shoulders, and spent a week exercising barefoot in the backyard (I had previously done the same exercises with shoes on). No noticeable impact.

Thanks, it is too rare that we hear perspectives like this

Legitimate question, thanks. Two married to each other. One over 40. Last living in a nicer part of town than otherwise due to husband, but actually looked for non-teaching jobs and couldn’t find higher salaries so stayed.

Honestly asking: How are the kids doing? Is there a positive impact from the arrangement?

Can you point to an area where a teacher with 10 years of experience, working full-time, earns less than an entry-level position? Teacher contracts are mostly public and you can use $15/hr for entry level, shouldn’t be hard to find and example if it exists.

This is the best reply so far. In the US, things (good and bad) vary dramatically between school districts, but everyone talks about “teachers” as this monolithic group.

In the Boston area it’s absolutely possible to exceed $100,000 salary. The pay scales are public, look it up yourself. I’m willing to believe many teachers are underpaid, and that those in Boston have legitimate gripes too, but we need to be clear about which context we’re discussing.

I’m sorry to hear that, but to counter-anecdote: Four of my family members are teachers at various levels. They all have strong frustrations but money (either in terms of perception or paying the bills) has never been one.

> Surveyed lawyers said they experienced burnout in their jobs 52% of the time

https://www.abajournal.com/news/article/surveyed-lawyers-rep...

If our goal is to shovel new people into the system as quickly as others are quitting, I suppose lawyers are a good aspirational example. But if we assume that the best teachers are ones who like their jobs and have been around for a while, we might want to try a different model.

That is awesome for a cohesive, high functioning team. I worked at a company with some obvious (to everyone else) under performers, and as much as I wish they had not been a layoff, I would have been pissed if some of the nicer members of the team had volunteered to take the bullet.

That said, the standard layoff protocol only got rid of one of them, and the other only left after reacting badly to the slight uptick in performance feedback (suggesting his lack of self awareness)

Agreed, and the opposite is true: I started at a small public company which had stopped growing and become profitable. It was targeted for a hostile takeover by PE who thought it could grow more.

To their credit it did, and (to the extent your willing to believe unaudited financials) again became profitable.

I actually really love that idea. Thanks for expanding my mind about what is possible, maybe I can find a way to use it in human systems I do control

Zero correlation is a strong claim. Would you actually predict that a randomly chosen American (whose opinion you distrust) would be all-around more competent than half our actual presidents? Not just the current or last one depending on your affiliation.

Could you be more specific about who you don’t trust, and how you determine truth?

Seconded. I am feeling the enthusiasm of people on this thread and I am really curious - if this could really make me as happy as it makes them I’m totally game, but I just don’t see where it would fit into my workflow. Can some people give more concrete examples of what they use it for?