In the past few days, I went through the project list of AI Grant:
The founder of AI Grant, Nat, wrote some of his own principles on his personal homepage. I think these principles are very well written, so I quote and translate them as follows:
Some things I believe:
As human beings it is our right (maybe our moral duty) to reshape the universe to our preferences
Technology, which is really knowledge, enables this You should probably work on raising the ceiling, not the floor
As humans, we have the right (perhaps even our moral duty) to reshape the universe according to our preferences.
Technology, in fact knowledge, enables this to happen. You should focus on raising the upper limit rather than lowering the baseline.
Renee's comment:
We have the right and obligation to make this world a better place. Pursuing dreams and distant horizons will prevent us from being stuck in the trivialities of the present.
Enthusiasm matters!
It's much easier to work on things that are exciting to you It might be easier to do big things than small things for this reason Energy is a necessary input for progress
Passion is important!
It’s much easier to do things that excite you. Perhaps for this reason, it’s easier to accomplish great things than small ones. Energy is a necessary investment for progress.
Renee's comment:
Personally, I also feel that doing what you like and pursuing intellectual challenges makes it easier to persist and not be defeated by current difficulties.
It's important to do things fast
You learn more per unit time because you make contact with reality more frequently Going fast makes you focus on what's important; there's no time for bullshit "Slow is fake" A week is 2% of the year Time is the denominator
Acting quickly is important.
You learn more per unit of time because you interact with reality more frequently. Acting quickly keeps you focused on what matters, leaving no time to waste. "Slow is fake." A week is 2% of the entire year. Time is the denominator.
Renee's comment:
I act fast, but in recent years, I tend to think slowly before acting fast. In this dimension, slow is fast. But iteration must be quick; I find that we often miss opportunities because our growth curve isn't fast enough. Spend more time around people who are better than you.
The efficient market hypothesis is a lie
At best it is a very lossy heuristic The best things in life occur where EMH is wrong In many cases it's more accurate to model the world as 500 people than 8 billion "Most people are other people"
The efficient market hypothesis is a lie.
At most, it's a heuristic with significant loss. The best things in life happen where EMH is wrong. In many cases, modeling the world as 500 people instead of 8 billion is more accurate. "Most people are other people."
Renee's comment:
I don’t fully understand this section yet, I’ll look for context later. My level still needs improvement.
We know less than we think
The replication crisis is not an aberration Many of the things we believe are wrong We are often not even asking the right questions
We know less than we imagine.
The replication crisis is not an exception. Many things we believe are wrong. We often don’t even ask the right questions.
Renee's comment:
I resonate with this a lot. In a decision-making class I took before, the most important thing I learned was to be aware of my blind spots and limitations in thinking.
The cultural prohibition on micromanagement is harmful
Great individuals should be fully empowered to exercise their judgment The goal is not to avoid mistakes; the goal is to achieve uncorrelated levels of excellence in some dimension The downsides are worth it
The cultural taboo against micromanagement is harmful.
Great individuals should be fully empowered to exercise their judgment. The goal is not to avoid mistakes; the goal is to achieve excellence in certain areas. The negative impact is worth it.
Renee's comment:
This premise is finding the right person.
Smaller teams are better
Faster decisions, fewer meetings, more fun No need to chop up work for political reasons No room for mediocre people (can pay more, too!) Large-scale engineering projects are more soluble in IQ than they appear Many tech companies are 2-10x overstaffed
Smaller teams work better.
Faster decision-making, fewer meetings, more fun. No need to allocate work for political reasons. No room for mediocrity (and can pay more). Large-scale engineering projects depend more on IQ than they appear to. Many tech companies are overstaffed by 2-10 times.
Renee's comment:
I couldn’t agree more with this. However, talent is selected, not cultivated, so there still needs to be a funnel for entry and elimination. But fewer people remain in the end.
Where do you get your dopamine?
The answer is predictive of your behavior Better to get your dopamine from improving your ideas than from having them validated It's ok to get yours from "making things happen"
Where does your dopamine come from?
The answer can predict your behavior. It’s best to get dopamine from improving your ideas, not from validating them. Getting dopamine from "making things happen" is also acceptable.
Renee's comment:
Understanding the truth about things is more important than proving yourself right. Drop the ego and make more rational decisions. Being able to be rational already beats 99% of people.
You can do more than you think
We are tied down by invisible orthodoxy The laws of physics are the only limit
You can do more than you imagine.
We are bound by invisible norms. The laws of physics are the only limits.
Renee's comment:
My practical feeling is that sometimes we don't know where to start because of insufficient insight and vision. It’s hard to establish new schools of thought, but it’s easy to follow the right mentor. Read more, think more, and communicate more with people who are better than you. A few days ago, I listened to a logic class. Some limitations are due to ability, some are physical, and others are logical. The latter two cannot be broken, but the limitation of ability can always be overcome.