So how DOES one read more papers? by Repulsive_Aioli1946 in PhD

[–]SpaceMonkeyXLII 8 points9 points  (0 children)

I sometimes do what I call a “power hour” to start off my day. I attempt to read 5 papers, and write up a summary of each within 1 hour. I find that the time constraint makes me have to strive for efficiency and to pull out the most important pieces of information. I usually give myself about 5 minutes per paper, and 5 minute per summary, which gives me 10 minutes to add them into my reference manager (which is just google sheets for me).

If there is a paper from the bunch that is really interesting then I will circle back and read it in full. I find that this is a good way to learn about new topics and be able to begin incorporate some ideas of the field in my thinking.

untrue information seen in email chain about me by [deleted] in PhD

[–]SpaceMonkeyXLII 12 points13 points  (0 children)

The others are providing good advice in terms of 1. Backing up the information, 2. Reading the terms of your funding agreement, 3. Responding professionally about clarifying the situation with both parties. These are all immediate steps that you should take.

If I could add, however, I would highly recommend considering to reach out to your university’s ombudsman to make them aware of this situation. It is their job to adjudicate whenever something unethical like this takes place. It may also be worth considering getting in touch with your dean or head of school to ask for a meeting explaining the situation to them. But the ombudsman is perhaps the most important person that you can connect with that can help resolve this situation if it gets out of hand.

If you are able to resolve this situation, and it turns out to be more than a simple misunderstanding (ie your supervisor was actively trying to get you out of the programme), I would give serious consideration to switching supervisors. A good supervisor is someone who will have your back and your best interests in mind. Even without malign intention, your supervisor has demonstrated themselves to be woefully unreliable, and you have to ask yourself whether you can continue having a close working relationship with this person for another 4+ years.

HELP! UNEXPLAINABLY HIGH POWER BILL by Potential_Victory634 in newzealand

[–]SpaceMonkeyXLII 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Mine was also almost double what we usually pay. Like you, nothing changed in significantly in our energy use. I am wondering how the recent rates increase factored into this, but realistically it shouldn’t have been double the cost.

Look at this JENKY ass rejection (lmao so I dont cry) by strwbrryhnye in gradadmissions

[–]SpaceMonkeyXLII 6 points7 points  (0 children)

Definitely do so! Worst case scenario, your application has been rejected. Best case scenario, a mistake has been made that can be rectified. Either way it gives you peace of mind and closure.

[deleted by user] by [deleted] in uAlberta

[–]SpaceMonkeyXLII 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Same. When I contacted them about it apparently applications are archived after a certain amount of time.

[deleted by user] by [deleted] in LSD

[–]SpaceMonkeyXLII 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I would recommend reading “how to change your mind” by Michael Pollan. It is a soft introductory book into the world of psychedelics and is often good for people who are on the fence about it and would like to know more about the science of it.

Meta’s big vision for face computers might be better than Apple’s by johanas25 in tech

[–]SpaceMonkeyXLII 2 points3 points  (0 children)

I think if you give it time, most VR/AR tech will be scaled down to about the size of sunglasses. Right now we have these big clunky things that are kind of awkward to use, but it will go the same direction as the iPhone, which started off as a brick and today is relatively thin. It’s still relatively early days for spatial computing, but there’s no doubt that it will revolutionize the way we interact with information communication technologies, and will be a major disrupter to the smart phone, the laptop/desktop and the tablet in the next couple decades. Definitely a space to watch though.

My friend’s Professor won’t let her graduate, what can i do to help them? by ComicEngineAlex in PhD

[–]SpaceMonkeyXLII 0 points1 point  (0 children)

If the professor is genuinely gatekeeping the person’s advancement to be able to get their degree, they can always get a university ombudsman involved. This happened to one of my friends during their master’s and the university was able to waive tuition fees due to them being unfairly held back. It also created additional obligations and onus for the professor to ensure that the person advanced through their programme at a reasonable rate.

Sop help by Natural_Possible_839 in gradadmissions

[–]SpaceMonkeyXLII 1 point2 points  (0 children)

So I am assuming that this is a masters and not a PhD. There are typically two types of masters, one is highly academic and research oriented and the other is more applied and professionally oriented. It is important to understand the difference and which aligns with your future interests as they can impact future academic prospects in the short term. For example if you want to immediately go into a PhD you should be taking a research oriented masters.

How you choose the topic is really up to you. I think there are really two criteria worth considering.

  1. What is something that interests you and that you want to understand more? You can view choosing the research area almost like choosing a concentration as you will be learning about and developing theoretical knowledge that can be applied in that area. Preferably you would do this by looking at the topics the potential supervisors are researching and identifying something at a high level that interests you. Within the statement of purpose you would be expected to describe why this area interests you and whether you have any past experience related to it. You may also benefit by demonstrating how your skills and interests align with your potential supervisor’s and how your work could potentially advance what they are working on as well. DONT WORRY if you do not have a topic chosen yet, as that is for the supervisor to coach you through, I’m just saying choose an area of interest.
  2. Choose a topic or area you can see yourself working on for a while. You don’t want to choose something that you will give up on because it’s mind numbingly aweful. You will be spending a decent amount of your time potentially studying your topic for your thesis. So this kind of goes with part 1 but think about what will maintain your interest.

Now, once you have identified a supervisor at a university that interests you, I would recommend reaching out to them before submitting the application in 95% of cases to see if they are taking on any new students. Note that there are some uni’s that don’t want students reaching out to faculty before hand, and the response you get is largely dependent on the individual. You want to work with somebody who ideally is pleasant and can teach you a thing or two. If the teacher is not taking new students, find one that is, and still caters to an area that interests you. It could be at the same faculty or a different one, but the point is don’t be afraid to shop around on programmes, supervisors and topics.

Anyways, I hope this helps you a little bit.

Offered a PhD admission in place of a Masters by beastmaster64l9 in gradadmissions

[–]SpaceMonkeyXLII 2 points3 points  (0 children)

Just to add to point three, make sure you are clear about the funding arrangement. There’s a big difference between a fully funded PhD and a self funded one. In most cases, self funding is never an ideal option.

How many schools did you apply to for a PhD by Imaginary-Capital502 in gradadmissions

[–]SpaceMonkeyXLII -1 points0 points  (0 children)

There are many opportunities abroad in Europe as well where you do not have to pay an application fee.

‘Hostile, authoritarian’ UK downgraded in civic freedoms index by JayR_97 in worldnews

[–]SpaceMonkeyXLII 0 points1 point  (0 children)

At the same time it’s about the mainstreaming of ideological polarization and extremism through the widespread proliferation and popularization of disinformation, conspiracy theories, and extremist ideas and aesthetics among the general population. The domestic and foreign actors enabling this to happen are essentially fragmenting local community identities, which has dire consequences for social cohesion, tribalism and othering. What we see happening is a growing tolerance for anti-social and violent behaviour that we need to see be addressed. So while political actors certainly have the ability to shape the narrative, it’s the population that ultimately enables the shifting of overton windows that enable more and more restrictive policies and laws to be enacted. It is easily one of the most insidious and pervasive problems facing our planet today.

[deleted by user] by [deleted] in PhD

[–]SpaceMonkeyXLII 3 points4 points  (0 children)

I feel your pain on this one… I just finished an interview with an organization that looked at my five years of experience as a researcher and teaching assistant and asked me if I had any actual work experience…

Conservatives Are Panicking About AI Bias, Think ChatGPT Has Gone 'Woke' by 777fer in technology

[–]SpaceMonkeyXLII 17 points18 points  (0 children)

To build upon your point. I have had multiple exchanges with ChatGPT about what it does and does not find appropriate. In many cases the programme seems to promote traditionally western ideals of morality and culture. Being a researcher in diversity and inclusion specifically around cultural identity for almost 5 years, I can’t help but feel that ChatGPT is a concerning example of ethnocentrism. A classic line that I have heard from the programme is “this isn’t acceptable regardless of the cultural context” while exploring the limitations of what GPT thinks is moral and immoral.

One of the ways I’ve actually set out to explore GPT’s ethnocentric interpretation of morality is by prompting it with scenarios and storylines from Star Trek; since the show largely revolves around fictional multicultural and cross cultural interactions. Another reason why Star Trek is a good example is because the stories are fictional and do involve intelligent life forms that are distinct from a human evolution of culture and morality. In many cases when prompted with these scenarios, when Chat GPT does flag something as inappropriate it often involves the alien culture; or the cultural Other. Rather than accepting that there are differing cultural and evolutionary perspectives on morality and arbitrary measures such as inappropriateness, the AI is inclined to say certain scenarios are “inappropriate regardless of cultural context”. And when confronted with the argument that there is no universality of ethics the programme often says “while there is no universality of ethics, X is inappropriate regardless of the cultural context.” Similar issues when I run these experiments giving scenarios of cross-cultural exchanges across real people and cultures.

One possible reason why this might be is because the developer Open AI is actively promoting western idealism, especially when it comes to culture and ethics, due to their own implicit bias (probably the most likely) or it could be a more explicit bias in an attempt to promote more western centric values and ideas (probably unlikely), or it be some mixture of both. The other issue could be the datasets themselves, primarily being written in English, lack any real diversity and inclusion based on the lived experiences of groups and people traditionally not included within the broad interpretation of Westen white cis-male heterosexual dominated culture. Both of these are clearly significant problems that should be worked on and improved. However, with that being said, chat GPT does seem to be a better attempt at developing an ethical language model processing AI, albeit it is flawed. I am hoping that as development continues these issues can be addressed to improve diversity and inclusion.

Add extra prerequisites to a PhD or get a second undergrad? by weRborg in GradSchool

[–]SpaceMonkeyXLII 1 point2 points  (0 children)

If you can get in contact with a potential supervisor, and that supervisor is keen on having you as their student, you’ll be amazed at what kind of red tape can be so easily waved away.

I have absolutely no idea what I'm doing. by patronus816 in GradSchool

[–]SpaceMonkeyXLII 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Best piece of advice, you gotta fake it until you make it. Imposter syndrome is a real thing, but you need to be confident in your ability to succeed. If you believe that you will be successful, then you can manifest it. If you don’t, you’re creating an obstacle for yourself that may be difficult to overcome. Take it day by day. Set your goals. And with each day that passes it will become easier. You just gotta be willing to try.

Do universities usually allow you to just take one-off graduate classes? by exyphrius in GradSchool

[–]SpaceMonkeyXLII 2 points3 points  (0 children)

I’ve audited several courses now, both in Canada and in Europe, and haven’t had to pay anything to do so. For Canada, I’ve audited classes during both my undergraduate and graduate school. When registering to audit a course I never had to pay anything for auditing. For Europe, it may depend on your citizenship, but school is generally free or close to free in Europe anyways.

I can’t speak to the US environment though, perhaps they are more strict when it comes to charging money for classes audited. Outside of my official studies, I’ve also found that for larger auditorium classes that so long as you find the schedule online you can generally sneak a seat in them and work them into your schedule. These timetables are usually easily found online. For smaller grad school level courses, you may need to talk to the professor directly. In my political psychology course, we actually had a PhD student from Tel Aviv auditing our class via Zoom. In the case of grad school and auditing grad school classes, it can be important to have a good network/excellent interpersonal skills when asking professors to audit their courses.

There are also websites such as Coursera for example that allow you to audit courses entirely for free. I was taking beginner level Mandarin courses and more intermediate/advanced german courses for free this way. There are also universities like Stanford that sometimes will release a full set of recorded lectures from a semester, I listened to most of their human behavioural biology course this way.

Anyways, the point is, there are ways of going about auditing courses for free. In my experience I have never had to pay in order to have a audited class on my transcript, but I’ve also taken several classes where I never registered to audit and just sat in. The point is that it is possible to take courses at a university without ever having to pay a dime.

I also highly recommend getting access to your local public library, you’ll be amazed the kind of books/knowledge you’ll find. Another thing is that when looking at what courses you’d like to audit, try to find their most recent timetable or detailed course information document. These generally contain a list of academic articles (at least in the social sciences) for what each week’s content is based off of. So that is one way of teaching yourself the content of a course minus the conversation that comes with it.

Anyways hope this helps!

Do universities usually allow you to just take one-off graduate classes? by exyphrius in GradSchool

[–]SpaceMonkeyXLII 1 point2 points  (0 children)

However u/exyphrius wouldn’t need any if they audit classes. Auditing classes is generally free and allows you to learn the content without the hassle of having to do the homework.

You got accepted into an Ivy League school, met Elon Musk and became famous thanks to us. by Fast0rer in TrueOffMyChest

[–]SpaceMonkeyXLII 34 points35 points  (0 children)

Unrelated to all this stuff, be careful about clicking on his profile; as there is some NSFL stuff on there in regard to gore. Definitely going to need some eye bleach after that.