How exactly does one get a postdoc? You could try and show that you’re the smartest researcher around. Well, if you’re in grad school, you’re probably smart. But the Harvard grad student with an Olympiad medal in high school and a 3.9 GPA from MIT is probably smarter, and definitely more conscientious. It is betterContinue reading “Thoughts on trying to get a postdoc”
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Changing your archetypes
There’s a scene in “A Beautiful Mind”, when Russell Crowe writes mathematical equations on a glass pane as it snows outside. There’s another scene in which he rides a cycle in the shape of . These scenes have played a major part in making me want to become a mathematician….to discover ideas beautiful enough toContinue reading “Changing your archetypes”
Metarules are better than rules
In the last five years or so, I’ve defined certain rules in my life and tried to live by them. This has mostly turned out to be a not-so-good experience. Why is it still good to have rules in one’s life? The world is infinitely complicated. Hence, given any particular situation, we will always possessContinue reading “Metarules are better than rules”
Just another day in Delhi
Morning I got my visa renewed. It was not a miracle. Each and every student I know has successfully got their visa renewed. For my visa to have been rejected, I would have had to have committed some serious crimes in the United States. Maybe defrauded the government of millions; or not picked up aContinue reading “Just another day in Delhi”
The availability bias
The availability bias is commonly discussed bias in the Rationalist community. It says that examples that come to mind readily are thought to be more frequent in occurrence than they actually are. For example, we often come across headlines screaming “plane crash!!”. Hence, every once in a while when I get on a plane, IContinue reading “The availability bias”
Learning to socialize
One of the biggest changes in my life in recent times is that I’ve gotten much better at socializing, making friends, etc. I can consistently make friends with new people that I meet, hang out with them without rubbing them the wrong way, and be invited in return to hang out with them, etc. AlthoughContinue reading “Learning to socialize”
The Mundanity of Excellence
I had a great time reading The Mundanity of Excellence by Daniel Chambliss. I came across this article in an interview given by a famous researcher, who tried to read a new research paper everyday for more than two years. She said that this was the most influential paper that she’d read, and that itContinue reading “The Mundanity of Excellence”
The work of Alice Chang
Sun-Yung Alice Chang is one of the pre-eminent scholars of modern geometry, and I wanted to understand the nature of her work. Although I’ve read papers by her before, this article written by her students Matthew Gursky and Yi Wang serves as a solid introduction to her work. Given below are my notes as IContinue reading “The work of Alice Chang”
How to actually make friends
–Don’t be yourself. The most common advice to make friends is “be yourself”. Don’t be artificial. Don’t pretend to be someone you’re not. But what if you are, very deep inside, an obnoxious troll? What if you’re insecure, always looking to status-battle, and very intrinsically unpleasant to be around? Is there any hope? Now thatContinue reading “How to actually make friends”
Afghanistan and the Turing Machine
How do societies modernize? One day they realize that their ways have gotten older, and they transform overnight into liberal democracies with equal rights for all. Not really. Afghanistan The US invaded Afghanistan to spread democracy, women’s rights and universal love (there was something about hegemony in the Middle East, but those are just rumors).Continue reading “Afghanistan and the Turing Machine”
Fruits of procrastination 