Libra-net (10): ResearchNet vs. Overcommunication
This Thursday we are promoting ResearchNet, a portal with job listings by Macedonian researchers abroad. The rest is overcommunication from us to you.
1. On Thursday at 4:30pm Macedonian time we will organize a public S(c)iesta to promote ResearchNet.mk, a portal for researchers interested in collaborating with Macedonian scientists abroad. The ResearchNet website will go live on Thursday, but in the meantime the job board can be accessed here. There are currently 15 listings for a wide range of research opportunities, and we hope that after Thursday this number will continue to grow. The promotion will be live-streamed on our Facebook page, but our paid subscribers are welcome to join us on Zoom (link below the paywall) and participate in the discussion.
2. On a related note, Chinese scientists who return home end up being very productive. Hard to say how this generalizes to the rest of the world, but it is obvious that China has an incentive structure that rewards coming back after completing a degree abroad. There’s a lot more about scientific migration in Matt Clancy’s article below
3. Overcommunication is the February buzzword on our Substack. Nikola Stikov wrote a post (English, Macedonian) asking why people cannot keep up with the deluge of texts and instant messages.
DMs are just the tip of the overcommunication iceberg. What about the overwhelming supply of content that has a hard time connecting with an audience? In 1991 avant-garde musician and artist Momus said that ‘in the future, everybody will be famous for 15 people’. In 2023, even that audience size might be an overestimation. Ted Gioia puts it best in his most recent essay about culture in the 21 century. He argues that the biggest problem is that art is subsidized, but that consumers are having a hard time discovering it, or even paying for it. Many of the quotes below can directly translate to academia, where we also have a problem with an exploding supply of scientific articles that nobody reads.
As if this wasn’t overwhelming enough, AI is also contributing to hyperproduction. Science fiction magazine Clarkesworld had to close their submissions because they are getting swamped by AI-generated submissions.
The rest of us are busy shouting, eating frogs or logging off. Even Pulitzer winners are not spared. It appears that the only content that can connect with an audience is the most non-sensical one. Is LLM-inspired dadaism the logical conclusion of the internet? Freddie De Boer thinks so:
4. Large language models have finally captured our imagination (and paranoia). Things are moving at a breakneck pace, so it is hard to distill the best writing on the topic. Let’s start with this thoughtful essay by Philosophy Bear, who makes three scary predicitions:
For a more balanced take, here’s Scott Alexander’s response, and Philsophy Bear’s response to the response. It is interesting to see how some people who have been panicking about AI alignment (Alexander) are more optimistic now that ChatGPT is out of the bag. The rest of the world is caught up in apocaliptic scenarios fueled by Bing and his ‘evil’ twin siblings.
5. If you need a soundtrack for the paranoia on display in 2023, here’s a playlist, courtesy of British musician Ren.
Ren’s music defies categorization, as he is equally (un)comfortable busking on the street, rapping over famous songs, putting his mental health on display, or narrating disturbing 7-minute poems over a sparse guitar. Imagine a gen Z cross of Eminem, Jeff Buckley and Die Antwoord, and then you will be ready to say hi Ren!
6. For a more old-fashioned music recommendation, here is one of the final songs written by Burt Bacharach, who died earlier this month. The story of a young woman who left her artist boyfriend to be with an older man, it is Bacharach at his most romantic, and Costello at his most cynical.
If you got this far, then it looks like you cannot get enough of our (over)communication. Perhaps you would like to catch up in person? Dragana and Nikola will be visiting Florida and meeting up with friends, colleagues and supporters in Miami and Tampa from February 27 to March 7. If you are living in the vicinity, or just visiting there for spring break, drop us a note and let’s have a live S(c)iesta on the beach.
Otherwise, we hope to see you at the promotion of researchnet.mk. The event will be streamed on our Facebook page (February 23 at 4:30pm Macedonian time), below is the Zoom link for our supporters. Feel free to spread the word!