Hi, I went through this exact process of vacillation in 2003.
I have a purely entrepreneurial outcome in mind, but found I needed to have folk listen to me. In order that some comfort be taken (by those with $$$) in my ideas, I found, to my chagrin...that having a 'license to think = PhD' (as opposed to actually being able to think), seemed to be necessary. Unfortunately the testicular fortitude of the $$$$folks needs careful attention - which is more than merely your assurances that you can think and have a clue.
So since 2004 I have been on a weird journey where my ideas have not changed, but my ability to convey the concepts to academics and $$$buckets has improved. Throughout this whole process my ability to think never altered a bit!
Having decided to do a PhD...in being in NICTA and melbourne uni I also encountered a whole pile of other course opportunities: commercialisation, Intellectual property, media-handling, presentation skills, interpersonal communications, multicultural and globalised research project management, grant application .... all of which have rounded out my skills to cope with the post-doctoral process of getting my chips built.
I have also met/communicated with a raft of luminaries that I would otherwise not have encountered.
So - as a vehicle to connect to established $flows and get $creds - it seems that for me, anyway, a PhD is a necessary step.
Mind you....if I had already had the $$ back in 2003 I would be building my chips by now... not doing this weird "PhD Dance" and being forced to kowtow to the spurious, precious and fashion-ridden gods of the academic publishing circuit....... in that regard I regard the PhD as necessary collateral damage.
like Ben: "SHOW ME THE MONEY!" :-) cheers the not quite yet Dr Col Ben Goertzel wrote:
On Wed, Dec 17, 2008 at 6:12 PM, YKY (Yan King Yin) <[email protected] <mailto:[email protected]>> wrote:> "If...you want a non-research career, a Ph.D. is definitely not for you." I want to be either an entrepreneur or a researcher... it's hard to decide. What does AGI need most? Further research, or a sound business framework? It seems that both are needed... To venture an explicitly self-centered comment: Since I already have a workable design for human-level AGI ... what AGI most needs is someone to give the OpenCog or Novamente projects a large sum of money 8-D ben ------------------------------------------------------------------------*agi* | Archives <https://www.listbox.com/member/archive/303/=now> <https://www.listbox.com/member/archive/rss/303/> | Modify <https://www.listbox.com/member/?&;> Your Subscription [Powered by Listbox] <http://www.listbox.com>
------------------------------------------- agi Archives: https://www.listbox.com/member/archive/303/=now RSS Feed: https://www.listbox.com/member/archive/rss/303/ Modify Your Subscription: https://www.listbox.com/member/?member_id=8660244&id_secret=123753653-47f84b Powered by Listbox: http://www.listbox.com
