The Disadvantages of a PhD Program

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You don't have a line manager, basically. You kind of have to fight to get attention from them. They also tend not to be like very good managers in general and give you like very clear feedback about what's good and bad which tends to disorient people. And often you're working on a very large chunk of work that you're not really going to get to release or get any positive or negative feedback on from the public for potentially years. So I think there's many aspects of the ways that the way that PhD programs are organized,. Which means that they're a nightmare for mental health and they're a Nightmare for motivation.

What are the best strategies for improving ourselves? How are line managers useful? Why does Rob prefer long-form content for the 80,000 Hours podcast? What are the sorts of things humans value and why? In what ways do research ethics considerations fail to achieve their stated objectives? Why are prediction markets useful?

Rob Wiblin is the Head of Research at 80,000 Hours where he investigates how people can do more good in the course of their career and produces a long-form interview show called the 80,000 Hours Podcast. He studied genetics and economics in Australia before moving to the UK to help develop the emerging field of effective altruism. You can learn more about Rob at robwiblin.com, learn more about his research work at 80000hours.org, and follow him on social media at @robertwiblin.

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