The Weird Nerd comes with trade-offs

But I was learning that succeeding at a research institution like Penn required skills that had little to do with science. You needed the ability to sell yourself and your work. You needed to attract funding. You needed the kind of interpersonal savvy that got you invited to speak at conferences and made people eager to mentor and support you. You ... See more

Some of the most important topics are the hardest to teach, and real world experience is the only school. How to advertise your skills and accomplishments without being insufferable. How to be curious about fields that have nothing to do with your career. How to deal with a certain level of hassle and nonsense without losing your cool. How to balan... See more

 people value intelligence and cleverness without similarly valuing on-the-ground knowledge or intellectual rigor. People often discuss the standard trendy topics (some recent ones I've observed at multiple parties are how to build a competitor to Google search and how to solve the problem of high transit construction costs) and explain why pe... See more