PhD students struggle with ideas because they mainly read the same papers as others. Creativity comes from knowing unique facts others don’t, not just thinking hard. Since many follow the same sources, the best ideas are already known. Finding real new insights means exploring less popular, sometimes messy, sources—like sifting through garbage for gold.
Econ/finance PhD students sometimes have trouble coming up with creative ideas. Partly this is because on average nobody reads much other than papers on class syllabi. If you read the same 30 papers as the 15 other ppl in your class, you're going to come up with the same ideas
Creativity is not magic! Good ideas don't just come from thinking really hard! Good ideas come from arbitrage: knowing about areas and ideas and facts that your classmates don't know about. By definition, this is not going to be on your class syllabus
By definition, also, if your classmates are all doing a certain thing to get ideas, which they've heard other students at other schools are doing, there's not going to be much alpha left. For example, everyone says to read money stuff to get finance ideas
Money stuff is an excellent, excellent newsletter, which you should all read - but the research alpha in money stuff also dissipated long ago. Literally 1/3 of the field reads money stuff! By the time an idea makes it to money stuff, there is negative research alpha in it
But you are left with an interesting dilemma, which is that by definition really good research alpha can only exist in info sources your classmates aren't talking about, but that info source might actually just be garbage as a source of research ideas
Social science research is sifting through piles of garbage to find bits of gold - good research ideas. If you sift through garbage your classmates are also sifting, you won't find any gold. If you sift un-sifted garbage, you still probably won't, but you have a nonzero chance
Research alpha ends up having a kind of Mirror of Erised property. Those who seek gold end up finding little. Those who simply enjoy sifting through the endless pile of little factoids about human history end up stumbling upon gold surprisingly often in the process
Econ/finance PhD students sometimes have trouble coming up with creative ideas. Partly this is because on average nobody reads much other than papers on class syllabi. If you read the same 30 papers as the 15 other ppl in your class, you're going to come up with the same ideasCreativity is not magic! Good ideas don't just come from thinking really hard! Good ideas come from arbitrage: knowing about areas and ideas and facts that your classmates don't know about. By definition, this is not going to be on your class syllabusBy definition, also, if your classmates are all doing a certain thing to get ideas, which they've heard other students at other schools are doing, there's not going to be much alpha left. For example, everyone says to read money stuff to get finance ideasMoney stuff is an excellent, excellent newsletter, which you should all read - but the research alpha in money stuff also dissipated long ago. Literally 1/3 of the field reads money stuff! By the time an idea makes it to money stuff, there is negative research alpha in itBut you are left with an interesting dilemma, which is that by definition really good research alpha can only exist in info sources your classmates aren't talking about, but that info source might actually just be garbage as a source of research ideasSocial science research is sifting through piles of garbage to find bits of gold - good research ideas. If you sift through garbage your classmates are also sifting, you won't find any gold. If you sift un-sifted garbage, you still probably won't, but you have a nonzero chanceResearch alpha ends up having a kind of Mirror of Erised property. Those who seek gold end up finding little. Those who simply enjoy sifting through the endless pile of little factoids about human history end up stumbling upon gold surprisingly often in the process
Econ/finance PhD students sometimes have trouble coming up with creative ideas. Partly this is because on average nobody reads much other than papers on class syllabi. If you read the same 30 papers as the 15 other ppl in your class, you're going to come up with the same ideas ... Creativity is not magic! Good ideas don't just come from thinking really hard! Good ideas come from arbitrage: knowing about areas and ideas and facts that your classmates don't know about. By definition, this is not going to be on your class syllabus ... By definition, also, if your classmates are all doing a certain thing to get ideas, which they've heard other students at other schools are doing, there's not going to be much alpha left. For example, everyone says to read money stuff to get finance ideas ... Money stuff is an excellent, excellent newsletter, which you should all read - but the research alpha in money stuff also dissipated long ago. Literally 1/3 of the field reads money stuff! By the time an idea makes it to money stuff, there is negative research alpha in it ... But you are left with an interesting dilemma, which is that by definition really good research alpha can only exist in info sources your classmates aren't talking about, but that info source might actually just be garbage as a source of research ideas ... Social science research is sifting through piles of garbage to find bits of gold - good research ideas. If you sift through garbage your classmates are also sifting, you won't find any gold. If you sift un-sifted garbage, you still probably won't, but you have a nonzero chance ... Research alpha ends up having a kind of Mirror of Erised property. Those who seek gold end up finding little. Those who simply enjoy sifting through the endless pile of little factoids about human history end up stumbling upon gold surprisingly often in the process
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