So what did you really mean? Known optimization techniques fall under data science and numerical methods. Are you saying that you're not into Data Science?
For instance, my friend, after completing his first year of PhD studies, is switching over from data science / machine learning techniques to game-theoretic stuff.
@User001 I am bored by papers that only say "We used technique X on problem Y to solve for Z". My overall response to those is "So what?" I like papers that ask an interesting question, then answer it (and also explain why their answer is useful, if they're not the first to answer that particular question).
@ff524, do you ever think much about the opportunity cost of doing your PhD? Especially since you are a U.S. citizen. Do you ever feel that you have "put your life on hold" for 5 years, and that instead you could have just found a good job, with good pay and benefits, right out of undergrad? Or, you have no regrets at all?
Every day, there seems to be a new question on Academia SE that goes into so much detail about a miserable PhD situation, e.g., bad advisor / choice of dissertation topic / colleagues / mental health. I wonder if a "happy" PhD student is an exception and that students who ask such questions on SE are really the norm and really more representative of what's going on at most PhD programs.
...those questions give me doubts about wanting to apply to PhD programs :(
@Wrzlprmft I think the title is the high point of that article.
The title and the first few sentences of the intro at least appear to have been written by the authors. The rest was plagiarized from (1) an undergraduate project report, (2) a high school student's project report, and (3) an article in WIRED
The Ivory Tower
The Ivory Tower