> But only because it’s so much fun; it’s still a selfish motive.

This implies that the overtime work isn't necessarily the most beneficial to the employer.

Yup. My employer benefits, but the fact is, I’ve waited basically my whole life to be in the position I am now. If I don’t make a significant research contribution over the next decade, I likely never will.

Three years ago, I was a peasant, scratching out a living (metaphorically as a researcher) using google colab GPUs to experiment. Today I find myself a king, in command of a cluster of GPUs with so much memory and power that they could host GPT-3 four times over. Today that cluster comes online, and you better believe I haven’t felt this excited since I was 10 and my parents got me a playstation 1 for Christmas. I’m gonna final fantasy 7 the heck out of these gpus.

I have literally everything a researcher could possibly dream of. Or at least me. Every single one of the ideas I’ve been brewing over the last few years can now be tested, analyzed, and discarded — and it’s only a matter of time till I find the gold among them.

My daughter’s on the way in T-minus 7 months. I’ll be keeping my life balanced. But damn it feels good to finally have a research target plus resources plus skill. I’ve been playing a game of “choose two” till now.

Happy to see you’re doing well and will be a father soon. That will certainly change perspective on things in a positive way

Thank you :) It was such a long road (5 years, 2 of IVF).

Overtime work is like an afterburner in a jet engine: it does allow you to get somewhere faster, but at a disproportionately higher cost than normal.

...or colleagues. it's quite easy to start thinking that if you enjoy what you do so much so that you stay up late, then everyone else should feel and do the same.