I was dumb enough to ask this question to LLM, and ofc I got bland answers like “You are probably not dumb, here’s ABC to improve oneself”…
So sad that I am too dumb to get a job or make friends. I ended up in grad school trying to get a doctorate, as I was so stupid that looking for a job sounded insurmountable. Now, LLM apocalypse is dawning upon us, which manufactures papers faster than we can even follow. Wonder if any of academia would even be left. Imagine my stupidity of not thinking ahead here.
So anyway, how do I cure my dumbness and actually function as a normal person?
I don’t think you’re dumb at all, you’d have to jump some serious hurdles to get into a doctoral program[1].
I would suggest you seem to lack confidence though. That’s relatively easy to fix. A timely comment I came across on Hacker News today seems pertinent. One quote in particular sticks out, which I myself have experienced:
LLMs are stochastic parrots, they can really only repeat previously acquired human knowledge and apply it in rudimentary ways. True outside-the-box thinkers will always be required. An LLM is, and always will be a tool.
The want and willingness to learn, and the right attitude or mindset: relentless curiosity. If you have a passion, follow it. Don’t get into a field just because there’s huge dollar signs at the end of it.
If it weren’t for curiosity in understanding how something worked by tearing it apart, seeing its insides, then putting it back together, I wouldn’t have the foggiest of clues how to build and fix computers today. Despite my academic qualifications[1] and long career in an unrelated field I’m opting to do some basic trade skills training in Electronics, because it helps satisfy my relentless curiosity, and because it might be useful one day.
Skills and learning things don’t necessarily have to be academic. There are people infinitely smarter than me in their own fields who don’t have any academic qualifications at all. Intelligence is relative to the field it is being applied to.
As for finding friends, if you have a hobby find a local club or maker-space or something like that and go along. Interact with people but don’t go with the singular explicit goal of ‘making friends’. Friendship will flourish as you get to know people naturally through a shared hobby or cause.
[1] for what its worth, I hold two distinct bachelors degrees (not a combined double degree) and am currently studying a masters degree.