Schulman's goal-driven research advice sparks debate on method-driven research traps
mattturck · x · 2026-09-21
John Schulman (co-founder of Thinking Machines and OpenAI) argued that goal-driven research beats idea-driven research; ryanpco adds it's solid life advice: figure out what life you want, then work out how to get there. Neil Zegh chimes in with a third trap — method-driven research, where researchers brand themselves around one technique and endlessly hunt for problems that fit their hammer instead of tackling the most important questions.
Related event: Schulman: Goal-Driven Research Beats Idea-Driven Research(2 posts)→
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