Playing Pyramid Games
Alexander Griekspoor

1
What’s a pyramid game? This is an ad from the 1930’s.

Money 1 Air
10
The guy tries to sell air to 10 of his friends, who give him money.

Money 1 Air
10
More Money Thin Air
100
Who sell it each to 10 more friends in exchange for more money.

Money 1 Air
10
More Money Thin Air
Loads of 100 Very Thin
Money Air
1000
Image source: wikipedia article on Madoff
Recently shown how dangerous it is by a guy called Madoff who almost single handedly
brought the whole banking industry to the ground.

PI
Postdoc You!
Graduate Student
The pyramid seems familiar doesn’t it? Science is exactly the same. Instead of money the
layer above gets citations in exchange for a lot of promises and wishful thinking. And this is
where you are.

Science == Pyramid Game
If science is a pyramid game, how do we understand it?
What we need is some game theory.

Game Theory
Typically in game theory you start out with describing the game, which we just did, and then
you analyse different strategies, trying to understand the system and choices the game’s
players make.

10 rules
that made me
understand
Science
3 or 4 years ago I was sitting somewhere in the audience, exactly like a few of you for sure.
Now I’m doing something completely different. In between I’ve learned a lot. Here are the 10
rules of the “game” that made me understand science.

...and step out of it.
...and step out of it. I hope it will help some of you to make the same big choice.

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Game Theory
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First a disclaimer. This presentation is highly opinionated. You might disagree. I kind of hope
you do at times. Still, please ask questions at end, I’ll try to keep it not too long to allow for
discussion. I’ll be around later as well, I’d be happy to hear your point of you or convince me
I’m wrong and should see things differently.

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Rule1
of pyramid games
A classic.

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You don’t talk about
pyramid games
Fightclub

PI
Postdoc You!
Graduate Student
The pyramid of science. From high school onwards you get in a natural flow. And each step it
gets tougher and tougher. In fact the pyramid doesn’t look like that.

PI
You!
Postdoc
Graduate Student
More like this. What does this mean?

Find yourself
a different job!
Almost nobody will make it.The average group leader has 10 people. 1 in 10 chance? You
better start thinking about finding a job. But I know what you guys are thinking.

True.
I hear you thinking.

True.
But not me.
But not me

Think again
Think again! You might want to stay in Science, You might be good at it. You might like it.
But that Cell paper is not coming out. Or worse you get scooped. Why can I stay in Science
then? It’s not fair!

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Rule 2
of pyramid games
This brings us to the second rule of Science.

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The game is not Fair
It’s not fair. There’s a good reason why pyramid games are illegal. Think bloody well before
you participate, and if that’s too late (like in your case I guess), think well at what your
chances are at success. It’s not fair.

“I work as hard as the girl
at the next bench, she gets
a Nature paper, I don’t.
Science is not fair.”
Last year I was invited to Scifoo and before I went to the Biobarcamp in Palo Alto (explain
concept of barcamp). A girl proposed a talk on failed experiments and how these should be
publishable. But started complaining the above. Until someone said:

Science doesn’t
care about you.
Science is not there for you. Science is there for Science sake.
The game is not fair. If you don’t drive Science forward somebody else will. Science doesn’t
care whether you’re happy, whether you’re sad. The only who cares is...

But you do!
you. Keep that in mind. Don’t blame science, it can’t help it. Which brings me to the next
point.

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Not everyone is
suited for the game
It’s not suited for everybody. You have to be able to deal with it mentally. That you can’t
control things. For me a big thing (in contrast to a more creative job). But it’s more than that.
Not everyone is suited for Science. Soccer and sprinter example. I like doing science
analogous to I like playing soccer. Not everybody the next Ronaldo though. Recreational
Science is unfortunately prohibitively expensive. Except for the E-learning piano guy and a
former VP at Apple PhD UCSC. Many things are important, but most important is talent. Like a
prof soccer player, you’re born like that or not. I’m not saying you don’t have talent. You do.
Like the chess player beats a soccer player. You have to pick your game. If you recognize you
don't have enough talent for Science, find the thing you are talented in.
**
IMagine a 100m sprint champion school, you join it, they teach you how to sprint and you
win the 100m right? Everybody agrees things don’t work that way. So why then would it be
unfair that not everybody can become a PI? Like the sprinter you have to have talent, the luck
of being at the right time, right place, the physical and mental state of mind. no injury’s etc.
Another example, I often hear people say “but I like doing science” in the fairness debate. My
answer is “everybody likes playing soccer, yet there are only a few david beckham’s, ronaldo
etc in the world, that’s because they have talents that you don’t”. AND THERE IS NOTHING
WRONG WITH THAT. You have different ones! Everybody has!

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It’s as important to discover
what you don’t love doing, as
it is to find out what you do
You need Passion
Continuing on liking Science, is not enough. You have to have a passion for it.
With me? “Well I kind of like science” but I missed the passion. It’s as important to discover
that you don’t like something as it is that you do. Motivation (and creativity!) can beat talent.
People that love what they're doing read more, think more. It’s a self-fulfilling prophecy. PLoS
example. Once you find your passion your quest is over. I realized my boss was passionate
about his thing. So am I now. And they are very different.

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Think beyond the
next step
Every layer in the pyramid is the same. If your goal is the next layer so that you think you
have reached your goal, think again! There’s no oasis. Graduate students need a paper to get
a good postdoc position, postdoc need a paper to become a PI. But what about PI? The game
is not over, it’s the same or worse. You need to be able to deal with that pressure, there’s no
sit back and relax. Passion is again most important as it drives you, you just do it. Plasterk
example. But that’s a good thing. Don’t think about the end goal, it’s not there. Think about
a running water tap, while you flow in a never ending stream enjoy it! And science is great, it
never stays the same, always changing, never boring. Never ending.

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Try new things!
Spread the risk Collaborate!
Do what you love
doing!
So you do like it? How do you get to the next layer? Or you’re not sure? You’re already in the
game, so what do you do? One key thing is to spread the risk, don’t be afraid to do other
things. Collaborate, do the things you like, try new things. Key-lock model! Bring yourself
close to things you might like and you’ll find the thing that suits you best. Note that pay off
can come late (NKI story), but it will surely come.

“Making a career in
science is all about luck.”
And then, for everybody comes this moment that you think the only thing that matters is just
luck. I’ve been there. And..

True.
It’s true. But in the way you should be lucky that you don’t walk under a bus. That your career
is solely dependent on luck.

Bullshit
Is bullshit.

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Create your own luck
You create your own luck. First, by estimating your changes! 80% rule. Also matter of
spotting opportunities, taking responsibility, taking the gamble. Pay offs come later. You’ll
probably thinking. Easily said, you’ve made it. That’s not true, but even then.

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work hard
But I’ve worked my ass of for it. Lot of energy put in, working day and night, often till 3-4 in
the night. If you don’t feel like working hard, you have the answer already, find something
else. Work hard and...

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Bend the rules (carefully)
Distinguish
Be creative yourself!
Think outside the box
pyramid!
Be creative. If you’re feeling creative, you find your passion, you feel good. Distinguish
yourself, so that everybody knows you. Scifoo was a nice example, many of those who were
there weren’t professors but graduate or even undergraduate students, no paper required!
They were there because they had distinguished themselves in some form or way. Write
software, write a blog, become the microscope expert etc.
An often heard complaint is that we are training too many PhDs and that we should train
fewer. BS. What would you do if you were the boss of science? Train 1 person because you
have 1 position, or 100 and pick the very best one? The trick to be the one who will be picked
is to stand out and you do that by being creative. And that’s true inside and outside the
pyramid.

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The most important rule
of pyramid games
Which brings me to the most important rule of pyramid games...

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Don’t be afraid to step out
Don’t be afraid to step out. If you find something you like outside Science that’s fantastic, go
for it. And it’s an illusion if you think this is something you’ll realize overnight, it’s a gradual
process. My story: PhD who developed a hobby he started to love more and more. Wanted to
do something with it in my next career stage -> hybrid postdoc? Doesn’t work, hard to find
such jobs -> change of subject -> postdoc in text mining. But even then only after 1 yr I
completely switched to full time software developer. Now 3 guys already. If we have to go out
of Science anyway, find the thing you love!
if you're not happy quit, (but dont quit too easily)
you can ALWAYS change

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Stepping out != Failure
On the contrary!
There’s still the impression that some people give you (boss, family) that stepping out means
all your time was wasted effort. Not true! I always thought that I should have perhaps done
informatics, NOT. Now I have a unique talent and combination, none of those boring IT guy
have. Also leaving science doesn't mean leaving science. Everyone going for that Science,
Nature, Cell paper, but really, what’s the impact bigger. who is reading that? My work
influences many many more scientists. I received a lot of emails saying that Papers had a
significant impact on their scientific lives. From nuclear physists to social scientists, even
priests. That’s what wakes me up everyday, no questions asked. I hope you find that to. Go
look for that.

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One more rule...
One more thing

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Pyramid games are
everywhere...
It’s everywhere, think about accountancy, organizations, political parties you name it. And if
the organization doesn’t, you do. You want to always go to the next level. Once did a boring
job, never again. So pyramid games FTW. the good news is you just got the rules to deal with
them whether you are playing them inside or outside science.

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