It is all about mentality LiYi Wei Course

It is all about mentality Li-Yi Wei 魏立一

Course prerequisite No explicit background is needed. Though, our guess is that only these who have experienced a "reject" of a submitted paper have the potential to fully enjoy the course. I got plenty “prerequisites” (rumored) MSR record holder for rejections in 1 year 1 st (reject), 2 nd (reject), 3 rd (score 2. 7 & got in)

Talent vs. Mentality You don’t need to be very talented for research I don’t think I am (so you will be fine) Too late anyway Mentality is more important Trainable

BASICS

Do what you love All other factors are ephemeral Trend, popularity, hotness, … More likely to be productive and successful You will spend a lot of time on your stuff Less likely regret in the worst case (e. g. reject) At least you have fun Start your own stuff It is like investing; followers are already late Life is too short

Do the best Graphics → SIGGRAPH Vision → CVPR, ICCV … Hard work anyway; so go for the jugular Happier if succeed, less sad if fail Life is too short

ALGORITHMS

Randomness Humans prefer certainty Life is random end start fiction reality

Randomness in accept/reject accept deterministic quality bar reject fiction clear accept borderline stochastic quality zone clear reject reality

Monte Carlo Sampling Life long intrinsic acceptance rate r = x% r seems 0 if the first paper got rejected r seems 1 if the first paper got accepted Need more samples! (be patient, and try more. )

Objectivity Humans are biased Optimistic → self Pessimistic → others Score by you Score by others Get feedbacks Early & frequent Self criticism Paper by you Paper by others

Don’t get mad (a few) nasty reviewers might exist Useless to get upset Get even! Assume reviewers are going to kill your paper

Discipline Humans like to procrastinate Start early Manage projects by Paper draft Schedule

Practice Humans are lazy Research is a craft; learn through practice read write code experiment talk create

Practice what? A chain is only as strong as its weakest link Practice the weakest link Cause of rejection

APPLICATIONS

SIGGRAPH What SIGGRAPH wants What we have Right problem Novel idea Solid algorithms Good apps & results Clear writing Engaging talk Do what you love Do the best Randomness Objectivity Discipline Practice

Be happy Long term productivity depends on happiness Live healthy and happy Sleep, exercise, eat, social life, … Creativity depends on happiness I got all my ideas outside office Be nice and positive to others Especially in conferences & reviews