u/Senior_Doughnut_2102

Second-year ML PhD and I’m starting to think “I should read a few more papers first” is just procrastination with citations.

Every new research direction goes the same way.

I start with 5 papers. Then it becomes 15. Then 30+. Zotero is full, my Notion page is getting ridiculous, I’ve asked ChatGPT to summarize a few things, used Connected Papers to chase related work, and tried Mira by Deep Principle to compare some of the papers.

And somehow I still haven’t run an experiment.

That’s the part that gets me. You can spend days doing “research” and feel productive the entire time, while still being unable to answer a very basic question:

What exactly am I testing?

Recently I stopped trying to understand an entire subfield before touching code. I just looked for recurring baselines, common metrics, disagreements between papers, and one or two things I could actually falsify.

That got me to a baseline and a couple experiments way faster than another 20 PDFs probably would have.

Now I’m wondering if the real skill isn’t reading more papers, but knowing when you have enough information to start being wrong.

How do you decide when to stop reading and just run the experiment?

Watchout for this server, they just ripping you off

https://preview.redd.it/t8fff57ubmeh1.png?width=1858&format=png&auto=webp&s=6d2424db67df874f32958a74b3573bf4782f3bb8

Hello, this story is way back high school and I am in college now,(3rd yr)... They say you know a scary story is a fake one when you ask a person that story a bunch of times and content changes on the little things... But my story is so vivid that even now I can still see what I experienced back then, the adrenaline the numbing of my lips after that, every thing feels like it was not from a long time ago...

It started with just a normal group project stuff, and we decided to do it at my friends house whom we know is haunted. At that time I was excited to experience it since it would be my first time experiencing something like that and I really am a skeptic at first.

For a background.. Our friend told us that it was a house that was used as a dumpsite for dead bodies back in world war II so that alone makes it scary.. it was a 2 story house, looks old, the 2nd floor was like an extension ( because the family staying on the house was being haunted, they made an extension for the 2nd floor) and in order for them not to be haunted they placed red things, ribbons or any red on the extension just so they couldn't be bothered by the hauntings.. and the house has a stair on the side of it that leads to the second floor.

So when we arrived sun was still up, we were a group of 7, and one has her mother join us too, and she can see.. things. at first look it was just like any normal house since we need to enter a gate first to see the house itself, but as I look up I can already see the red ribbons tied on the rails of the 2nd floor where they live. Nothing weird at first our friend guided as inside and the house really had an old design, the stairs, the living room is wide and old looking, and one weird design of the house is that the kitchen of the 1st floor, was a long dark hallway, and at the end of it was a single washing machine... Then we made our way up the stairs inside of the house, I don't know why I feel nervous at that time, either it was me trying to feel things that don't want to be felt or just my adrenaline for the experience. The afternoon passed by we did our project, her mother and her shared stories of things that happened to them there, it really makes you more scared but yea nothing happened since we were at the space where they put red ribbons.

I remembered asking my friend's mother to stand near the bathroom, because we need to go inside the 2nd floor of the house(its not in the extension) just so we could go to the restroom. I really was scared because the stories shared had some experiences with the cr too. But my first experience was when I used the cr on the side of the house, still on the second floor, its part of the extension but has no red ribbons. it was already dark then 7pm onwards, and that cr was small had a small exhaust window and near it a mango tree. As I was doing my business, It was faced towards the small window, but its very dark so I cant really see much, not until I glanced for a second time that I saw red eyes, staring it was so red that it stands out from the pitch black of the night. At that time I dismissed it, thinking I was just seeing things since it was only a quick glance. I asked the mother of the friend we were staying at, and there really was a Kapre there. I know those exists so it was not a surprise but what happened to me next really made me remember it up to this day.

So when we were set to go home, the mother of my friend who owns the house said that we should use the stairs on the side of the house which we all agreed to. Before we went down she stated a few rules, 1. Don't mind the dogs barking. 2. Just keep walking 3. Don't look at the windows. After that we started to go down. We were already at the middle of the stairs, there it started, the multiple barking of dogs, it was very loud. It was creepy but still manageable. now we were at the first floor, we were walking on a straight line since the passage was thin. There were 2 windows, those windows if you looked at it, you can see most of the living room and the stairs inside since it was just a wide space. I passed the first one without really looking since it had curtains. Then as I was about to pass the second window. I peeked since I was really curious**, Once I looked, I stopped walking, and I was just staring at it like I was in a trance, A long white dress and long black haired lady was walking towards the stairs looking like it was about to go up. I don't know how long I stood there, I don't know if I was scared or amazed or both. I was just there standing steel and I don't event think that I was able to hear things at all.. its like everything became mute as I stare at it.** I was only able to move when the mother of my friend dragged my arm to keep walking towards the exit, it was only then I regained my sense to hear. She said, she kept calling me but I was not responding.

That was my experience, but it didn't stop there. Like I said we also came with another mother who can see things, when were already outside, She explained she saw someone at the rails where the red ribbons were. and she also explained that something was on her back that made her feel heavy... It only let go when we were out of the village...

These things was my first experience of anything paranormal, and up to this day the house is still haunted, I haven't went back up to this day.. but I am not scared enough to not visit it again.. Hope you got chills as much as I did.