Seamus' blog

Recently I’ve been auditing a Harvard course by Raj Chetty, “Using Big Data to Solve Economic and Social Problems”, freely available here. It’s given me a lot to think about, both in the content of the lectures as well as how Chetty organizes the course and delivers the material. Motivation It’s the kind of economics class I think everyone should start with, and addresses the biggest complaint on the subject I have heard from new students to former econ majors like myself: too much theory and not enough impact on or connection to the real world. [Read More]

After recently setting up a new personal laptop, I figured I’d collect a guide to the data science toolkit setup for the next time I need to set up a machine. But of course I didn’t actually do so. Update 5/20/20: Well, that time has come earlier than expected, and I’m now setting up my old work computer as my personal computer (#uberon). I figured this time I might as well make a guide for myself while it’s fresh in my mind. [Read More]

Nate Kornell’s research shows that difficulty in learning is often a sign that you’re learning. Difficulty is in fact desirable, and the right amount of it is key to effective, long-term learning. This is one of the most fascinating findings in my I learned in college but that I didn’t internalize until 7 years later, after working and learning many new skills. Often when I’m learning a new skill or put into a new situation on the job, I encounter difficulty and a part of me thinks “this is a sign that I’m not good enough to do this. [Read More]

Having mostly taught myself R over the past few years, I wanted to gather some of the resources I’ve found most helpful in one place in order to help others who are interested in learning R as well. R A good place to get started with R and learn more is R studio cloud (https://rstudio.cloud/). You just make an account and access R Studio from the browser, no software to install and nothing to configure on your computer. [Read More]