Technology invades the modern world

Chapter 7 Core Advantages
Cherry Springs State Park is known as the best place for stargazing in New York, but it is actually not in New York State, but in Pennsylvania, and it takes about four hours to drive there and back.

On the way back, Lin Ran had almost sorted out his thoughts.

Whether it is 1960 or 2020, his biggest advantage is the information gap.

Various information gaps.

From events that shocked the world, such as the assassination of Kennedy, to technical details such as the design of the Apollo spacecraft escape tower being a solid-fuel rocket.

The Apollo spacecraft escape tower used small rockets loaded with bundles of solid fuel, a bit like the rockets we played with as children. It corrected its trajectory at the moment of explosive ignition. It was simple and reliable but had low precision.

Information gaps, big and small, constitute his core advantage.

A large number of core secrets at the time have long been declassified in 2020 and have become publicly available information in libraries, provided to historians for research.

There is also a large amount of information gap between 1960 and 2020.

For example, if he can participate in the entire manned moon landing, which even America herself cannot replicate now, does it mean that he is familiar with all the technical details, big and small, and can replicate the manned moon landing in 2020?
But you can’t exploit the information gap just because you want to.

In particular, there is a gap between the information on the surface and the information to be used in actual operations. This gap is the so-called distortion of historical materials.

There are many reasons for the distortion of historical materials. For example, people who record history may be influenced by personal biases, emotions, political positions or cultural backgrounds, resulting in their descriptions of events being less than objective or biased.

Or the historian may have to rely on limited sources of information, which may be incomplete, inaccurate, or have been tampered with.

It also includes the fact that the historian may not have personally experienced the events and can only rely on second-hand information or hearsay to describe the events. These materials may have been passed on many times, resulting in distorted information.

Digging out history from those who witnessed the events is the best way to take advantage of information gaps.

"Being a great scientist in 1960 and a porter of history in 2020, this may be a shortcut in the initial stage." Lin Ran thought.

The business he did in the past can help him now and in the future.

This means that he can find people he knows in his WeChat address book at any of the top 300 universities in the world.

In Lin Ran's view, these can all become part of his information gap, and if he wants to start a business in the future, there will be plenty of talents to choose from.

As the brain evolved, he could clearly remember the characteristics displayed by each person in the conversation.

"But if we go back to 1960, the Fabian Society is a good starting point," Lin Ran thought. "But this matter still needs to be considered in the long run. I need to have a good chat with Sister Xiaoman later. If possible, it would be best to borrow the Fabian Society badge left by his grandfather, but I'm not sure if it's a good idea to borrow it."

The customer on the other end of the video is the daughter of his mother’s best friend, and she is the kind of customer that cannot be turned away at all.

However, acquaintance is acquaintance, business is business, and consulting fees must still be charged.

When he had gathered his thoughts, a Word document appeared on the Zoom video conference shared on his computer screen:
Basic information: Female, Chinese doctoral supervisor, US News Top 10 Assistant Professor
A low-tier 211 university, a US News Top 10 PhD+Postdoc.
Academic homepage: 30t+Pubbations.
Research direction: new materials, composite materials

Leading 2 NIH-funded projects"

There was very little basic information, and Lin Ran scanned it all at a glance. He actually already had the answer in his mind.

US News Top 10 Assistant Professors refers to assistant professors at the top ten universities in the United States.

NIH refers to the National Institutes of Health of America, which is similar to China's Academy of Medical Sciences. It is not easy for newcomers to obtain funding from NIH, let alone the other party has two projects funded by NIH.

"With the exception of a bottom-tier 211 university with an almost perfect resume, female Chinese doctoral supervisors may indeed prefer Chinese women. The shared background may lead them to be more sympathetic to your situation and needs."

Just a few words gave the client on the other end of the video initial trust, because she also had the same considerations and included this supervisor at the top of her priority list for her doctoral application, and she had just received the offer from him not long ago.

"But..." Lin Ran stretched out his voice. It was clear the client had taken the bait. "But what?"

Having provided study abroad consulting to countless clients, Lin Ran had already developed a mature sales pitch. It was perfectly natural for them to fall for it. Pursuing a doctorate was a long-term endeavor for anyone, a significant investment of time and energy. In some ways, it was a gamble. Given the high stakes, spending two thousand yuan on an off-site advisor wasn't expensive at all.

The price has risen from two hundred to two thousand, relying on both information asymmetry and a good understanding of customer psychology.

“But she could be an academic Daji.

She completed her PhD at a top-ten US News university, then did a postdoc, and then stayed on to teach. There are only two possibilities for her to have gone from a low-tier 211 university to a top-ten university. The first is that she is truly academically strong; GPA alone isn't enough; she must have produced substantial results during her undergraduate studies. The second possibility is that her professors truly admire her.

Then look at her paper publications, more than 30 papers. For an assistant professor in the top 10 universities in North America, especially in the field of materials, this number of publications is obviously not enough.

There are also only two situations: the first is that she is relatively young, and the second is that his paper is of very high quality.

Therefore, she needs to have very strong academic ability during her undergraduate studies, demonstrating her great talent, and then produce very valuable results during her doctoral and postdoctoral stages. Both are indispensable.

With such talent and only a 211 undergraduate degree, is it possible? Yes, but it is relatively small.

So I guess she is more likely to be an academic Daji."

The beautiful customer in the video blinks her big eyes, and her eyelashes seem to be asking what academic Daji is.

"To put it simply, she relies on her beauty to gain the admiration of the experts, who then help her ascend. Having a beautiful woman to please the eyes in the lab is also a good thing.

If this is the case, then if you go there you will only be ostracized and suppressed, and you will not be able to access her greatest resource, that is, the big shot who leads her.

Since the big boss can give her resources because of her beauty, he may also give you resources because of your beauty. In order to eliminate this possibility, she will deliberately suppress you. "

The other party was first shy because the other party praised her good looks, and then became worried because of the possibility raised by Lin Ran: "What should I do?"

The other party half believed it because, firstly, Lin Ran was well-known in the field of Jiaotong University or the entire Shenhai university circle, and secondly, she knew some hidden information and knew that this Chinese female doctoral supervisor was still charming at her age.

"Can you show me the tutor's specific information?" Lin Ran asked.

The other party switched the interface to the tutor's academic homepage.

After taking another look at the instructor's personal homepage, Lin Ran felt more at ease. His guess turned out to be correct: "This instructor, EM, started recruiting students last year and now has two students. If I remember correctly, one of my former mentors did his doctoral work under her.

How about I make a phone call and ask for you?"

A phone call came in, and the senior student on the other end of the phone began to complain bitterly: "Don't say it anymore. We were only given one day off for New Year's Day. It's a rip-off. This supervisor just attends various academic conferences every day. When he sees others publish in top journals, he thinks this direction may be a new hot topic and asks us to follow it.

She has only me and another friend as her students. We have been assigned to track more than ten hot spots. I can't provide any guidance on my job, but the hot spots keep coming one after another. I don't check Weibo anymore because I get a headache when I see the hot spots on Weibo.

Every time I have a question about my job, I always ask her PhD supervisor. Am I her supervisor or her PhD supervisor? If so, why don't I communicate directly with her PhD supervisor?

Mr. Lin, I can only say: Cherish your life and stay away from Chinese female PhD supervisors. Every single one of them is a pitfall. I've met no one who worked with a Chinese female PhD supervisor who didn't complain. When you apply for a PhD, be very careful. I couldn't help it. I was seduced by the reputation of this top ten North American university. I knew there was a tiger in the mountain, but I still went there.

The complaints from the loudspeaker reached across the Pacific Ocean to the other side of the world. The other party's face changed instantly. Fortunately, he spent money to consult someone, otherwise he would have fallen into the trap and not even realized it.

After the call ended, Lin Ran said, "So, junior, I'll send you this senior's WeChat later. You can talk to him about the details."

This dispelled the other party's last concern.

If we don't push WeChat, there is a possibility that the other party will hire someone to fabricate the information. But if we push WeChat, the cost of fabrication is too high.

"I've got the two thousand yuan, but it's a headache to figure out how to talk to Sister Xiaoman next." Lin Ran sighed after exiting the video conference.

(End of this chapter)