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Who Gets to Be a Science Nerd?

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Re: Who Gets to Be a Science Nerd?

#11

Post by gaius »

tgb wrote: post #7
sevenfive wrote: post #5

> In September of 2015, 14-year-old Ahmed Mohamed showed up to his high school with a clock he’d made himself https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=CEmSwJTqpgY More like he took apart a walmart alarm clock and glued the parts to a mini suitcase (Described by the media as a "pencil case")

Since this gets discussed to death, I think it's worth pointing out that it's relevance to the article is not what he did but the public reaction that young science/engineering/math interests ought to be encouraged in anyone with the interest. Whether his clock was worthy of that attention is independent of that, and it's kinda a shame the article starts with a highly distracting controversial example.

Right, no-one thought he had a bomb (proof: they didn't evacuate). They thought he had made a Hollywood-style imitation bomb for reasons of a prank. And that is not an appropriate prank to play in a school in the current climate.

Re: Who Gets to Be a Science Nerd?

#12

Post by tgb »

gaius wrote: post #11
tgb wrote: post #7

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Since this gets discussed to death, I think it's worth pointing out that it's relevance to the article is not what he did but the public reaction that young science/engineering/math interests ought to be encouraged in anyone with the interest. Whether his clock was worthy of that attention is independent of that, and it's kinda a shame the article starts with a highly distracting controversial example.

Right, no-one thought he had a bomb (proof: they didn't evacuate). They thought he had made a Hollywood-style imitation bomb for reasons of a prank. And that is not an appropriate prank to play in a school in the current climate.

No you missed my point! It doesn't matter what happened that day, all that matters is that it became a national phenomenon to praise the ideal of a child scientist.

Re: Who Gets to Be a Science Nerd?

#13

Post by gaius »

TheGirondin wrote: post #10

Girls didn't want to pursue science because it has had a severe social stigma attached to it. This created a self-fulfilling prophesy that ensured only social outcasts with no social standing to lose would consider being interested in it. Boys have much greater range of higher ceilings and lower floors than girls did in the past (and still today, just less so), so the people at the bottom are overwhelmingly male. The…

The elephant in the corner of the room is: there is no shortage of scientists. The great universities of the West churn out far, far more PhDs than there are post-doc positions for, let alone tenure-track. This has been true for decades at least. I probably know a few dozen PhD holders personally, and I can count on one hand the number actually working in academia...

Maybe what's really happening is that boys are impulsive enough to let their love of a subject overwhelm their better judgement, and girls take an objective look at long-term career prospects, then sign up for law or med school, both of which have very high female participation.

Re: Who Gets to Be a Science Nerd?

#14

Post by wl »

gohrt wrote: post #9
sevenfive wrote: post #5

> In September of 2015, 14-year-old Ahmed Mohamed showed up to his high school with a clock he’d made himself https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=CEmSwJTqpgY More like he took apart a walmart alarm clock and glued the parts to a mini suitcase (Described by the media as a "pencil case")

That's a lot of saltiness over a kid who took apart a clock and re-assembled it without breaking it, following in the steps of Richard Feynman.

The saltiness isn't over what he did, but that he claimed to do something he didn't do. He did not build a clock as he claimed. He moved a commercially available alarm clock from one case to another. If he designed the logic and built it out of logic gates/a PLD or even built a kit, he could have legitimately claimed he built a clock. But he didn't.

Re: Who Gets to Be a Science Nerd?

#15

Post by blacksmythe »

gaius wrote: post #13
TheGirondin wrote: post #10

Girls didn't want to pursue science because it has had a severe social stigma attached to it. This created a self-fulfilling prophesy that ensured only social outcasts with no social standing to lose would consider being interested in it. Boys have much greater range of higher ceilings and lower floors than girls did in the past (and still today, just less so), so the people at the bottom are overwhelmingly male. The…

The elephant in the corner of the room is: there is no shortage of scientists. The great universities of the West churn out far, far more PhDs than there are post-doc positions for, let alone tenure-track. This has been true for decades at least. I probably know a few dozen PhD holders personally, and I can count on one hand the number actually working in academia... Maybe what's really happening is that boys are imp…

  >> The great universities of the West churn out far, 
    far more PhDs than there are post-doc positions for, 
    let alone tenure-track.
In steady state, each professor, on average, can only produce one student who goes on to be a professor.

Re: Who Gets to Be a Science Nerd?

#16

Post by frgtpsswrdlame »

wl wrote: post #14
gohrt wrote: post #9

Earlier quoted context omitted.

That's a lot of saltiness over a kid who took apart a clock and re-assembled it without breaking it, following in the steps of Richard Feynman.

The saltiness isn't over what he did, but that he claimed to do something he didn't do. He did not build a clock as he claimed. He moved a commercially available alarm clock from one case to another. If he designed the logic and built it out of logic gates/a PLD or even built a kit, he could have legitimately claimed he built a clock. But he didn't.

Why are you so upset by the project of a 14 year old? It wasn't as complex as a child thought it was, who cares?

Re: Who Gets to Be a Science Nerd?

#17

Post by TheGirondin »

frgtpsswrdlame wrote: post #16
wl wrote: post #14

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The saltiness isn't over what he did, but that he claimed to do something he didn't do. He did not build a clock as he claimed. He moved a commercially available alarm clock from one case to another. If he designed the logic and built it out of logic gates/a PLD or even built a kit, he could have legitimately claimed he built a clock. But he didn't.

Why are you so upset by the project of a 14 year old? It wasn't as complex as a child thought it was, who cares?

You must be completely ignoring the context and the media response that followed. Even President Obama cared enough about it invite him to White House.

Re: Who Gets to Be a Science Nerd?

#18

Post by snowwrestler »

TheGirondin wrote: post #17
frgtpsswrdlame wrote: post #16

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Why are you so upset by the project of a 14 year old? It wasn't as complex as a child thought it was, who cares?

You must be completely ignoring the context and the media response that followed. Even President Obama cared enough about it invite him to White House.

Because he got handcuffed. Not because the project itself was worthy of attention from the President.

He got invited to the White House to provide counterbalance to the social idea that brown-skinned kids with beeping electronics are criminals that should have the cops called on them.

The simplicity of the project makes the reaction of the school worse not better.

Re: Who Gets to Be a Science Nerd?

#19

Post by Kroniker »

tgb wrote: post #7
sevenfive wrote: post #5

> In September of 2015, 14-year-old Ahmed Mohamed showed up to his high school with a clock he’d made himself https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=CEmSwJTqpgY More like he took apart a walmart alarm clock and glued the parts to a mini suitcase (Described by the media as a "pencil case")

Since this gets discussed to death, I think it's worth pointing out that it's relevance to the article is not what he did but the public reaction that young science/engineering/math interests ought to be encouraged in anyone with the interest. Whether his clock was worthy of that attention is independent of that, and it's kinda a shame the article starts with a highly distracting controversial example.

I seem to remember something about his sister claiming the entire thing was a PR stunt- that they purposefully make headlines look like "brown child brings in sketchy electronic device, racists call him terrorist" to get on the news. Anyone know what became of them? Last I heard they moved to Saudi Arabia.

Re: Who Gets to Be a Science Nerd?

#20

Post by frgtpsswrdlame »

TheGirondin wrote: post #17
frgtpsswrdlame wrote: post #16

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Why are you so upset by the project of a 14 year old? It wasn't as complex as a child thought it was, who cares?

You must be completely ignoring the context and the media response that followed. Even President Obama cared enough about it invite him to White House.

The context is about whether race influenced police to deny his rights. How does the complexity of his wiring project matter at all?
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