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Trump fires NSF's oversight board

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Re: Trump fires NSF's oversight board

#121

Post by whatisthiseven »

chiefalchemist wrote: post #108
SomaticPirate wrote: post #71

Every American here has allowed the quickest decline of a superpower in history. The damage to our country is irreparable and going to result in a worse life for generations to come

Best I could tell, we were already there. DJT is simply a symptom. He’s what results after too many years of misrepresentation. He gets blamed for being the cause because those who actually led us into the decline don’t want to own their role in the mess. The fact that he got reelected is proof the status quo had lost the plot. Sure, he’s a scoundrel, but ultimately he’s a scapegoat.

Odd, why can't Trump be both cause and symptom?

Surely, he has made things uniquely worse, and in ways that would not have happened without him.

Re: Trump fires NSF's oversight board

#124

Post by magicalhippo »

simonw wrote: post #98
eat_veggies wrote: post #92

Earlier quoted context omitted.

From the Wikipedia article about the NSF: > With an annual budget of about $9.9 billion (fiscal year 2023), the NSF funds approximately 25% of all federally supported basic research conducted by the United States' colleges and universities. In some fields, such as mathematics, computer science, economics, and the social sciences, the NSF is the major source of federal backing [...] Since the technology boom of the 19…

This is the kind of scientific research which companies don't generally pay for because it doesn't have direct commercial application, but that companies and the economy benefit from enormously because you can use the results of that science to build a great deal of useful commercial things.

> This is the kind of scientific research which companies don't generally pay for because it doesn't have direct commercial application

Tom over at the Explosions&Fire channel (and Extractions&Ire channel) just published a video[1] about his academic career. In it he noted that in Australia where he's located, the defense companies were an exception to that general rule, and did indeed sponsor a fair bit of basic research, including his PhD. I assume in areas they figured had potential, but still.

[1]: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4CbdVkcr-Nw

Re: Trump fires NSF's oversight board

#125

Post by ivewonyoung »

simonw wrote: post #98
eat_veggies wrote: post #92

Earlier quoted context omitted.

From the Wikipedia article about the NSF: > With an annual budget of about $9.9 billion (fiscal year 2023), the NSF funds approximately 25% of all federally supported basic research conducted by the United States' colleges and universities. In some fields, such as mathematics, computer science, economics, and the social sciences, the NSF is the major source of federal backing [...] Since the technology boom of the 19…

This is the kind of scientific research which companies don't generally pay for because it doesn't have direct commercial application, but that companies and the economy benefit from enormously because you can use the results of that science to build a great deal of useful commercial things.

.

Re: Trump fires NSF's oversight board

#126

Post by LeCompteSftware »

simonw wrote: post #98
eat_veggies wrote: post #92

Earlier quoted context omitted.

From the Wikipedia article about the NSF: > With an annual budget of about $9.9 billion (fiscal year 2023), the NSF funds approximately 25% of all federally supported basic research conducted by the United States' colleges and universities. In some fields, such as mathematics, computer science, economics, and the social sciences, the NSF is the major source of federal backing [...] Since the technology boom of the 19…

This is the kind of scientific research which companies don't generally pay for because it doesn't have direct commercial application, but that companies and the economy benefit from enormously because you can use the results of that science to build a great deal of useful commercial things.

The more important research is the kind that the economy doesn't especially benefit from, but which needs to happen in order to improve the quality of human life.

I had a job paid by the National Science Foundation, doing genomics research on children with extremely rare (sometimes unique) genetic diseases. We did publish papers, and Big Pharma can glean a little bit about how we handled the biomedical informatics of managing data across different highly specialized labs, maybe a researcher will incrementally improve GWAS across the field. But that research was important because actual human children were suffering and needed help.

Re: Trump fires NSF's oversight board

#128

Post by BLKNSLVR »

GolfPopper wrote: post #55
jmyeet wrote: post #26

It's just own-goal after owl-goal with this administration. Federal research funding (NIH, NSF, etc) becomes economic power. I personally think the government should get a return on their research dollars but basically federally funded research has been given away to private companies since 1980 [1]. Interestingly, the Bayh-Dole Act was signed by president Jimmy Carter in a lame duck Congress after Ronald Reagan's el…

> It's just own-goal after owl-goal with this administration. The presumes that "Trump Administration" and "United States of America" are the same thing. The reality is that a Venn diagram of them would be two circles that barely touch. Is it really an "own goal" if you gravely injure your victim while you rob them?

No. They are 100% overlapping because democracy. Even if you didn't vote for Trump, you are part of the United States of America that voted for the Trump Administration to represent it.

Until the Trump Administration is replaced, the "Trump Administration" _is_ The United States of America.

It's certainly not what an increasing amount of the population want to be true, but facts can be sticky like that.

Re: Trump fires NSF's oversight board

#129

Post by krapp »

jmye wrote: post #115
stevemk14ebr wrote: post #102

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> It’s just a foundation? Please just let me know We are each responsible for learning ourselves, and we live in a time where that is easier than ever. I find it odd your default position is to assume it is not important.

It's not odd, given the rest of his comment ("they’re like the most blessed org"), it's just plain and simple dishonesty from someone who thinks a top-level comment casting doubt is better for the agitprop than a million follow-ups with explanation.

This entire thread has swiftly descended upon by bots, shills and sockpuppets. It'll be flagged before any hope of finding good faith conversation in the morass.

It's wild how efficient they are, sometimes.

Re: Trump fires NSF's oversight board

#130

Post by [deleted] »

simonw wrote: post #101
rectang wrote: post #78

Trying to find a silver lining and think positively... Will a future administration have an opportunity to build something new and better from scratch which would not have been possible due to institutional resistance before it was all burnt down?

If we're really, really lucky. Destroying institutions is one heck of a lot easier than building new ones.

[deleted]
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