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Why I'm resigning from the National Science Foundation

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Re: Why I'm resigning from the National Science Foundation

#211

Post by hackyhacky »

ahmeneeroe-v2 wrote: post #179
mystraline wrote: post #162

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> I genuinely don't understand how this can be a coup when all three branches agree. The courts have been captured and politicized heavily. Clearance Thomas should be expelled for emoluments. Kavanaugh also for lying on the stand. Congress has a bare majority for republicans. So getting impeachments for actual crimes by republicans is a non-starter. POTUS and executive branch can run roughshod, and order all sorts of…

>The courts have been captured and politicized heavily This isn't a real thing. They're not captured, people are just on them that you don't like and they're ruling against your values. >Congress has a bare majority for republicans So the majority is governing?

> This isn't a real thing. They're not captured, people are just on them that you don't like and they're ruling against your values.

They're not ruling against "my values", they're actually illegally. The people who are supposed to stop them aren't, and are thus captured.

Re: Why I'm resigning from the National Science Foundation

#212

Post by naasking »

dakr wrote: post #199
naasking wrote: post #146

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> Astronomy. What benefits do you expect to see from the kinds astronomy that require this sort of funding? Sure, knowing things can be nice but this ignores opportunity costs, eg. would practical knowledge like fusion research be further along if talent weren't focused on impractical knowledge? > Physics. Not strictly true, see quantum computing for instance, lasers, semiconductors and so on. There are some types of…

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Re: Why I'm resigning from the National Science Foundation

#213

Post by acdha »

jsbg wrote: post #159
vunderba wrote: post #144

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Didn't the space race help usher in consumer technology such as CAT scanners, GPS, digital imaging, etc.?

How do you know those scientists and engineers would have contributed less to society had they been employed based on supply and demand instead of central planning?

Using an inaccurate phrase like “central planning” calls your motives into question. That’s designed to conjure up scary images of Cold War-era Russia or China, but it’s really not how things work in a democracy where democratically-elected representatives allocate money based on their constituents’ interests, and hire experts in their fields to disburse those funds to private researchers based on the recommendations of other private experts, and the resulting research is often greatly profitable for private companies competing in the market (nobody bought Air Force microchips or had to license CRISPR from the president’s nephew).

One thing all of the major advances which shaped the 20th century have in common is that they required huge upfront spending which even large companies couldn’t afford. Smart people will contribute to society in various ways but creating those opportunities allows that to happen more frequently and on a larger scale.

Re: Why I'm resigning from the National Science Foundation

#214

Post by j7ake »

mettamage wrote: post #164
burkaman wrote: post #15

Earlier quoted context omitted.

They're working on it: https://arstechnica.com/science/2025/05/europe-launches-prog... Here's an article from a European perspective: https://www.spiegel.de/international/world/usa-scientists-lo...

500 million euro's to attract scientists? I asked ChatGPT, it thought for 3 minutes and 36 seconds. You can see the Q&A here [1]. Assuming that a one year salary of the average scientist is 100K euro's [2] then that means you're trying to attract an extra 1250 scientists that will work for 4 years. That doesn't sound like a lot on a continental scale. [1] https://chatgpt.com/share/682376a6-5c68-8005-89ab-2bedd453c7..…

1000 scientists is a lot. The entire Microsoft research department is about 1000 scientists, and they are a productive bunch

Re: Why I'm resigning from the National Science Foundation

#215

Post by hackyhacky »

ahmeneeroe-v2 wrote: post #197
mystraline wrote: post #183

Earlier quoted context omitted.

So, emoluments violations, bribery, and perjury should be legal? I wasn't calling out party political disputes. I was calling out taking massive bribes, violating the emoluments clause, and perjury. Your politics are showing. I prefer rule of law, not of kakistocrat.

Where have you been for the past 25 years?? These are par for the course in our governing class. This isn't whataboutism , this is extensive behavior that we've seen for at least a generation now (e.g. expensive speeches to Wall St, congressional insider trading, revolving door of regulators/industry)

> Where have you been for the past 25 years?

This is a very myopic view.

In the past 3 months, we've seen curtailing of civil liberties (bypassing due process), open bribery (memecoin pay-to-play, Qatari airplane), illegal interference with independent agencies (firing head of CFPB), executive overreach ("emergency" tariffs), violations of free speech (punishing law firms for their clients), etc. None of this is precedented at this scale.

What you are doing is exactly what aboutism, by claiming that minor transgressions in the past excuse blatant authoritarianism.

Re: Why I'm resigning from the National Science Foundation

#216

Post by hackyhacky »

daveguy wrote: post #151
ahmeneeroe-v2 wrote: post #145

Earlier quoted context omitted.

>the exec, the courts, and a majority of congress I genuinely don't understand how this can be a coup when all three branches agree. I mean sure, we are well outside the strict scope of Constitution, but that ship left generations ago.

It won't be a coup if they abide by the results of the 2026 election. Last time an election didn't go their way, they did not abide by the results.

It's a coup now because they are seizing power that has not been granted to them.

Firing the head of the CBFP, installing a non-approved Librarian of Congress, bypassing agency regulations such as IRS privacy laws, etc. That's all illegal. It's a coup by the President against the rest of the government.

Re: Why I'm resigning from the National Science Foundation

#217

Post by hackyhacky »

WillPostForFood wrote: post #68
amanaplanacanal wrote: post #10

Evidently the president appointed one of his personal attorneys to be the new librarian of Congress. The library turned him away because Congress hasn't approved him. It seems it's becoming more of a clusterfuck just about every day.

Not that different than the author of this article. Is she a neutral scientist acting in the best interest of science? No, she is a Biden political appointee: Nelson was deputy assistant to President Joe Biden and principal deputy director for science and society of the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy Is she even a highly qualified? She has a Ph.D., but in what? Nelson earned a Bachelor of Science…

Being appointed by a former president makes her unqualified to comment on the subject how?

If you want to disagree with her commentary, do so on its merits. Dismissing her arguments because of who is making them is ad hominem fallacy.

You're using a person's associations as an excuse to avoid engaging with their ideas.

Re: Why I'm resigning from the National Science Foundation

#218

Post by hackyhacky »

AlexandrB wrote: post #41
Onawa wrote: post #25

As a federal contractor within NIH, I can tell you that the damage has already been done to the United States' dominance in science. Even if every action taken by current administration is reversed, the uncertainty for foreign scientists is too much. Many that I have spoken to are looking for their exit from either gov or academic research, or looking to leave the United States completely. The Trump admins cuts are n…

I'm increasingly sympathetic to the perspective that universities cannot both exclude any questioning of their ideological leaning while also expecting republican administrations and voters to continue funding them. I've seen this best expressed here: https://unsafescience.substack.com/p/the-beatings-will-conti... It's one thing to want public funding, but it's quite another to want that funding while expecting naked…

> I'm increasingly sympathetic to the perspective that universities cannot both exclude any questioning of their ideological leaning

Well, they don't do that. The myth that universities are liberal monocultures is propagated by the right as an excuse to attack them.

Let's turn your argument around: most police departments employee conservative voters. Would you be comfortable with the government requiring "viewpoint diversity" among police offices? After all, why should liberal politicians fund non-liberal institutions?

The government should not discriminate based on political orientation. Government services, including government-funded universities, should serve all Americans.

> It's one thing to want public funding, but it's quite another to want that funding while expecting nakedly partisan purity testing like "DEI statements" for faculty.

Universities are, and should be, free to choose their own values and hiring practice.

Re: Why I'm resigning from the National Science Foundation

#219

Post by dang »

libraryatnight wrote: post #86
WillPostForFood wrote: post #68

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Not that different than the author of this article. Is she a neutral scientist acting in the best interest of science? No, she is a Biden political appointee: Nelson was deputy assistant to President Joe Biden and principal deputy director for science and society of the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy Is she even a highly qualified? She has a Ph.D., but in what? Nelson earned a Bachelor of Science…

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Yikes, we ban accounts that post like this for what ought to be obvious reasons. Please don't do it again.

https://news.ycombinator.com/newsguidelines.html

Edit: you've unfortunately been doing this repeatedly (e.g. https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=43974234), and the problem goes back quite a while: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=39122658. Moreover, we've warned you several times before:

https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=37366673 (Sept 2023)

https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=35920165 (May 2023)

https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=24381956 (Sept 2020)

I really don't want to ban someone who's been here for 13 years but this is not acceptable. If you'd please review the guidelines and fix it, we'd be grateful.

Re: Why I'm resigning from the National Science Foundation

#220

Post by naasking »

alabastervlog wrote: post #208
naasking wrote: post #193

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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[EDIT: The way I wrote this was mean, and why be mean? Rephrasing to be less mean: I reviewed the thread and found your claim to be inaccurate] Yeah, that's enough of this for one day.

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