Hacker News Board Hacker News, browsed like a classic message board
Live data from Hacker News

Trump fires NSF's oversight board

science.org

Post reply on HN
Print view View original

211–220 of 383 posts

Re: Trump fires NSF's oversight board

#211

Post by chronofar »

jwpapi wrote: post #207

I’m trying to understand what rationale could be behind this decision. America has grandly benefitted hugely from their scientific community. All the hyperscaler could build up because the engineers felt good in America. This might not kill it, but it risks it. What could be the reason he’s doing it, how does he benefit from it, or thinks he benefits from it?

Perhaps you answered your own question. I think our confusion sometimes stems from assuming those in charge must want to benefit that which they are charged with stewarding.

Re: Trump fires NSF's oversight board

#212

Post by MaxfordAndSons »

jwpapi wrote: post #207

I’m trying to understand what rationale could be behind this decision. America has grandly benefitted hugely from their scientific community. All the hyperscaler could build up because the engineers felt good in America. This might not kill it, but it risks it. What could be the reason he’s doing it, how does he benefit from it, or thinks he benefits from it?

Seems pretty clear to me.

It A) gives business funding that would otherwise have to give up equity to VCS or sell to PE or whatever other forms of private, for-profit funding. And B) takes away money that could go to the military or ICE or other programs that could be used to concentrate Trumps power or aggrandizement.

> America has grandly benefitted hugely from their scientific community.

Has Trump and his friend benefited from this program? No? Then this doesn't matter.

Re: Trump fires NSF's oversight board

#214

Post by bdangubic »

BLKNSLVR wrote: post #196
readitalready wrote: post #150

I'm OK with it. You're supposed to destroy countries that are committing genocide. And Trump is doing that for us without us even firing a shot. And I really do believe Trump wants to destroy the US, as his base are not aligned with the liberal democratic values that are led by racist genocidal maniacs anyways. There really is no moral defense of the US at this point, given the last few years of the genocide it is ac…

What I find amusing is how cheaply Trump is profiting. He and his family will have made a handful of billions of dollars, whilst costing the US an incalculable number of trillions over the next few decades. Trump will have been an incredibly cheap victory for whichever new superpowers emerge. I half expect the entire Trump family to move to Dubai in 2029.

They are not moving anywhere. Baron will be President one day, this is about as certainty as that Sun will rise tomorrow morning. As much as people may like or not the Trump family is now part (big part) of the fabric of the United States and he will be remember (for better or worse) as one of the most influential Presidents ever. The fact that he should be in rotting in prison (probably should have spent most of his adult life there for crimes he committed before he ever got into politics) is a moot now. He will live in NYC and Mar-a-Largo, his family is not going anywhere and will be in the White House again in 8 to 12 years.

Re: Trump fires NSF's oversight board

#215

Post by pixelpoet »

SpicyLemonZest wrote: post #201
pixelpoet wrote: post #152

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It's a term much like freedumb, mocking their celebration of ignorance, not their accent.

[flagged]

In my opinion the people who are deliberately destroying science and education should be prosecuted for literal textbook treason, not merely mocked.

These are the "fuck your feelings" people whose feelings you're worrying about.

Re: Trump fires NSF's oversight board

#216

Post by dnautics »

notahacker wrote: post #83
dnautics wrote: post #66

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> The current system is not perfect but it’s far better than no system at all. you should question this assertion. your assertion is dependent on the assumption that science is a strictly positive sum game (with respect to funding). i am saying it is not, and i have provided the mechanistic explanation of why it's not. all i ask people to think about is: bad science is worth negative.

imagine trying to insinuate with a straight face that firing everyone on a funding oversight body because they queried the executive branch bypassing the oversight is somehow going to reduce fraudulent research and grift in state sponsored science...

the existence of a body named X does not imply they were doing X, or doing X well.

a better argument would be that trump doing this is possibly toxic because the process of resetting becomes overly political and associated with trump shenanigans. i guess that argument was too sophisticated to make

Re: Trump fires NSF's oversight board

#217

Post by SpicyLemonZest »

pixelpoet wrote: post #215
SpicyLemonZest wrote: post #201

Earlier quoted context omitted.

[flagged]

In my opinion the people who are deliberately destroying science and education should be prosecuted for literal textbook treason, not merely mocked. These are the "fuck your feelings" people whose feelings you're worrying about.

It's the feelings of uninformed people who don't yet know what's going on that I'm worrying about. Saying things like "libruls" and "freedumb" makes it harder to build the coalition which we'll need to prosecute the perpetrators.
Post reply on HN