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Terence Tao on the suspension of UCLA grants

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Re: Terence Tao on the suspension of UCLA grants

#251

Post by whamlastxmas »

m101 wrote: post #205
noelwelsh wrote: post #47

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Governments typically fund research because 1) it's seen as beneficial for the country, and hence falls under the remit of governments in democratic countries and 2) the uncertainty, time frame, or lack of direct commercialization of research typically means the private sector will not invest in it. Your suggestion is saying that research should be privatised, and shows very little thought about how research works an…

You make this statement as if it's fact. The actual reality of the matter is that neither you nor I know how research would progress were the government not stepping in and spending on our behalf. Your kind of argument is what is used to justify increasing amounts of government taxation and spending, over trusting the private sector to figure out ways of doing so, and the suggestion that government is the only way of…

There are tons of labs at universities that are privately funded. It’s not common but there’s plenty of them. And the one I know best is probably the top in the world for what it does (niche in physics)

Re: Terence Tao on the suspension of UCLA grants

#252

Post by soraminazuki »

eterm wrote: post #62
exe34 wrote: post #9

Earlier quoted context omitted.

They just fired the commissioner of Labour Statistics. The great thing about autocrats is that they neuter their own country pretty quickly. When you make it risky for people to give you bad news, you end up with missiles that don't work and capital ships that sink.

That may be a comforting thought, but the reality is that it takes decades for these things to have an effect, and there's no guarantee that transitioning to a low trust and high corruption society will result in the removal of the autocrat. See North Korea or Russia. People have been claiming they're on the verge of collapse for decades but the reality is that they just keep going.

Isn't that a bit too optimistic? Even before Trump, neoliberalism has wrecked the lives of the majority of Americans for decades at this point. See healthcare, housing, food safety, water supply, electrical grid, public transportation, broadband access, worker protection, wealth gap, and I'm sure I'm missing a lot more.

Is the reason we're in this situation.

Re: Terence Tao on the suspension of UCLA grants

#254

Post by NullCascade »

niemandhier wrote: post #128

Every phd student of Terence Tao is probably welcome at the Max Planck Institute For Mathematics: https://www.mpim-bonn.mpg.de/application Usually you need 2 letters of recommendation, I’d strongly assume that in the case of Tao one is enough. Generally please consider the new „ Max Planck Transatlantic Program“: https://www.mpg.de/25034916/max-planck-transatlantic-program

How is that going to help?

Germany has an even lower threshold for criticism of Israel and organized Judaism than the US.

Mainland Europe (excluding Germany) is generally way more pro-Palestinian than the US. However that doesn't extend to our institutions. Case in point: Dutch riot police brutally beating up University of Amsterdam students for setting up UCLA/Columbia-style tent blockades.

If you're an American academic or student you can come to Europe and continue both your work and pro-Palestinian activism within the Overton window of mainstream European consensus on the two-state solution. Anything that is more radical than that might get you in the same level of trouble or worse than the US.

Basically Europe is a non-solution for pro-Palestinian American academics and students.

Re: Terence Tao on the suspension of UCLA grants

#255

Post by qcnguy »

aaomidi wrote: post #230
qcnguy wrote: post #179

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Flipping the direction isn't some minor detail. That "flip" was the reason for the Allies to fight the second world war! The universities implement Nazi-like policies in which they try to keep Jews out illegally, others fought against them. If you aren't sure which side are in the wrong here, you need to ask yourself if it's yours.

Where are they keeping out Jewish people? Extraordinary claims and all that

Wow that's not at all extraordinary. That's the core of the reason they're paying giant fines. The Ivy Leagues have for years been using admission policies that are designed to reduce the number of Jews, Asians and whites they admit. It's always been illegal but the Democrat administrations never enforced the law because they liked what the colleges were doing. Now there's a new administration that doesn't and wants them to stop. That's the whole story behind what happening, I thought it was well known but apparently there are people who didn't get the story so far?

Re: Terence Tao on the suspension of UCLA grants

#256

Post by tomhow »

biggerbiggar wrote: post #237

[flagged]

We've banned this account for evidently being a single-purpose account for attacking another user (by virtue of its name). You're welcome to register a new account with a non-troll username if you intend to respect the guidelines and HN's intended purpose.

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

Re: Terence Tao on the suspension of UCLA grants

#258

Post by smugma »

NullCascade wrote: post #254
niemandhier wrote: post #128

Every phd student of Terence Tao is probably welcome at the Max Planck Institute For Mathematics: https://www.mpim-bonn.mpg.de/application Usually you need 2 letters of recommendation, I’d strongly assume that in the case of Tao one is enough. Generally please consider the new „ Max Planck Transatlantic Program“: https://www.mpg.de/25034916/max-planck-transatlantic-program

How is that going to help? Germany has an even lower threshold for criticism of Israel and organized Judaism than the US. Mainland Europe (excluding Germany) is generally way more pro-Palestinian than the US. However that doesn't extend to our institutions. Case in point: Dutch riot police brutally beating up University of Amsterdam students for setting up UCLA/Columbia-style tent blockades. If you're an American aca…

The problem Tao speaks of is his funding, not pro or anti Israel demonstrations.

The US is coupling student politics to academic research funding. Is that done in Germany or other parts of Europe or Australia?

Re: Terence Tao on the suspension of UCLA grants

#259

Post by qcnguy »

Eisenstein wrote: post #188
qcnguy wrote: post #173

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The administration's stated reason is bias and anti-semitism, are you claiming that this is the definition of urban intellectual? If so how do you defend it? If not, how do you define it?

Why do we assume that the administration is acting in good faith when all evidence has shown otherwise?

Because the stated rationale is logical, predictable and matches what the colleges have been doing. This outcome was widely predicted years in advance and would be happening even if Trump had never been born.
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