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What's happening inside the NIH and NSF

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Re: What's happening inside the NIH and NSF

#271

Post by dauhak »

throwawaymaths wrote: post #66

just two days ago: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=42910829 the problems that led to these frauds are structural --no amount of patching the system will fix this. maybe we should consider the possibility that we are due for a refactor, which is often painful, but especially painful for people (or code) with an entrenched incentive to continue existing. i dont mean to defend what the administration is doing but I…

I'm very pro some systematic auditing/cleaning of out sclerotic waste, but I don't see how anyone can look at the way this is being handled and not be incredibly worried

I think it's the second-order stuff here. Even assuming Musk were to do a fantastic job at just clearing out inefficiency in a smart way (which seems unlikely given the actions he's taken/leaks around cutting funding based on key-word matching etc.), the higher-order point that someone can just buy their way into the President's inner-circle and have complete free-reign to seize government operations and make changes with 0 transparency/accountability seems like it does just stupid amounts of harm to the integrity of the system

Re: What's happening inside the NIH and NSF

#272

Post by bdangubic »

kristjansson wrote: post #268
bad_haircut72 wrote: post #161

I support scientific research of course but to play devils advocate, how can the USA afford this? They run a deficit and have an enormous debt. I dont understand how this can continously be ignored. Of course nobody wants cuts but how can it go on? Same with the foreign aid, isnt that something a country running a surplus should be worried about?

The US could pay its debt tomorrow, in full. We'd like to avoid that shock, if possible, but there's nothing uncreditworthy about running a fiscal deficit. USG revenue/spending should be reasoned about in terms of the resources it directs, and the resulting effects on US and world GDP. Everything else is just accounting.

it could if it borrowed money from china /s

Re: What's happening inside the NIH and NSF

#273

Post by technothrasher »

TylerE wrote: post #62
thinkingtoilet wrote: post #37

Earlier quoted context omitted.

These "regular people" that you seem to condescendingly speak about absolutely notice it at the pump and at the grocery store. They aren't mindless robots.

Boy are those folks gonna get what they voted for… Price of eggs dropped yet?

I just had a follow up conversation with a lady at work who had said she was voting for Trump because things like eggs were too expensive. Her comment about egg prices now was that she didn't understand why liberals were saddling Trump with egg prices, because the president can't control things like that. She literally did a complete 180 on the topic seemingly without any self awareness. I don't know how to reach people like that. I honestly don't.

Re: What's happening inside the NIH and NSF

#274

Post by dekhn »

bad_haircut72 wrote: post #161

I support scientific research of course but to play devils advocate, how can the USA afford this? They run a deficit and have an enormous debt. I dont understand how this can continously be ignored. Of course nobody wants cuts but how can it go on? Same with the foreign aid, isnt that something a country running a surplus should be worried about?

How can we afford it? because scientific discovery turbocharges our economy. Why do we have such a huge biotech industry? Why was the internet mostly built in the US? Why are we the only country that has placed somebody on the moon, and have huge launch capacities?

Because we invested in those technologies and they paid off handsomely. What you are seeing is the result of "profit externalization"- laws like Bayh Dole allow universities to profit from the research they carry out under contract with the government.

Everything we did, we did because the alternatives were worse.

Re: What's happening inside the NIH and NSF

#275

Post by jcgrillo »

switchbak wrote: post #154
unsnap_biceps wrote: post #12

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I think the former is most likely. The people are largely unhappy with how things have been and it's unlikely to get materially worse for the majority of people in the near term, so I don't think there will be a fire lit under enough of the population to rise up. If it gets bad enough that most people are starving, rather then just struggling, we'll see action, but I doubt it'll get there anytime soon.

The president just threatened Greenland with military action. That is absolutely fucking unprecedented in living memory, and well before. And that passed without much more than an exasperated sigh. No, I think the populace will go along with whatever these folks deem acceptable. It’s like a bad movie.

When their children are being drafted to go die in some war things will change rapidly. I'd give it a coin flip that's where we're headed right now.

EDIT: To be clear, that's predicated on assumption things are fundamentally different here and now from Germany in the 1930s. If not, we're already cooked.

Re: What's happening inside the NIH and NSF

#277

Post by relaxing »

Gabriel54 wrote: post #141

Despite all the hyperbole in this thread I will try to speak plainly. It has become tiring to see how DEI has affected all aspects of academia. Hiring people based on race, awarding grants to work exclusively with members of a particular set of minorities, etc. I'm sure most people choose to close their eyes to such things and move on and focus on the actual important work but there must be unimaginable waste going o…

[flagged]

Re: What's happening inside the NIH and NSF

#278

Post by relaxing »

dnissley wrote: post #249
tomlockwood wrote: post #145

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Do you have any verifiable numbers to back up the impact?

"A 2021 American Enterprise Institute survey of academic job postings found that 19% required DEI statements, and elite institutions were more likely to require them." https://www.thefire.org/research-learn/fire-statement-use-di... "Speech First, a group advocating for First Amendment rights on US campuses, released an investigation on Thursday that found 165 of 248 selected institutions — from American University to…

“DEI exists” isn’t an argument.

Re: What's happening inside the NIH and NSF

#279

Post by tomlockwood »

dnissley wrote: post #249
tomlockwood wrote: post #145

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Do you have any verifiable numbers to back up the impact?

"A 2021 American Enterprise Institute survey of academic job postings found that 19% required DEI statements, and elite institutions were more likely to require them." https://www.thefire.org/research-learn/fire-statement-use-di... "Speech First, a group advocating for First Amendment rights on US campuses, released an investigation on Thursday that found 165 of 248 selected institutions — from American University to…

What does this prove?

Re: What's happening inside the NIH and NSF

#280

Post by numpad0 »

RajT88 wrote: post #118
dan_can_code wrote: post #3

The cynic in me thinks that the US is going to roll over and take this fascist shake down. The optimist in me thinks that the people will rise up with a resounding NO and do something about it. Right now I'm not sure which I believe.

I live in the US; born here, lived here all my life. The former is 100% how it will go. The only question is: how bad will it get? A poster down thread mentions a million dead immigrants. I personally think it will just be in the low 6 figures. Maybe high 5 figures.

I thought the US has quite a bit more people than millions in total, regardless of which groups you wish to include or exclude.
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