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Don't Become a Scientist (1999)

yangxiao.cs.ua.edu

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Re: Don't Become a Scientist (1999)

#41

Post by next_xibalba »

blooalien wrote: post #35
next_xibalba wrote: post #32

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The capitalist box is the best box there is, for better or worse. It may also be worth pointing out that many of the greatest scientific breakthroughs in human history were either achieved before institutional science existed in a modern form, or were achieved outside the formal system. We may have been better off with a system in which science was left to a tiny elite of eccentric geniuses with academic freedom. It…

> "The capitalist box is the best box there is, for better or worse." Only because on the whole we've been utterly resistant to every attempt to try any other way since inventing " ". Bottomless greed is a real thing, and it's deeply dangerous to us all...

Many other ways have been tried. They have been abject failures with a little mass murder, famine, and war for bonus points!

Is there some way you're thinking of that has not been tried?

Re: Don't Become a Scientist (1999)

#42

Post by harimau777 »

next_xibalba wrote: post #40
harimau777 wrote: post #38

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Capitalism has created a hell world where anything that makes life worth living has long since been stripped for profit.

You should read about the history of communism. Until you do, you have no idea how utterly horrible life can get.

I'm not sure that's really relevant. If capitalism fails to allow people to live worthwhile lives, then I don't think it helps much to say some other system is worse. That doesn't change the fact that capitalism is a failed system.

Re: Don't Become a Scientist (1999)

#43

Post by harimau777 »

next_xibalba wrote: post #41
blooalien wrote: post #35

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> "The capitalist box is the best box there is, for better or worse." Only because on the whole we've been utterly resistant to every attempt to try any other way since inventing " ". Bottomless greed is a real thing, and it's deeply dangerous to us all...

Many other ways have been tried. They have been abject failures with a little mass murder, famine, and war for bonus points! Is there some way you're thinking of that has not been tried?

Democratic socialism, also called social democracy, has been dramatically more effective than America's late stage capitalism.

The heavily unionized capitalism that we had in the decades after WW2 also worked much better than our present system.

Re: Don't Become a Scientist (1999)

#45

Post by harimau777 »

nritchie wrote: post #23

What he says is still correct for academics. There are too many candidates for too few positions. The pay is lousy. The hours are long. You don't really get to follow you best creative instincts. You spend an inordinate amount of time writing grants. Teaching, particularly pre-meds, can suck. Now with Trump, the problem has only been compounded. That isn't to say that there are no non-academic jobs for PhDs that can…

It feels like part of the problem is that society has failed to provide alternatives. There are two many academics for too few jobs. However, there aren't really alternatives for intellectually stimulating careers.

Re: Don't Become a Scientist (1999)

#46

Post by neftaly »

lisper wrote: post #31
tehjoker wrote: post #29

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Some would say you educate people to cultivate an engaged citizenry

Very few people say that. Overwhelmingly the rhetoric one hears is that the purpose of higher education is to get a better job. Personally, I think it would be great if we educated people to cultivate an engaged citizenry. But if we're going to do that we have to be up-front about it an work on an economic model that supports it. So, for example, you can't have student loans that are predicated on being able to obtai…

Thomas Jefferson said that a bunch

Re: Don't Become a Scientist (1999)

#47

Post by blooalien »

harimau777 wrote: post #43
next_xibalba wrote: post #41

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Many other ways have been tried. They have been abject failures with a little mass murder, famine, and war for bonus points! Is there some way you're thinking of that has not been tried?

Democratic socialism, also called social democracy, has been dramatically more effective than America's late stage capitalism. The heavily unionized capitalism that we had in the decades after WW2 also worked much better than our present system.

> Democratic socialism, also called social democracy, has been dramatically more effective than America's late stage capitalism.

> The heavily unionized capitalism that we had in the decades after WW2 also worked much better than our present system.

^^^ This. ^^^

What I'd really like to see is pick all the various bits and pieces from all the things that have been tried that do work well and try to build something around using those bits to build a solid foundation, using the mistakes of the past to learn from and avoid; not repeat ad-nauseam throughout history until it brings about our eventual end as a species. Clearly not gonna happen though. We're all too hell-bent on actively not seeing any sorta "big picture" future for humanity beyond "he who dies with the most money wins".

Re: Don't Become a Scientist (1999)

#48

Post by bluSCALE4 »

btrettel wrote: post #8
bluSCALE4 wrote: post #5

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Feels to me a combination of old web with new web tricks is the key. People used to update obscure hobby details but there really was no way to donate. Creators didn't even think to bother to ask. All this democratization talk seems to be the solution.

I don't think crowdfunding is a good funding source for science in general. Crowdfunding's going to overemphasize already popular and easy to explain science at the expense of everything else. Boring sounding and unfamiliar stuff like the research I'd like to do would not succeed.

I disagree. There's a guy that doesn't have much attention that's creating fuel from burning plastic. He got crowdfunded. I also recall finding a website way back when of a dude that explored the old railroad tunnels of downtown Chicago. I would have 100% funded that guy for content.

Re: Don't Become a Scientist (1999)

#50

Post by binary132 »

harimau777 wrote: post #43
next_xibalba wrote: post #41

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Many other ways have been tried. They have been abject failures with a little mass murder, famine, and war for bonus points! Is there some way you're thinking of that has not been tried?

Democratic socialism, also called social democracy, has been dramatically more effective than America's late stage capitalism. The heavily unionized capitalism that we had in the decades after WW2 also worked much better than our present system.

Someone should do the super duper hard work of figuring out what it was exactly that changed and made that stop working.
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