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

Terence Tao on the suspension of UCLA grants

mathstodon.xyz

Post reply on HN
Print view View original

81–90 of 328 posts

Re: Terence Tao on the suspension of UCLA grants

#81

Post by watwut »

mehulashah wrote: post #46

This is a tragedy. Our pre-eminence as a scientific and industrial powerhouse that really began post WWII is now disintegrating because of the actions of a few. The funding being pulled from Terence Tao and his institute without due process is not the start, it's merely one casualty among many that began at the start of this administration. This is like cutting one's nose to spite one's face.

It is not actions of the few. This is action of many. There is whole party apparatus behind this, public support among conservative voters, support of tech leaders etc.

Re: Terence Tao on the suspension of UCLA grants

#82

Post by diggan »

numbers_guy wrote: post #43
francasso wrote: post #31

Maybe it's time to move to Europe or China

There is nowhere to run and hide. Europe is worse than the US on this front. China also demands party loyalty. In a sense this is just the human condition. The ruling faction demands loyalty. Only a very advanced human civilization could move past that and allow criticism of the ruling class. Maybe the US had achieved that for a brief movement in the past or maybe it was just an illusion. EDIT: For people wondering w…

> Europe is worse than the US on this front.

On the front of funding research? Considering that one is constantly adding more funds for research, while the other one is removing funds, I'm not sure how accurate that is.

Re: Terence Tao on the suspension of UCLA grants

#83

Post by amelius »

delusional wrote: post #64
numbers_guy wrote: post #43

Earlier quoted context omitted.

There is nowhere to run and hide. Europe is worse than the US on this front. China also demands party loyalty. In a sense this is just the human condition. The ruling faction demands loyalty. Only a very advanced human civilization could move past that and allow criticism of the ruling class. Maybe the US had achieved that for a brief movement in the past or maybe it was just an illusion. EDIT: For people wondering w…

What are you on about? I live in Europe. We don't terminate all contact to random universities because they said something the führer didn't like. If you truly believe that the whole world is "just as bad" as this, then you are unimaginably far to the right.

I agree with you, but that choice of word doesn't make much sense here.

Re: Terence Tao on the suspension of UCLA grants

#84

Post by lordofgibbons »

Almondsetat wrote: post #6

It's really telling when an invaluable intellectual powerhouse specialized in a non politicized field gets its funds taken away because of politics Edit: This is a comment about the administration, not Tao.

Just because you do not take an interest in politics doesn't mean politics won't take an interest in you. - Pericles

Re: Terence Tao on the suspension of UCLA grants

#85

Post by wat10000 »

pbiggar wrote: post #26

Remember that these claims of antisemitism are all false. What they actually mean is "they had a student encampment calling out Israel's genocide in Gaza and occupation of Palestine, that the US supports with weapons, troops, UN vetos, and bad faith negotiation"

And remember that this actually stokes antisemitism. Israel is demonstrably out there committing atrocities. If officials are conflating anti-Israel with anti-Jew then it prompts people opposed to those atrocities to oppose Jews.

Re: Terence Tao on the suspension of UCLA grants

#87

Post by spencerflem »

raincole wrote: post #48
malcolmgreaves wrote: post #40

Earlier quoted context omitted.

And no college being defunded right now has shown any racist behaviors whatsoever. So are you in support of the current defunding?

https://www.latimes.com/california/story/2025-07-29/ucla-set... > The lawsuit, filed more than a year ago, alleged that by not immediately ordering the encampment to be taken down, UCLA provided support to pro-Palestinian activists who “enforced” what it termed a “Jew Exclusion Zone,” prohibiting Jewish students and staff from passing through the camp’s makeshift barricades. Personally I think this is a textbook raci…

The term was invented by the suers, not the protestors. It’s possible to criticize Israel’s actions without being antisemitic, holocaust scholars call what’s happening there a genocide

Re: Terence Tao on the suspension of UCLA grants

#88

Post by linguae »

diggan wrote: post #58
padjo wrote: post #12

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Yep. It’s odd to see classic third world dictator antics in the most powerful country in the world, but not at all unexpected given who’s running it.

> but not at all unexpected given who’s running it To be fair, this has felt like the natural consequence of the "maximize capitalism without regarding the downsides" maxim the US seems to have been operated under for a long time. Corporations have been (indirectly) running the country for some decades at this point, it's just way more obvious and in the face now when a "businessman" sits as president.

I agree. For decades our political and cultural leadership took actions that benefitted themselves and other beneficiaries (e.g., property owners in coastal metro areas, tech and finance workers, etc.), but life has gotten harder for the poor and the middle class. The hollowing out of middle America and the dramatic rise in costs of the three H’s (health care, higher education, and housing) has been painful for many Americans.

I thought things would look up after the 2012 election, when people were looking for meaningful change. Unfortunately a charismatic demagogue entered the scene and has taken power. Since then, we’ve been on the worst possible timeline, and I don’t see an easy way out of this mess. It’s going to take a lot of work for Americans to trust each other again and for the rest of the world to trust us.

Re: Terence Tao on the suspension of UCLA grants

#89

Post by abc123abc123 »

delusional wrote: post #64
numbers_guy wrote: post #43

Earlier quoted context omitted.

There is nowhere to run and hide. Europe is worse than the US on this front. China also demands party loyalty. In a sense this is just the human condition. The ruling faction demands loyalty. Only a very advanced human civilization could move past that and allow criticism of the ruling class. Maybe the US had achieved that for a brief movement in the past or maybe it was just an illusion. EDIT: For people wondering w…

What are you on about? I live in Europe. We don't terminate all contact to random universities because they said something the führer didn't like. If you truly believe that the whole world is "just as bad" as this, then you are unimaginably far to the right.

[flagged]

Re: Terence Tao on the suspension of UCLA grants

#90

Post by breppp »

A_D_E_P_T wrote: post #79
numbers_guy wrote: post #43

Earlier quoted context omitted.

There is nowhere to run and hide. Europe is worse than the US on this front. China also demands party loyalty. In a sense this is just the human condition. The ruling faction demands loyalty. Only a very advanced human civilization could move past that and allow criticism of the ruling class. Maybe the US had achieved that for a brief movement in the past or maybe it was just an illusion. EDIT: For people wondering w…

I'm in Europe. It's not even close to being worse than the US on that front. Places like the Fraunhofer Institute and the Max Planck Institute are perpetually well-funded, and are largely unaffected by politics. Good places to do research.

Wouldn't get to this because in Germany such a demonstration would be dispersed far earlier, not to mention the nazi symbolism displayed in UCLA
Post reply on HN