Academic Freedom
On X
2009
New Topic: "Thank you Science" vs. "You're welcome Science"
"let me just say to the funding agencies who have supported me thankyou, thankyou, thankyou!" -@dabacon. This is "Thank you science."
"Thank you Science" is a danger to all of us. Scientists like @dabacon likely need more freedom & acting like street musicians doesn't help.
Oddly, we don't need additional scientists to compete. We need our scientists stronger, richer, and more independent. Con huevos y dinero.
What is "You're welcome science"? It is a vision of science getting off its kness to remind the public of the fantastic deal it has w/ you.
"Dear Suzie Taxpayer: You're most welcome for the 2002 work warning of the coming danger posed by the misvaluation of illiquid assets." -ERW
The value that scientists could bring by debunking market thys alone could save the taxpayer billions upon billions. That's a lot of SSC's.
Bottom Line: If you need more salary, help in the house, security, and academic freedom, remember why we fund. It's *not* as favor to you.
Since basic research is a public good (i.e. inexhausible & inexcludible) markets will fail here: We need to know what you need to take risk.
Q: Cost(Collapse) >> Cost(Protected Dissenting Scientific Elite) ---> Cost(Cheap Academic Life) >> Cost(Expensive Academic Freedom)
How to avoid spending billions bailing out reckless bankers? Spend money on true academic freedom: the world's biggest bargain.
New Topic: "What's your vision of true academic freedom?" [Asks @Philip_Girvan.]
An old joke about the diference between the Soviet and US constitutions. Both give freedom to dissent. The US gives freedom the day after.
Academic freedom is about making secure heroes out of Margot O'toole, Doug Prasher & Nassim Taleb instead of pushing them to the periphery.
Academic freedom is freedom to invite a senior colleague to self-copulate for inserting himself before your name on YOUR paper..and survive.
Academic freedom comes from the academic *obligation* to schedule lectures if you have even the possibility of strong disruptive results.
Academic freedom entails a right for a non-expert theorist of high ability to cross boundaries and live on merit without seeking permission.
Academic freedom is the insulation from threat or want to continue in good standing for *any* and *all* contributions & reasoned dissent.
What few people admit is that opposing "String Theory", "The Great Moderation", "Scientist Shortages" etc...leads to excommunication.
This was best put by @BretWeinstein: "Selection is to be feared only when just individuals are prevented from returning costs."
So @ahaspel asks what institutional reforms are needed (which was where I was headed when a birthday party occured in physical reality).
First of all, I am focused primarily on science. If universities can't provide academic freedom, science needs to move homes.
Next: Basic research in science is a public good (inexhaustible and inexcludible). Therefore we need higher levels of public funding.
To maintain academic freedom we need to move resources from what is falsely called 'scientific training' to the compensation of researchers.
To get strong individuals, our target for researchers should be something like MA by 21-22 PhD by 25-26, permanent job by 26-28 (approx.).
Graduate training is actually much shorter than assumed. Typically one is a graduate 'student' in year 1,2 of a PhD and working thereafter.
Raising PhDs should be Eusocial. Giving students to PI's in a 1 on 1 relationship is like parking choir boys with priests. Better in theory.
We must also fund entirely different sorts of people. Without Huxleys, Grossmans, & Hardys you don't get Darwins, Einsteins, & Ramanujans.
A central point: scientists are supposed to be K-selected but universities are hell bent for leather to r-select PhDs.
Yet that's insane.
Research & Teaching in Universities are as perfectly linked as Skiing & Shooting in the Biathalon: tenuously for all but Professors / Finns.
Last point for now: Freedom for academics is precisely freedom from academics. A real marketplace of ideas beats the pants off peer review.
Something occurs to me. If you've never had reason to test your own academic freedom, you may have absolutely no idea what animated me.
On May 23, 2003 an extraordinary talk at NAS called “Exactly Backwards: Scientific Manpower Theory” was given.There is no record of this.
The talk was so extraordinary that it was repeated again at NAS 11 days later on June 3, 2003. Again there is no meaningful record of this.
The talk presented evidence to the National Academy of Sciences that NAS & @NSF partnered to manipulate markets over scientist salaries.
Now ask yourself why would @NSF be trying to weaken American scientists? Why would NAS help? How would NSF dependent scientists self-defend?
Gauge theoretic economics interest has come recently from @mathpunk @dabacon @diffeomacx @riemanmzeta @tylercowen @ahaspel etc... Loving it.
I should say that Gauge theoretic economics is also all about academic freedom, quashed as it was by the rennegade Boskin Commission idiocy.
An email from Twitter overnight said: "National Science Fdn (@NSF) is now following your tweets on Twitter." Yet, now @NSF is gone. But why?
As we can obviously see each other @NSF, I propose public dialogue on whether NSF should be strengthening scientists (ergo raising wages).
If you would like to see a dialogue with @NSF on academic freedom, compensation, shortage canards, etc... retweet and star.
An excellent test of our President is whether the Obama era @NSF can undo catastrophic damage to US scientists begun by the Reagan era NSF.
2010
How about Coasian markets in 'academic freedom'? Cap&Gown -> Cap&Trade? Or fractional ownership: Zip-Tenure! Anything but scientific silence
New Topic: Targeted killings of scientists & their families or "just what are you saving your academic freedom to protest?"
Let's skip the foreplay: nobody outside Iran wants to see a nuclear theocracy. Does that allow us to assassinate scientists & their kin? No.
As an American PhD I have every right & intention to strengthen & guide my country militarily..as do fellow scientists of hostile nations.
If N. Korea slips polonium into the sushi of a US Prof. for sharing her knowledge of elliptic curves w/ NSA cryptographers will you protest?
If you follow scientists on twitter, you will notice an absence of strong opinion on targeted killings of Iranian academic families.
Bottom line, if you lack the huevos to engage Iran at the state level, you have no right to target physicists, their wives & their children.
The father of Israel's Nuclear Program, Yuval Ne'eman eulogizes Abdus Salam, the father of Pakistan's http://bit.ly/fAMNda (from the Arabic)
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