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I don't think Hall "needs to be told" anything. The people who lost out here aren't Hall and the academics who can't get funding. Hall is doing fine in the pri

I don't think Hall "needs to be told" anything. The people who lost out here aren't Hall and the academics who can't get funding. Hall is doing fine in the private sector. The people who lose in this situation are the public, who no longer own the research output, and who no longer benefit from the long-term gains made by primary research. We should create, for ourselves, a sustainable research economy. We've failed to do that. Are you suggesting it's impossible because you think "reality isn't fair" or "people suck"? I don't think the latter entails the former.

pdfernhout 9y ago
From the conclusion of this 1994 paper: https://www.its.caltech.edu/~dg/crunch_art.html https://www.its.caltech.edu/~dg/crunch_art.html "Let me finish by summarizing what I've been trying to tell you. We stand at an historic juncture in the history of science. The long era of exponential expansion ended decades ago, but we have not yet reconciled ourselves to that fact. The present social structure of science, by which I mean institutions, education, funding, publications and so on all evolved during the period of exponential expansion, before The Big Crunch. They are not suited to the unknown future we face. Today's scientific leaders, in the universities, government, industry and the scientific societies are mostly people who came of age during the golden era, 1950 - 1970. I am myself part of that generation. We think those were normal times and expect them to return. But we are wrong. Nothing like it will ever happen again. It is by no means certain that science will even survive, much less flourish, in the difficult times we face. Before it can survive, those of us who have gained so much from the era of scientific elites and scientific illiterates must learn to face reality, and admit that those days are gone forever. I think we have our work cut out for us."
cowsandmilk 9y ago
> Hall is doing fine in the private sector. He moved into the woods of Maine to a town w/ a population less than 500. He is doing fine, but he isn't in the private sector. Losing funding meant "he's retired with dwindling coffers"[1]. [1] https://www.usatoday.com/videos/news/nation/2017/10/03/jeffrey-c.-hall-says-nobel-prize-unexpected/106251992/ https://www.usatoday.com/videos/news/nation/2017/10/03/jeffr...

pdfernhout 9y ago

From the conclusion of this 1994 paper: https://www.its.caltech.edu/~dg/crunch_art.html https://www.its.caltech.edu/~dg/crunch_art.html "Let me finish by summarizing what I've been trying to tell you. We stand at an historic juncture in the history of science. The long era of exponential expansion ended decades ago, but we have not yet reconciled ourselves to that fact. The present social structure of science, by which I mean institutions, education, funding, publications and so on all evolved during the period of exponential expansion, before The Big Crunch. They are not suited to the unknown future we face. Today's scientific leaders, in the universities, government, industry and the scientific societies are mostly people who came of age during the golden era, 1950 - 1970. I am myself part of that generation. We think those were normal times and expect them to return. But we are wrong. Nothing like it will ever happen again. It is by no means certain that science will even survive, much less flourish, in the difficult times we face. Before it can survive, those of us who have gained so much from the era of scientific elites and scientific illiterates must learn to face reality, and admit that those days are gone forever. I think we have our work cut out for us."

cowsandmilk 9y ago

> Hall is doing fine in the private sector. He moved into the woods of Maine to a town w/ a population less than 500. He is doing fine, but he isn't in the private sector. Losing funding meant "he's retired with dwindling coffers"[1]. [1] https://www.usatoday.com/videos/news/nation/2017/10/03/jeffrey-c.-hall-says-nobel-prize-unexpected/106251992/ https://www.usatoday.com/videos/news/nation/2017/10/03/jeffr...