3 ms·
this reminds of investments in research and I'm quoting from somewhere but cannot locate at the moment... If Balmer hadn't studied spectral lines, Planck may
by fosco 8y ago
this reminds of investments in research and I'm quoting from somewhere but cannot locate at the moment...
If Balmer hadn't studied spectral lines, Planck may not have proposed the quantum. Then Bohr may
not have conceived his model of the atom, which means Heisenberg and Schrödinger wouldn't have
developed their formulations of quantum mechanics. That would have left Bloch without the tools he
needed to understand the nature of conduction in metals, and then how would Schottky have figured
out semiconductors? It's hard to imagine, then, how Bardeen, Brattain, and Schockley would have
developed transistors. And without transistors, Noyce and Kilbey couldn't have produced integrated
circuits.
Almost every major technological advance of the 20th and 21st centuries originated with basic
research that presented no obvious or immediate economic benefit. That means no profit motive, and
hence no reason for the private sector to adequately fund it. Basic research isn't a waste of tax
dollars; it's a more reliable long-term investment than anything else in the Federal government's
portfolio.
- stupidbird 8y agoYou're comparing scientific research to for-profit industry. Solar City, Tesla, The Boring Company, and Space X aren't releasing public research, it's all private IP and manufacturing. You literally could not benefit from their progress if you wanted to. You'd be sued. Their employees can't even work in related industries due to somewhat spurious non-competes.
- fosco 8y agoeveryone benefits from Tesla's progress [0], they may be an outlier but I think they are leading the way. More importantly, the progress helps society as a whole. I see their progress as directly benefiting every human and the planet. you have changed your original comment a few times so it is difficult to respond to, but I'm not sure large tech companies would succeed with unions, people need to educate themselves and learn how to negotiate in highly skilled areas, I look at a local railroad company near me that employs a lot of people and does not invest money in improvements because they cannot afford due to how the union has negotiated, it has stopped innovation entirely. Engineers are still learning light switches, this should be completely automated so we stop having mistakes of train engineers texting people and causing accidents... what a shameful loss of life. [0] https://www.tesla.com/blog/all-our-patent-are-belong-you https://www.tesla.com/blog/all-our-patent-are-belong-you
- stupidbird 8y agoI have not changed my original comment in over 12 hours. Their progress is not available for public use, period. Go ahead, try to use any technology developed by Tesla and see what happens. They're simply popularizing their own products. American corporations have done great work convincing you that unions are a bad thing. You're going as far as blaming employees for Tesla-specific safety reporting issues. https://www.revealnews.org/article/tesla-says-its-factory-is-safer-but-it-left-injuries-off-the-books/ https://www.revealnews.org/article/tesla-says-its-factory-is...