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Considering almost all the world changing knowledge our society has has come from academia, I really can't agree with you. Even in CS, almost all of what I lea

by tensor 8y ago

Considering almost all the world changing knowledge our society has has come from academia, I really can't agree with you. Even in CS, almost all of what I learned in grad school was directly applicable to real problems. The issue is that the bar in industry is so low that we're more worried about getting people to do even basic things than getting them to use state of the art technology.

mjburgess 8y ago
Yes, but the results of "academia" are an exercise in the net effects of collective intelligence. Many a bee sacrifices its life without making a difference. Rarer in business is one individuals efforts 100% wasted with such regularity. Academia is a path finding strategy through a forest where most paths are dead-ends. On a case-by-case, individual basis, it doesn't look so good.
- johncolanduoni 8y ago
  In startups, a set of individuals efforts is 100% wasted with extreme regularity. They are also a path finding strategy through a forest where most paths are dead-ends, but you get paid very well until you hit that dead-end and move to the next path.
- ookdatnog 8y ago
  >Academia is a path finding strategy through a forest where most paths are dead-ends. That's just describing hard problem solving in general, it's not specific to academia at all.
solidsnack9000 8y ago
A lot of that world changing knowledge is a result of academia’s partnerships with industry. Consider the early radio lab at Stanford. Academia as we know it is fairly recent. Many of the fundamental results in the sciences were discovered by people who weren’t academics but had a chill day job. For example, Newton.
- chriskanan 8y ago
  Newton's biggest discoveries were back at his home while his University was closed due to the plague. I wouldn't say that thinking at the family estate to wait out the plague is a chill day job. In that era, many scientists were wealthy aristocrats, e.g. Antoine Lavoisier.
  - selimthegrim 8y ago
    Newton was also almost turfed out because he wouldn’t take a Trinitarian Oath

by tensor 8y ago

mjburgess 8y ago

Yes, but the results of "academia" are an exercise in the net effects of collective intelligence. Many a bee sacrifices its life without making a difference. Rarer in business is one individuals efforts 100% wasted with such regularity. Academia is a path finding strategy through a forest where most paths are dead-ends. On a case-by-case, individual basis, it doesn't look so good.

johncolanduoni 8y ago
In startups, a set of individuals efforts is 100% wasted with extreme regularity. They are also a path finding strategy through a forest where most paths are dead-ends, but you get paid very well until you hit that dead-end and move to the next path.
ookdatnog 8y ago
>Academia is a path finding strategy through a forest where most paths are dead-ends. That's just describing hard problem solving in general, it's not specific to academia at all.

solidsnack9000 8y ago

A lot of that world changing knowledge is a result of academia’s partnerships with industry. Consider the early radio lab at Stanford. Academia as we know it is fairly recent. Many of the fundamental results in the sciences were discovered by people who weren’t academics but had a chill day job. For example, Newton.

chriskanan 8y ago
Newton's biggest discoveries were back at his home while his University was closed due to the plague. I wouldn't say that thinking at the family estate to wait out the plague is a chill day job. In that era, many scientists were wealthy aristocrats, e.g. Antoine Lavoisier.
- selimthegrim 8y ago
  Newton was also almost turfed out because he wouldn’t take a Trinitarian Oath