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"One of the things I got from Infinite in All Directions - it was a delight to me, and I've been quoting it ever since - is that you honor inventors as much as

"One of the things I got from Infinite in All Directions - it was a delight to me, and I've been quoting it ever since - is that you honor inventors as much as scientists. It's as great a part of the human adventure to invent things as to understand them. John Randall wasn't a great scientist, but he was a great inventor. There's been lots more like him, and it's a shame they don't get Nobel Prizes. Is it the scientists who are putting them down? Yes. There is this snobbism among scientists, especially the academic types. Are there other kinds? There are scientists in industry who are a bit more broad minded. The academics look down on them, too. Is that a weird British hangover? It's even worse in Germany. Intellectual snobbery is a worldwide disease. It certainly was very bad in China and probably held back development there by 2,000 years. How would you stop this intellectual snobbery? I would abolish the PhD system. The PhD system is the real root of the evil of academic snobbery. People who have PhDs consider themselves a priesthood, and inventors generally don't have PhDs."

michael_nielsen 18y ago
I liked that bit, too, although I thought the stuff about PhDs a bit overstated, maybe because Dyson doesn't have a PhD. But the snobbism about invention seems oh-so-true, and to have dire consequences for academic disciplines (e.g., CS) where invention is particularly important.
- DaniFong 18y ago
  It might also be a function of where his interests are now. I was a bit surprised too, since grad programs in physics are pretty honest. But I think it's a little different in bioscience. On many occasions, after talking with a biologist or biochemist, I get the impression that it must be incredibly hard to stay focused on the interesting questions. There is so much pressure to pick safe topics and just churn out papers.

michael_nielsen 18y ago

I liked that bit, too, although I thought the stuff about PhDs a bit overstated, maybe because Dyson doesn't have a PhD. But the snobbism about invention seems oh-so-true, and to have dire consequences for academic disciplines (e.g., CS) where invention is particularly important.

DaniFong 18y ago
It might also be a function of where his interests are now. I was a bit surprised too, since grad programs in physics are pretty honest. But I think it's a little different in bioscience. On many occasions, after talking with a biologist or biochemist, I get the impression that it must be incredibly hard to stay focused on the interesting questions. There is so much pressure to pick safe topics and just churn out papers.