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The related Epstein-academia connection which deserves scrutiny is with Martin Nowak at Harvard. Certainly far more money involved in terms of donations. And ma

The related Epstein-academia connection which deserves scrutiny is with Martin Nowak at Harvard. Certainly far more money involved in terms of donations. And many articles referenced him visiting with Epstein extensively, including his island.

msghacq 7y ago
I agree but this is also big. Joi Ito admitted to visiting Epstein's houses as well. He also let him co-invest in startups with him. It's unclear which startups in particular Epstein was an investor in though.
- strangeloops85 7y ago
  Yes I agree as well - did not mean to diminish this news. MIT Media Lab and Joi Ito are definitely more prominent. And the timing (post-2008) is rather damning. His history was a google search away..
api 7y ago
I'm so sad to see Nowak involved given that his lab's research on evolutionary dynamics is outstanding. It's depressing too to see how many people Epstein influenced and was associated with. It's impossible that none of them knew about his sex abuse "habit." I guess it's just like with Ponzi-like financial bubbles and cooked corporate finance (e.g. Enron and now apparently GE): when the money is flowing people go along and don't ask questions. It seems to be even deeper though. I wonder if humans have a cognitive bias where when we're getting money/resources from someone we "un-see" things that could damage that relationship? There's a character I've read about over in the UK named Jimmy Saville that seemingly got away with serial sex abuse (of virtually all ages) for his entire life. Same explanation apparently: he raised and donated a lot of money and generally threw a lot of money around.
- seiferteric 7y ago
  Marvin Minsky is apparently another one.
  - deleted 7y ago
    [deleted]
  - deleted 7y ago
    [deleted]
- coldtea 7y ago
  >I wonder if humans have a cognitive bias where when we're getting money/resources from someone we "un-see" things that could damage that relationship? Don't assume it's merely about the money. Many people respond equally well to offerings of sex servants...
- nostrademons 7y ago
  "It is difficult to get a man to understand something, when his salary depends upon his not understanding it!" -- Upton Sinclair Money definitely influences peoples' perceptions and actions - if it didn't, we wouldn't have such societal institutions as salaries, bail, alimony, tax incentives, and campaign donations. People who don't play the reciprocity game ("if I give you something, I expect at least friendly relations") rapidly find themselves socially isolated.
- sitkack 7y ago
  To reinforce the lore (and spread some Twain), http://www.paulgraham.com/cornpone.html http://www.paulgraham.com/cornpone.html
strangeloops85 7y ago
As a follow-up to the Harvard connections that remain under-scrutinized, here’s an alarming tweet from a Caltech professor: ‘Around 2007 I attended a dinner at @Harvard during which someone told me about a professor who was flying to New York, and to some island, to visit a millionaire. With that millionaire, I was told, he was raping girls. "Everybody knows" they said..‘ https://twitter.com/lpachter/status/1163608101443928064?s=21 https://twitter.com/lpachter/status/1163608101443928064?s=21
- selimthegrim 7y ago
  Pachter has a tendency to libelous-seeming rhetoric but I can't imagine he wouldn't testify if subpoenaed, even over hearsay.
- goatinaboat 7y ago
  he was raping girls. "Everybody knows" they said Again with the parallels to Harvey Weinstein. All the happy, smiling people photographed with him also scrambled to distance themselves once the allegations reached a critical mass, but they all knew all along what he was. And as long as it suited their interests they were perfectly willing to look the other way.
  - skrebbel 7y ago
    Really? How would they know? I'm asking sincerely, I've not deeply read into this (or the Epstein story). I just always suspected that rich and influential people would generally be able to keep secrets under wraps. I guess I just think it's kind of odd to assume that everyone who ever posed on a photo with Weinstein knew he was a rapist. That's quite a far stretch of "guilty by association"
    - AareyBaba 7y ago
      You can read deeply here https://www.miamiherald.com/topics/jeffrey-epstein https://www.miamiherald.com/topics/jeffrey-epstein
- patrec 7y ago

msghacq 7y ago

I agree but this is also big. Joi Ito admitted to visiting Epstein's houses as well. He also let him co-invest in startups with him. It's unclear which startups in particular Epstein was an investor in though.

strangeloops85 7y ago
Yes I agree as well - did not mean to diminish this news. MIT Media Lab and Joi Ito are definitely more prominent. And the timing (post-2008) is rather damning. His history was a google search away..

api 7y ago

I'm so sad to see Nowak involved given that his lab's research on evolutionary dynamics is outstanding. It's depressing too to see how many people Epstein influenced and was associated with. It's impossible that none of them knew about his sex abuse "habit." I guess it's just like with Ponzi-like financial bubbles and cooked corporate finance (e.g. Enron and now apparently GE): when the money is flowing people go along and don't ask questions. It seems to be even deeper though. I wonder if humans have a cognitive bias where when we're getting money/resources from someone we "un-see" things that could damage that relationship? There's a character I've read about over in the UK named Jimmy Saville that seemingly got away with serial sex abuse (of virtually all ages) for his entire life. Same explanation apparently: he raised and donated a lot of money and generally threw a lot of money around.

seiferteric 7y ago
Marvin Minsky is apparently another one.
- deleted 7y ago
  [deleted]
- deleted 7y ago
  [deleted]
coldtea 7y ago
>I wonder if humans have a cognitive bias where when we're getting money/resources from someone we "un-see" things that could damage that relationship? Don't assume it's merely about the money. Many people respond equally well to offerings of sex servants...
nostrademons 7y ago
"It is difficult to get a man to understand something, when his salary depends upon his not understanding it!" -- Upton Sinclair Money definitely influences peoples' perceptions and actions - if it didn't, we wouldn't have such societal institutions as salaries, bail, alimony, tax incentives, and campaign donations. People who don't play the reciprocity game ("if I give you something, I expect at least friendly relations") rapidly find themselves socially isolated.
sitkack 7y ago
To reinforce the lore (and spread some Twain), http://www.paulgraham.com/cornpone.html http://www.paulgraham.com/cornpone.html

strangeloops85 7y ago

As a follow-up to the Harvard connections that remain under-scrutinized, here’s an alarming tweet from a Caltech professor: ‘Around 2007 I attended a dinner at @Harvard during which someone told me about a professor who was flying to New York, and to some island, to visit a millionaire. With that millionaire, I was told, he was raping girls. "Everybody knows" they said..‘ https://twitter.com/lpachter/status/1163608101443928064?s=21 https://twitter.com/lpachter/status/1163608101443928064?s=21

selimthegrim 7y ago
Pachter has a tendency to libelous-seeming rhetoric but I can't imagine he wouldn't testify if subpoenaed, even over hearsay.
goatinaboat 7y ago
he was raping girls. "Everybody knows" they said Again with the parallels to Harvey Weinstein. All the happy, smiling people photographed with him also scrambled to distance themselves once the allegations reached a critical mass, but they all knew all along what he was. And as long as it suited their interests they were perfectly willing to look the other way.
- skrebbel 7y ago
  Really? How would they know? I'm asking sincerely, I've not deeply read into this (or the Epstein story). I just always suspected that rich and influential people would generally be able to keep secrets under wraps. I guess I just think it's kind of odd to assume that everyone who ever posed on a photo with Weinstein knew he was a rapist. That's quite a far stretch of "guilty by association"
  - AareyBaba 7y ago
    You can read deeply here https://www.miamiherald.com/topics/jeffrey-epstein https://www.miamiherald.com/topics/jeffrey-epstein
patrec 7y ago