3 ms·

Can somebody clue me in on the cynical overtones of this thread?

allovernow 7y ago
Scientifically illiterate media tends to occasionally treat fairly mundane work as exceptional when performed by a teenager. Particularly if they're from an underrepresented group. It's frustrating to read about such exaggerated accolades. But laymen eat this shit up.
- happytoexplain 7y ago
  While I follow this explanation and agree with it outside any other context, I usually find that this position is actually more negative/harmful/self-gratifying on par than that particular flavor of misleading writing is.
  - deleted 7y ago
    [deleted]
the8472 7y ago
It is about explaining what makes the headline clickbaity. TESS is designed to find planets, so someone poring over the data is expected to find one eventually. I.e. it's far less unexpected than the headline suggests. And thus far less newsworthy apart from the people interest aspect.
spitfire 7y ago
Exceptionally cynical take follows. Teenagers who get prestigious internships often come from rich families with connections. If they're particularly affluent/connected, the intern has a problem setup for them so they can "discover" a new discovery or solution to a problem. Not saying this is frequent, but it's frequent enough that when you see an affluent/connected gifted youngster achieve it's reasonable to be circumspect about them.
- redis_mlc 7y ago
  > the intern has a problem setup for them so they can "discover" a new discovery or solution to a problem. Wow, that's some next-level cynicism. Well-played, sir!
  - snejj5 7y ago
    I think cynicism became paranoia here.
    - g82918 7y ago
      I don't know about that. I wasn't even aware that Nasa let high schoolers do anything when I was a teen or that programs like that existed, and I even graduated my high school summa cum laude with honors in science for a paper I published in an actual journal. Either parents or schools help you with this. It isn't that cynical or paranoid.

Scientifically illiterate media tends to occasionally treat fairly mundane work as exceptional when performed by a teenager. Particularly if they're from an underrepresented group. It's frustrating to read about such exaggerated accolades. But laymen eat this shit up.

happytoexplain 7y ago
While I follow this explanation and agree with it outside any other context, I usually find that this position is actually more negative/harmful/self-gratifying on par than that particular flavor of misleading writing is.
- deleted 7y ago
  [deleted]

the8472 7y ago

It is about explaining what makes the headline clickbaity. TESS is designed to find planets, so someone poring over the data is expected to find one eventually. I.e. it's far less unexpected than the headline suggests. And thus far less newsworthy apart from the people interest aspect.

spitfire 7y ago

Exceptionally cynical take follows. Teenagers who get prestigious internships often come from rich families with connections. If they're particularly affluent/connected, the intern has a problem setup for them so they can "discover" a new discovery or solution to a problem. Not saying this is frequent, but it's frequent enough that when you see an affluent/connected gifted youngster achieve it's reasonable to be circumspect about them.

redis_mlc 7y ago
> the intern has a problem setup for them so they can "discover" a new discovery or solution to a problem. Wow, that's some next-level cynicism. Well-played, sir!
- snejj5 7y ago
  I think cynicism became paranoia here.
  - g82918 7y ago
    I don't know about that. I wasn't even aware that Nasa let high schoolers do anything when I was a teen or that programs like that existed, and I even graduated my high school summa cum laude with honors in science for a paper I published in an actual journal. Either parents or schools help you with this. It isn't that cynical or paranoid.