4 ms·

I'm pretty sure the Terry Taos of the world are still getting their pick of faculty positions, regardless of their "pool". The people who are being displaced, w

by tqi 6y ago

I'm pretty sure the Terry Taos of the world are still getting their pick of faculty positions, regardless of their "pool". The people who are being displaced, while certainly talented, are not indisputably more talented than the people who "are born in this pool". So it's probably not the case that we're missing out on any major breakthroughs. > It’s shocking how much money is spent, and how many people are in the chain, each outsourcing the problem to someone below, until a graduate student typically an immigrant will simulate something. Have you ever worked at a company?

aborsy 6y ago
Oh, no. I assure you your understanding of the academic environment is flawed. The politics is only intensified at the top. You need to have some skills, but much of it is politics and it is as intense as in industry if not more. You will be surprise if I tell you stories about major awards and recognitions. These are becoming norms than exceptions. I have worked partly in industry.
- arethuza 6y ago
  "is as intense as in industry if not more" That wasn't my experience - I've never seen anything like the politics I saw in an academic department in industry. It was one of the reasons I left as I got the distinct impression that you have to politic like mad to get ahead and that really didn't interest me. UK rather than US though. You know what they say: "Academic politics is the most vicious and bitter form of politics, because the stakes are so low."
mnky9800n 6y ago
> Have you ever worked at a company? The argument is always that the company can do whatever it wants with it's money but the scientist uses the public money. But this seems to be a giant flawed argument since neo-liberalism hands public money to companies without taking a breath.
pmiller2 6y ago
> So it's probably not the case that we're missing out on any major breakthroughs. Meanwhile, the guy who contributed the key insight that's lead to drastic reductions in the size of the prime gap problem, is working at a Subway. [0] Hmm. --- [0]: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yitang_Zhang https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yitang_Zhang
- croissants 6y ago
  > is working at a Subway To clarify, he's currently faculty at UCSB [1], although he did work at Subway sometime after finishing his PhD. [1] https://www.math.ucsb.edu/people/yitang-tom-zhang https://www.math.ucsb.edu/people/yitang-tom-zhang
  - pmiller2 6y ago
    Yes, I deliberately, though not disingenuously, failed to mention that part, for rhetorical effect. One should also note that UCSB has a much better math department than people might think.
- tqi 6y ago
  From that Wikipedia article: In a detailed profile published in The New Yorker magazine in February 2015, Alec Wilkinson wrote Zhang "parted unhappily" with Moh, and that Zhang "left Purdue without Moh’s support, and, having published no papers, was unable to find an academic job". I don't think it was being "born in the wrong pool" that caused him not to get a academic job immediately... hmm

by tqi 6y ago

aborsy 6y ago

Oh, no. I assure you your understanding of the academic environment is flawed. The politics is only intensified at the top. You need to have some skills, but much of it is politics and it is as intense as in industry if not more. You will be surprise if I tell you stories about major awards and recognitions. These are becoming norms than exceptions. I have worked partly in industry.

arethuza 6y ago
"is as intense as in industry if not more" That wasn't my experience - I've never seen anything like the politics I saw in an academic department in industry. It was one of the reasons I left as I got the distinct impression that you have to politic like mad to get ahead and that really didn't interest me. UK rather than US though. You know what they say: "Academic politics is the most vicious and bitter form of politics, because the stakes are so low."

mnky9800n 6y ago

> Have you ever worked at a company? The argument is always that the company can do whatever it wants with it's money but the scientist uses the public money. But this seems to be a giant flawed argument since neo-liberalism hands public money to companies without taking a breath.

pmiller2 6y ago

> So it's probably not the case that we're missing out on any major breakthroughs. Meanwhile, the guy who contributed the key insight that's lead to drastic reductions in the size of the prime gap problem, is working at a Subway. [0] Hmm. --- [0]: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yitang_Zhang https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yitang_Zhang

croissants 6y ago
> is working at a Subway To clarify, he's currently faculty at UCSB [1], although he did work at Subway sometime after finishing his PhD. [1] https://www.math.ucsb.edu/people/yitang-tom-zhang https://www.math.ucsb.edu/people/yitang-tom-zhang
- pmiller2 6y ago
  Yes, I deliberately, though not disingenuously, failed to mention that part, for rhetorical effect. One should also note that UCSB has a much better math department than people might think.
tqi 6y ago
From that Wikipedia article: In a detailed profile published in The New Yorker magazine in February 2015, Alec Wilkinson wrote Zhang "parted unhappily" with Moh, and that Zhang "left Purdue without Moh’s support, and, having published no papers, was unable to find an academic job". I don't think it was being "born in the wrong pool" that caused him not to get a academic job immediately... hmm