3 ms·

DARPA isn't afraid to ask the easy questions I see /s Too bad agency, DARPA included, wants to pay enough to have people work on these problems for extended ti

DARPA isn't afraid to ask the easy questions I see /s Too bad agency, DARPA included, wants to pay enough to have people work on these problems for extended time periods. It's good to see some funding for high-risk work but there just isn't enough anymore.

hardlianotion 6y ago
Too bad no agency, DARPA included, ...
sgt101 6y ago
Or there are too many people and groups seeking it? What is the scale of funding over time ? My guess is that there is more money in fundamental research than ever before....
- deeeeplearning 6y ago
  In terms of raw dollars perhaps but with Inflation that's not terribly informative. Total RD spending as % of GDP has been falling since the 60s https://www.aaas.org/sites/default/files/2020-10/RDGDP.png https://www.aaas.org/sites/default/files/2020-10/RDGDP.png And also falling as percent of Total Federal Budget https://www.aaas.org/sites/default/files/2020-05/Budget.png https://www.aaas.org/sites/default/files/2020-05/Budget.png https://www.aaas.org/programs/r-d-budget-and-policy/historical-trends-federal-rd https://www.aaas.org/programs/r-d-budget-and-policy/historic...
  - sgt101 6y ago
    That seems to show that the R part of R&D has remained static (in terms of the Federal Budget) but the D part has fallen. At the same time there have been very large tax incentives for "D" in the USA. And the R bit is the bit that I would point to in terms of this discussion.
kevinventullo 6y ago
I think the NSF funds a lot of people who are perhaps not attacking these problems directly, but are working in nearby fields that may yield insights into how to solve these problems.
kickout 6y ago
Disagree, in these types of projects you want longevity over peak talent. You start paying top dollar then that talent is going to leave the second they get a better top dollar option--and then you're in an arms race you can't win. People that want to work for the government are aware of the $$$. I think the system is working as intended

hardlianotion 6y ago

Too bad no agency, DARPA included, ...

sgt101 6y ago

Or there are too many people and groups seeking it? What is the scale of funding over time ? My guess is that there is more money in fundamental research than ever before....

deeeeplearning 6y ago
In terms of raw dollars perhaps but with Inflation that's not terribly informative. Total RD spending as % of GDP has been falling since the 60s https://www.aaas.org/sites/default/files/2020-10/RDGDP.png https://www.aaas.org/sites/default/files/2020-10/RDGDP.png And also falling as percent of Total Federal Budget https://www.aaas.org/sites/default/files/2020-05/Budget.png https://www.aaas.org/sites/default/files/2020-05/Budget.png https://www.aaas.org/programs/r-d-budget-and-policy/historical-trends-federal-rd https://www.aaas.org/programs/r-d-budget-and-policy/historic...
- sgt101 6y ago
  That seems to show that the R part of R&D has remained static (in terms of the Federal Budget) but the D part has fallen. At the same time there have been very large tax incentives for "D" in the USA. And the R bit is the bit that I would point to in terms of this discussion.

kevinventullo 6y ago

I think the NSF funds a lot of people who are perhaps not attacking these problems directly, but are working in nearby fields that may yield insights into how to solve these problems.

kickout 6y ago

Disagree, in these types of projects you want longevity over peak talent. You start paying top dollar then that talent is going to leave the second they get a better top dollar option--and then you're in an arms race you can't win. People that want to work for the government are aware of the $$$. I think the system is working as intended