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>It is difficult to get a man to understand something when his salary depends on him not understanding it. Wow, that basically sums up why I quit my PhD in one

>It is difficult to get a man to understand something when his salary depends on him not understanding it. Wow, that basically sums up why I quit my PhD in one pithy quote. The entire literature was made up of folks being deliberately obtuse in order to secure grant money.

civilized 5y ago
In what field may I ask?
- AussieWog93 5y ago
  Machine Learning (specifically its application to Brain Computer Interfaces). I'm sure all of about 2 HN readers will be shocked to discover this!
  - eli_gottlieb 5y ago
    BCI is full of people claiming to have cracked the neural code and engineered a device around it. Neuroscience is full of people debating whether or not there is a neural code in the first place, and certainly don't consider the problem "solved". I'm not shocked.
  - hn_job_throw 5y ago
    Would you be interested in a job trying to build something that can actually connect to a brain?
    - AussieWog93 5y ago
      Not looking for work at this stage, but feel free to reach out and say hi. Email in bio.
wombatmobile 5y ago
> one pithy quote. from Upton Sinclair. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Upton_Sinclair https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Upton_Sinclair
redis_mlc 5y ago
The quote is not referring to being deliberately obtuse. It refers to workers with a conflict of interest, usually financial, which results in cognitive dissonance. Even if they know subconsciously something is sketchy, they tell themselves otherwise. For example, if you worked in print advertising in the 80s, doing campaigns for cigarette companies, then you wouldn't process criticism of cigarettes since it would destroy your own career to admit there was a problem.
bobthechef 5y ago
People are petty in every field and discipline. It's a race between mediocrities wishing to conceal their mediocrity. That's why virtue is so important. The virtuous who remain have the patience to suffer through it but also to beat back the bullshit by bringing clarity to their discipline in all that they do. They cut through the crap. (This also reminds me of a certain kind of person who speaks in a stilted way and who somehow believes that studding his sentences with as many "Big Words" as he can somehow demonstrates his intelligence. This is the analogue of newly rich people who think that the more glitter and gold you cram into your shirt, the better it is.)

civilized 5y ago

In what field may I ask?

AussieWog93 5y ago
Machine Learning (specifically its application to Brain Computer Interfaces). I'm sure all of about 2 HN readers will be shocked to discover this!
- eli_gottlieb 5y ago
  BCI is full of people claiming to have cracked the neural code and engineered a device around it. Neuroscience is full of people debating whether or not there is a neural code in the first place, and certainly don't consider the problem "solved". I'm not shocked.
- hn_job_throw 5y ago
  Would you be interested in a job trying to build something that can actually connect to a brain?
  - AussieWog93 5y ago
    Not looking for work at this stage, but feel free to reach out and say hi. Email in bio.

wombatmobile 5y ago

> one pithy quote. from Upton Sinclair. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Upton_Sinclair https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Upton_Sinclair

redis_mlc 5y ago

The quote is not referring to being deliberately obtuse. It refers to workers with a conflict of interest, usually financial, which results in cognitive dissonance. Even if they know subconsciously something is sketchy, they tell themselves otherwise. For example, if you worked in print advertising in the 80s, doing campaigns for cigarette companies, then you wouldn't process criticism of cigarettes since it would destroy your own career to admit there was a problem.

bobthechef 5y ago

People are petty in every field and discipline. It's a race between mediocrities wishing to conceal their mediocrity. That's why virtue is so important. The virtuous who remain have the patience to suffer through it but also to beat back the bullshit by bringing clarity to their discipline in all that they do. They cut through the crap. (This also reminds me of a certain kind of person who speaks in a stilted way and who somehow believes that studding his sentences with as many "Big Words" as he can somehow demonstrates his intelligence. This is the analogue of newly rich people who think that the more glitter and gold you cram into your shirt, the better it is.)