5 ms·
Because Sabine is has the bona fides to know her stuff but also a contrarian and a bit of an outcast, and she knows how to market herself. All of this combined
by mhh__ 5y ago
Because Sabine is has the bona fides to know her stuff but also a contrarian and a bit of an outcast, and she knows how to market herself. All of this combined is perfect for hackernews.
- SiempreViernes 5y agoYeah, it's weird how she transitioned from being a fairly normal popsci blogger into being a sort of lubos light.
- mhh__ 5y agoPopulism is like gravity, to paraphrase the Joker in the dark Knight.
- FollowingTheDao 5y agoYes, she is the Trump of Science. And I do not say that be be demeaning of either. While I do not care for Trump, he knows what he is doing when it comes to showmanship, and so does she.
- LordDragonfang 5y agoThis comparison strikes me as much more unfavorable than you admit, because while Trump is categorically not an expert on what he purports to be (running a successful business) Sabine is clearly an expert in her field.
- FollowingTheDao 5y agoTrump is successful with media, not his businesses.
- stjohnswarts 5y agoReally all he's managed to do is hang on to the money his father left him. He is good at hiring lawyers & accountants that can put a wall between his personal fortune and corporate business that inevitably go bankrupt.
- stjohnswarts 5y agoYeah while not on the same order of magnitude it's like "You're a great orator, I mean your technique has a lot in common with Hitler's talents as an orator"
- paulpauper 5y agotbh, business success and understanding is much more subjective than physics understanding.
- zone411 5y agoShe makes videos about many topics on which she's not even close to an expert.
- spaetzleesser 5y agoI think too much activity on social media does this to people.
- deleted 5y ago[deleted]
- spaetzleesser 5y agoIt seems publishing a lot on YouTube or Twitter is often very unhealthy for people. Over time it seems they all get sucked into the conflict machine that attracts viewers but is ultimately useless. I watched that with Sam Harris. He seemed to have interesting ideas but now he seems just to be good at debating. Same for Jordan Peterson.
- paulpauper 5y agoand she knows how to market herself. It's more like everyone is doing the marketing for her The field of physics has gotten bigger overall, including experimental physics. It's not like physics is 100% theoretical , untestable stuff.
- yakubin 5y agoIt's not like physics is 100% theoretical , untestable stuff. Unfortunately the untestable stuff gets the most press. If you talk to experimental physicists in university, they'll tell you all that stuff isn't treated seriously by them, but reading the press you may get the impression that things like string theory are widely-respectable and that there is only some disagreement, usual science stuff. The press really distorts the picture of what most physicists think about these topics. (Also, I wouldn't use the term "theoretical" for untestable stuff. I would use "speculative". "Theoretical physics" does not imply unfalsifiable speculation, it can actually be fruitful scientifically.)
- mhh__ 5y agoString theory is widely respected by people who actually understand it. Believed in? Not sure, but a lot of experimental physicists who mock it clearly are just following memes in their departments - which does not necessarily make them wrong. Almost by definition people who are mildly interested in string theory don't talk about it unless asked. String theory has the potential to work, and doesn't involve as much parameter-hacking as other models, whereas its main competitors don't even work "in theory". It's also worth saying that a lot of "string theorists" are actually working on consequences of things like holography rather than banging their head against a book trying to work on the very essence of the theory.
- mhh__ 5y agoMaybe, but she absolutely plays the to the HN-style "know enough to be sceptical but maybe not enough to make their own conclusions" crowd deliberately. She's toned it down a little bit but I recall her being a bit more egregious a while ago but I might be misremembering because I don't read her blog regularly.