5 ms·

I will just say that in the astronomy faculty community, although Avi Loeb is the head of the Harvard astro department, his "research" has garnered him question

I will just say that in the astronomy faculty community, although Avi Loeb is the head of the Harvard astro department, his "research" has garnered him questionable and often head-shaking disapproval and a decrease in respect from colleagues. Some, bordering on many, think that he's just out to grab headlines and has become a bad joke at this point (past examples: solar system interlopers as "UFOs", etc). Maybe Avi says that he worked his way to this position to be able to tackle interesting and off-the-path subjects, but somehow his work doesn't feel like it has the same integrity as expected from the chair of a leading institution. Or maybe that he goes to tv news channels preferentially over arxiv publishing. And maybe it's just something that happens to professors with age (like one's parents) -- they start going down the weird ideas rabbit hole.

gloriousduke 4y ago
> maybe that he goes to tv news channels preferentially over arxiv publishing https://arxiv.org/abs/2110.15213 https://arxiv.org/abs/2110.15213
- xqcgrek2 4y ago
  4 citations, 3 of which are self-citations. Entirely inconsequential.
protastus 4y ago
I think Avi Loeb is legitimately excited about this topic. He's also aware that the public is tremendously excited and inspired about the possibility of UFOs, alien flybys of the solar system, etc. I think he's achieved professional recognition, paid his dues playing the game of academia (very successfully), and is now pursuing things that he finds most exciting. The man has co-authored a thousand papers, literally, so I doubt he'd get much marginal excitement from hypothetical paper #1001, i.e., another instance of fitting a curve through noisy data to build support for an obscure model that very few researchers care about. He has also pointed out that it's an invitation to ridicule in academic circles to talk openly about UFOs. He doesn't care though (why would he?), and that for sure is triggering folks who take themselves very seriously.
- Seanambers 4y ago
  As the poster on the wall of my friends boyhood room said and of course inspired by - Mulders Office ; I want to believe. I think it is great that some professionals actually do this, if everyone's a cynic it would just be sad.
- sailingparrot 4y ago
  > That for sure is triggering folks who take themselves very seriously. I don't think anyone in the field is triggered by some guy pursuing his interest in aliens and UFO. What they get triggered about, is that guy using his relatively large platform to say that anyone not agreeing with him is part of the establishment or otherwise useless, or to say that there is no other possible explanation to a certain phenomenon than aliens, or to be insulting to another colleague during an online talk.
  - whatshisface 4y ago
    If believing that there are more rocks in space than aliens is what makes you a part of the establishment then I'm The Man. :-)
  - protastus 4y ago
    > to be insulting to another colleague during an online talk. When did this happen? In the podcasts and interviews I heard, Loeb was often provocative towards the establishment, but I never saw him make negative comments about an individual.
    - sailingparrot 4y ago
      Last year [1]. To be fair to him, he did apologize [2]. [1]: https://www.forbes.com/sites/startswithabang/2021/02/16/watch-harvard-astronomer-mansplains-seti-to-the-legend-who-inspired-carl-sagans-contact/?sh=25ac9226620b https://www.forbes.com/sites/startswithabang/2021/02/16/watc... [2]: https://twitter.com/whereisyvette/status/1360771406661881857/photo/1 https://twitter.com/whereisyvette/status/1360771406661881857...
  - 4y ago
mensetmanusman 4y ago
Head shaking can result in, or, be a symptom of group-think. It’s important for scientists to realize the importance of public relations due to funding. If the public is interested in the origin of life, contemplating aliens or distant stars seem about as interesting, especially in regards to the Fermi paradox.
selimthegrim 4y ago
He was giving a Zoom talk this week at a local po’boy shop in New Orleans and free copies of his book were being distributed. There didn’t seem to be much push back from starstruck fans.
mr_gibbins 4y ago
Good for him. What a way to lead a life, searching for alien tech at the bottom of the Pacific. I'd swap the grind for that any day. Let the other professors shake their heads and stir their Earl Grey in the cramped faculty staffroom, I know who I'd rather be.
762236 4y ago
I'm really happy that Avi Loeb exists, and that he ignores shit like what you've just written.
RajT88 4y ago
I think he was trying to get at that, the head shaking from his peers when he wrote: > Today he would have been canceled on social media. Avi Loeb has definitely not spent a whole lot of time on Social Media!
booleandilemma 4y ago
I mean, we're never going to find aliens if we keep telling ourselves that they just can't possibly be out there. I find Avi's attitude refreshing.
thisiswater 4y ago
The hints of a persecution complex in the last paragraph -- implicitly comparing himself to Galileo and saying that Galileo would have been "canceled on social media", is a bit of a red flag. That being said, sure I hope they find and study this object, why not.

gloriousduke 4y ago

> maybe that he goes to tv news channels preferentially over arxiv publishing https://arxiv.org/abs/2110.15213 https://arxiv.org/abs/2110.15213

xqcgrek2 4y ago
4 citations, 3 of which are self-citations. Entirely inconsequential.

protastus 4y ago

I think Avi Loeb is legitimately excited about this topic. He's also aware that the public is tremendously excited and inspired about the possibility of UFOs, alien flybys of the solar system, etc. I think he's achieved professional recognition, paid his dues playing the game of academia (very successfully), and is now pursuing things that he finds most exciting. The man has co-authored a thousand papers, literally, so I doubt he'd get much marginal excitement from hypothetical paper #1001, i.e., another instance of fitting a curve through noisy data to build support for an obscure model that very few researchers care about. He has also pointed out that it's an invitation to ridicule in academic circles to talk openly about UFOs. He doesn't care though (why would he?), and that for sure is triggering folks who take themselves very seriously.

Seanambers 4y ago
As the poster on the wall of my friends boyhood room said and of course inspired by - Mulders Office ; I want to believe. I think it is great that some professionals actually do this, if everyone's a cynic it would just be sad.
sailingparrot 4y ago
> That for sure is triggering folks who take themselves very seriously. I don't think anyone in the field is triggered by some guy pursuing his interest in aliens and UFO. What they get triggered about, is that guy using his relatively large platform to say that anyone not agreeing with him is part of the establishment or otherwise useless, or to say that there is no other possible explanation to a certain phenomenon than aliens, or to be insulting to another colleague during an online talk.
- whatshisface 4y ago
  If believing that there are more rocks in space than aliens is what makes you a part of the establishment then I'm The Man. :-)
- protastus 4y ago
  > to be insulting to another colleague during an online talk. When did this happen? In the podcasts and interviews I heard, Loeb was often provocative towards the establishment, but I never saw him make negative comments about an individual.
  - sailingparrot 4y ago
    Last year [1]. To be fair to him, he did apologize [2]. [1]: https://www.forbes.com/sites/startswithabang/2021/02/16/watch-harvard-astronomer-mansplains-seti-to-the-legend-who-inspired-carl-sagans-contact/?sh=25ac9226620b https://www.forbes.com/sites/startswithabang/2021/02/16/watc... [2]: https://twitter.com/whereisyvette/status/1360771406661881857/photo/1 https://twitter.com/whereisyvette/status/1360771406661881857...
- 4y ago

mensetmanusman 4y ago

Head shaking can result in, or, be a symptom of group-think. It’s important for scientists to realize the importance of public relations due to funding. If the public is interested in the origin of life, contemplating aliens or distant stars seem about as interesting, especially in regards to the Fermi paradox.

selimthegrim 4y ago

He was giving a Zoom talk this week at a local po’boy shop in New Orleans and free copies of his book were being distributed. There didn’t seem to be much push back from starstruck fans.

mr_gibbins 4y ago

Good for him. What a way to lead a life, searching for alien tech at the bottom of the Pacific. I'd swap the grind for that any day. Let the other professors shake their heads and stir their Earl Grey in the cramped faculty staffroom, I know who I'd rather be.

762236 4y ago

I'm really happy that Avi Loeb exists, and that he ignores shit like what you've just written.

RajT88 4y ago

I think he was trying to get at that, the head shaking from his peers when he wrote: > Today he would have been canceled on social media. Avi Loeb has definitely not spent a whole lot of time on Social Media!

booleandilemma 4y ago

I mean, we're never going to find aliens if we keep telling ourselves that they just can't possibly be out there. I find Avi's attitude refreshing.

thisiswater 4y ago

The hints of a persecution complex in the last paragraph -- implicitly comparing himself to Galileo and saying that Galileo would have been "canceled on social media", is a bit of a red flag. That being said, sure I hope they find and study this object, why not.