4 ms·

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, a

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...
- supernova87a 4y ago
  Yeah exactly. No one is getting "triggered" as in a juvenile college student way. If anything, I would say the annoyance is that for the department head of Harvard to be spending his time (and seeking fame) on topics like this, instead of using his position to 1) further "real" research, 2) address problems in the field, 3) in general, make more of the role he has, is something of an insult to people trying all their lives to reach such achievement.

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...
supernova87a 4y ago
Yeah exactly. No one is getting "triggered" as in a juvenile college student way. If anything, I would say the annoyance is that for the department head of Harvard to be spending his time (and seeking fame) on topics like this, instead of using his position to 1) further "real" research, 2) address problems in the field, 3) in general, make more of the role he has, is something of an insult to people trying all their lives to reach such achievement.