4 ms·
> (3) Ask, for fun, like I used to do, your regular guy if (a) an electron is bigger than an atom, (b) how many people live on earth. So if I understood you co
by drunkenmagician 3y ago
> (3) Ask, for fun, like I used to do, your regular guy if (a) an electron is bigger than an atom, (b) how many people live on earth.
So if I understood you correctly, as well educated member of the public, you found if "fun" to point out the inadequacies of the scientic knowledge of members of the non acedemic elite? Perhaps your time in higher education could have been better directed.
- borroka 3y agoYou did not understand me correctly. There is funny-haha and funny-interesting. If I say: "it is fun to study topology", I am not saying that you should be laughing like crazy. It is fun in the sense of interesting, of learning something new, of getting new perspectives. In the sentence above, "for fun" means "for no other reason to find out something you did not know before", not "to make fun of others". Last time I asked question (b), I got the answer from a regular joe/jane of 50 billion. Which is neither laughable nor an isolated case (you can try it yourself), but puts into perspective the demands of the public regarding academic decisions that my comment was responding to. There is no need for the regular bricklayer, of office worker, or truck driver, or lawyer to know hoe many people--more or less--are alive on this planet, but, taking it as an illustrative example, it makes far-reaching the hypothesis that the demands on scientists to increase productivity came from the "public". I recommend being charitable in the interpretation of other people's thinking.