3 ms·

I for one think it is important to make sure that young scientists not learn to dream too big.

• jrussino 3y ago
  I can't tell if this is sarcastic or not. Surely we should encourage young scientists to "dream big", as long as we also teach them to actually "do science" effectively right? Maybe it's the vagueness of what "dream" means here. Imagination, creativity, and the like can be valuable insofar as they steer us to look in new useful directions and ask new useful questions. As long as the "looking" and "asking" are done with an honest aim toward finding the truth and an understanding of the tools scientists have developed to do that effectively I don't see the problem. I don't see the takeaway message from this article being "this scientist's dreams were too lofty", but something more like "this scientist ignored good scientific practice in pursuit of his lofty dreams".
  • PaulHoule 3y ago
    The job market is tough enough that Avi Loeb getting tenure means somebody else didn’t. The young scientist seeing what Loeb can get away with because he is powerful might conclude they want to leave the field.
  • ametrau 3y ago
    It’s sarcasm