5 ms·

They don't do this already? Who would possibly object? Why would any student attend an institution that didn't require it? Obviously I'm not in academia, but t

They don't do this already? Who would possibly object? Why would any student attend an institution that didn't require it? Obviously I'm not in academia, but to most outsiders this is really obvious stuff.

rahimnathwani 2y ago
Obviously I'm not in academia, but to most outsiders this is really obvious stuff. That's my point. To outsiders like you and me, these things may seem obviously desirable. But academics respond to incentives. Imagine you've spent 10 years pushing some set of conclusions based on some shaky studies you did early in your career. Do you really want people to dig deep and challenge the validity of your research?
- dkjaudyeqooe 2y ago
  Isn't that just part of the job? If you're not wrong sometimes you're not trying hard enough. To avoid this situation you should invite others to challenge your work more quickly.
  - warkdarrior 2y ago
    The academic job is primarily about getting funding for further work. If ten years of work were proven wrong, the academic may worry that funding agencies may stop funding them. "You've been doing the wrong work for a decade!" So while the academic may not mind being proven wrong in their hypotheses/results/conclusions, they may stress about not being able to get more funding.
mintplant 2y ago
We do. I literally just had to submit a statement to this effect to the NSF. The GP is spouting uninformed opinions and then patting themselves on the back for being an "outsider".
- rahimnathwani 2y ago
  The GP is spouting uninformed opinions and then patting themselves on the back for being an "outsider". Why so hostile? BTW I have nothing to gain from 'spouting uninformed opinions'. My opinion is mostly based on my own interactions with certain academics, and others I've had the opportunity to directly observe. Perhaps the patterns I've seen are not universal. But that doesn't mean that they are not common or, as you seem to suggest, do not exist at all.
  - mintplant 2y ago
    > Why so hostile? This sort of thread pops up again and again on HN. It's frustrating to read comment after comment of people being confidently wrong about your vocation.
    - rahimnathwani 2y ago
      I have an MBA, and spent years as a Product Manager. There is much snark on HN about MBAs and PMs being useless. I read those comments with curiosity to understand what I might learn. Those commenters' experience is not universal, but neither is my own. Some of the comments might be based on virtually no evidence, but that's probably not the majority.

rahimnathwani 2y ago

Obviously I'm not in academia, but to most outsiders this is really obvious stuff. That's my point. To outsiders like you and me, these things may seem obviously desirable. But academics respond to incentives. Imagine you've spent 10 years pushing some set of conclusions based on some shaky studies you did early in your career. Do you really want people to dig deep and challenge the validity of your research?

dkjaudyeqooe 2y ago
Isn't that just part of the job? If you're not wrong sometimes you're not trying hard enough. To avoid this situation you should invite others to challenge your work more quickly.
- warkdarrior 2y ago
  The academic job is primarily about getting funding for further work. If ten years of work were proven wrong, the academic may worry that funding agencies may stop funding them. "You've been doing the wrong work for a decade!" So while the academic may not mind being proven wrong in their hypotheses/results/conclusions, they may stress about not being able to get more funding.

mintplant 2y ago

We do. I literally just had to submit a statement to this effect to the NSF. The GP is spouting uninformed opinions and then patting themselves on the back for being an "outsider".

rahimnathwani 2y ago
The GP is spouting uninformed opinions and then patting themselves on the back for being an "outsider". Why so hostile? BTW I have nothing to gain from 'spouting uninformed opinions'. My opinion is mostly based on my own interactions with certain academics, and others I've had the opportunity to directly observe. Perhaps the patterns I've seen are not universal. But that doesn't mean that they are not common or, as you seem to suggest, do not exist at all.
- mintplant 2y ago
  > Why so hostile? This sort of thread pops up again and again on HN. It's frustrating to read comment after comment of people being confidently wrong about your vocation.
  - rahimnathwani 2y ago
    I have an MBA, and spent years as a Product Manager. There is much snark on HN about MBAs and PMs being useless. I read those comments with curiosity to understand what I might learn. Those commenters' experience is not universal, but neither is my own. Some of the comments might be based on virtually no evidence, but that's probably not the majority.