3 ms·

This seems like a bad idea. 1. Relying on philanpropy is generally not democratic and should be frowned upon. 2. This entire structure is legacy. Research nee

This seems like a bad idea. 1. Relying on philanpropy is generally not democratic and should be frowned upon. 2. This entire structure is legacy. Research needs to be an integrated part of society. Something people go and out from. Not something a few elite people get to dedicate their lifes to. This is important to ensure diffusion, especially in highly volatile times like we are in now. The big question should be: how can we get a 40 something year old industry professional to do research in a couple of. Years between jobs.

ijk 1y ago
It would look very different from current research, I think, because the way things are optimized now it's far more efficient and effective to have one person dedicate their entire life to basic research versus lots of people spending a little time on it. We already have an attention span issue; it's hard to fund the really long-running projects that are essential for making progress in a lot of areas. And from an industry standpoint, being an academic researcher is a personal sacrifice: more prestigious, sometimes, but often a lot less lucrative than if you'd have spent that time climbing the ladder at a major tech company or developing skills that were more immediately job-relevant. So it'd have to look significantly different than what we currently have, including something to mitigate the income hit that a 40-something professional would take for spending a couple of years doing research. Might be worth building that society, but we'd have to figure out how to get there.
- fuzzfactor 1y ago
  >it's far more efficient and effective to have one person dedicate their entire life to basic research versus lots of people spending a little time on it. We already have an attention span issue; Not only that, with some efforts a lifetime is not even enough unless you beat the odds plus get lucky early too.
- tossandthrow 1y ago
  I actually don't think you are right. Maybe at ivy league, which is a diminishingly small amount of research. I do understand why it could seem like it is a big proportion - these institutions are being treated like religion. Regardless, it is not reality.

ijk 1y ago

It would look very different from current research, I think, because the way things are optimized now it's far more efficient and effective to have one person dedicate their entire life to basic research versus lots of people spending a little time on it. We already have an attention span issue; it's hard to fund the really long-running projects that are essential for making progress in a lot of areas. And from an industry standpoint, being an academic researcher is a personal sacrifice: more prestigious, sometimes, but often a lot less lucrative than if you'd have spent that time climbing the ladder at a major tech company or developing skills that were more immediately job-relevant. So it'd have to look significantly different than what we currently have, including something to mitigate the income hit that a 40-something professional would take for spending a couple of years doing research. Might be worth building that society, but we'd have to figure out how to get there.

fuzzfactor 1y ago
>it's far more efficient and effective to have one person dedicate their entire life to basic research versus lots of people spending a little time on it. We already have an attention span issue; Not only that, with some efforts a lifetime is not even enough unless you beat the odds plus get lucky early too.
tossandthrow 1y ago
I actually don't think you are right. Maybe at ivy league, which is a diminishingly small amount of research. I do understand why it could seem like it is a big proportion - these institutions are being treated like religion. Regardless, it is not reality.