3 ms·

Generally yes, but if someone, Higgs in this case, is saying there is something broken with academia's definition of productivity then it begs the question what

by rpedela 13y ago

Generally yes, but if someone, Higgs in this case, is saying there is something broken with academia's definition of productivity then it begs the question what should that definition be? What was Higgs doing that was more important or more productive than publishing papers? It is a totally fair question given the circumstances. Had Higgs never said anything then I wouldn't be interested in how he spent his time in the office. Nor would it be appropriate to care.

cinquemb 13y ago
So you're saying because of his experiences with academia and the status he has from his hard work, he needs to help set new goal posts for the masses to pigeon hole themselves into which could resemble the situation in which he says we have today? It is a fair question if you don't expect any answers from him, but from the question itself, it doesn't seem that way. It seems like a question that would be more apt for the self.
- derefr 13y ago
  I think the question was simply, "what was the standard he was measuring himself by, by which he considers himself to be successful?" It doesn't have to be a yardstick applied to anyone else--but presuming that Higgs doesn't believe himself to have wasted his life after the publication of his famous works, I wonder what he thinks makes that true.
  - cinquemb 13y ago
    Asking for definitions of what people should do, when ultimately the individual will be the one who will have a choice to make regardless of the circumstances, seems like yardsticking to me (that's what definitions are used for, right?), though I suppose I could wonder about that too. I also suppose I could wonder about how many aspiring/(non)tenured PHD's spend their entire lives producing publication after publication without an inkling of fame or any major contributions relative to those of the likes of Higgs (or in general, anything any individual decides to do in the spectrum of their peers), who think that they haven't wasted their life.
deleted 13y ago
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ryandrake 13y ago
Actually, it raises the question, it does not "beg the question". https://public.wsu.edu/~brians/errors/begs.html https://public.wsu.edu/~brians/errors/begs.html

by rpedela 13y ago

cinquemb 13y ago

So you're saying because of his experiences with academia and the status he has from his hard work, he needs to help set new goal posts for the masses to pigeon hole themselves into which could resemble the situation in which he says we have today? It is a fair question if you don't expect any answers from him, but from the question itself, it doesn't seem that way. It seems like a question that would be more apt for the self.

derefr 13y ago
I think the question was simply, "what was the standard he was measuring himself by, by which he considers himself to be successful?" It doesn't have to be a yardstick applied to anyone else--but presuming that Higgs doesn't believe himself to have wasted his life after the publication of his famous works, I wonder what he thinks makes that true.
- cinquemb 13y ago
  Asking for definitions of what people should do, when ultimately the individual will be the one who will have a choice to make regardless of the circumstances, seems like yardsticking to me (that's what definitions are used for, right?), though I suppose I could wonder about that too. I also suppose I could wonder about how many aspiring/(non)tenured PHD's spend their entire lives producing publication after publication without an inkling of fame or any major contributions relative to those of the likes of Higgs (or in general, anything any individual decides to do in the spectrum of their peers), who think that they haven't wasted their life.

deleted 13y ago

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ryandrake 13y ago

Actually, it raises the question, it does not "beg the question". https://public.wsu.edu/~brians/errors/begs.html https://public.wsu.edu/~brians/errors/begs.html