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This was incredibly valuable to me to read. Thank you. > Third, both of your posts imply that the only measure of value - of self, and to society - is wealth.

This was incredibly valuable to me to read. Thank you. > Third, both of your posts imply that the only measure of value - of self, and to society - is wealth. This reminded me of something I took for granted that most people thought - when most people don't think it. I'd done quite a lot of cowboy frontier-style research when I was younger, and written much of it up. But I really disliked marketing, producing, selling. Eventually I met the head of Apple's Market Research for Canada, and he was an amazing guy. He taught me so much. One thing he really, really hammered into me was that it's good and right to be compensated for the value you create. I got a motto from one of those talks in Toronto - "Edison not Tesla." By all accounts, Tesla was the greater scientist and probably better human being than Edison. But Edison became very wealthy, and Tesla had a bit of a hard life. So I do absolutely believe that the making the greatest contribution to society and wealth are and should be married - and that it keeps you on track. I think researchers ought to become wealthy as they benefit humanity, and it's a tragedy when they don't. So bettering of people's lives, truly, measurably, ought to result in the doer of good also having their life improved. Wealth isn't the only measure of that, but it is a large one. Thanks again for your reply, very insightful to me.

neilc 17y ago
it's good and right to be compensated for the value you create There are ways to be compensated other than wealth, however. For example, many people would consider that a tenured position at a prestigious university, with a generally very pleasant work environment, the freedom to work on whatever you like, to collaborate with whomever you choose, and to have the security of tenure, is ample non-monetary compensation. Academics also enjoy considerable prestige -- both in terms of their reputations to others in their field, and their respect from society at large. You may not value these sorts of non-monetary compensation, but some people do. making the greatest contribution to society and wealth are and should be married Perhaps they "should be", but in reality, I think they clearly are not. Perhaps an ideal system would be different, but that's not the system we have.

neilc 17y ago

it's good and right to be compensated for the value you create There are ways to be compensated other than wealth, however. For example, many people would consider that a tenured position at a prestigious university, with a generally very pleasant work environment, the freedom to work on whatever you like, to collaborate with whomever you choose, and to have the security of tenure, is ample non-monetary compensation. Academics also enjoy considerable prestige -- both in terms of their reputations to others in their field, and their respect from society at large. You may not value these sorts of non-monetary compensation, but some people do. making the greatest contribution to society and wealth are and should be married Perhaps they "should be", but in reality, I think they clearly are not. Perhaps an ideal system would be different, but that's not the system we have.