jltsiren

35 ms·

631.
by jltsiren 2y ago
Universities are more about learning than teaching. The heavy focus on teaching, and the expectation that every class is taught, is large part of the reason why American higher education is so expensive. During my undergrad, in a European p
632.
by jltsiren 2y ago
They charge us so much, because they are selling something, and the barrier of entry to the industry is high. Prices are naturally set to the level people can afford to pay, rather than being based on how much it costs to provide the servic
633.
by jltsiren 2y ago
From their unwillingness to tax people. American tax revenue as a fraction of GDP is 6-7 percentage points lower than in the average OECD country. That gap is over $1.5 trillion/year.
634.
by jltsiren 2y ago
The fundamental question is about basing research funding on merit: Should government funding go to the best researchers with best ideas, regardless of which university they are affiliated with? Rich elite universities can attract many of t
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by jltsiren 2y ago
By default, research belongs to the researchers. That's an essential part of academic freedom. The main exceptions are research funded by grants and contracts that specify otherwise, and when you start looking for patents and other com
636.
by jltsiren 2y ago
Viewpoint diversity is not the same as diversity of opinion. When someone is seriously trying to justify DEI practices, viewpoint diversity is usually the first thing they talk about. They argue that having people from diverse backgrounds i
637.
by jltsiren 2y ago
Universities don't sell or do research. They provide facilities, equipment, services, and sometimes funding for research. The actual research is done by individuals, who are nominally employed by the university but largely independent
638.
by jltsiren 2y ago
Those are two mostly unrelated discussions. If you do demanding work, a full working week is 20-30 hours. Even 40 hours is too much and cannot be sustained in the long term. You can do more in the short term, but you'll eventually burn
639.
by jltsiren 2y ago
A lot of the controversy around the Chinese room argument is because people don't talk explicitly about different modes of thinking. One mode is searching for useful concepts and definitions. Another starts from definitions and searche
640.
by jltsiren 2y ago
And before 2001, Eutelsat was an intergovernmental organization. You can't get rid of legacy baggage just by rebranding yourself. You need to get rid of existing stakeholders, directors, and managers. And to discard the existing organi
641.
by jltsiren 2y ago
It's important to understand the argument in context. Theoretical computer science established early that input-output behavior captures the essence of computation. The causal mechanism underlying the computation does not matter, becau
642.
by jltsiren 2y ago
It made choices that turned out to be good in retrospect. And it's young enough that it hasn't turned into a stagnant bureaucracy yet. Technology is not magic. If you can do something, others can do it as well, if they want. Estab
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by jltsiren 2y ago
I've never understood the fetishization of long working hours. If there is a job where you can meaningfully work 80+ hours a week, the same (and often better) results can be achieved with more employees working fewer hours. If the work
644.
by jltsiren 2y ago
When it comes to traffic and urban planning, Paris is best understood as a city of 10+ million people. The administrative subdivision called Paris has only ~2 million people, but the city doesn't end at its borders.
645.
by jltsiren 2y ago
People seeking asylum generally get work permits, but they are only ~15% of immigrants. Doctors and other legally protected professions are always difficult for an immigrant, as their professional organizations are suspicious of the standar
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by jltsiren 2y ago
It's easier to get a work visa or employment based permanent residency in most EU countries than in the US. Partly because there are no quotas for higher-end work visas or permanent residency permits. And partly because the EU does not
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by jltsiren 2y ago
The key question is what you expect from the future. If you assume that the drop in federal funding is temporary and things will be back to normal in a year or two, it's reasonable to use endowment to soften the impact. But if you expe
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by jltsiren 2y ago
20 years is a short time for an institution that can reasonably expect to last centuries. Serving the institution means sustaining the endowment indefinitely, which isn't compatible with spending more than you can afford.
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by jltsiren 2y ago
The old internet had something today's internet lacks: a justified belief that the future would be better. Things were new and exciting, and you saw opportunities and rapid improvements everywhere. Today it's just governments and
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by jltsiren 2y ago
Columbia's endowment is ~$20 billion. A sustainable spending level would be 3-4% of that, assuming no further donations, or 4-5%, if donations continue as usual. In any case, it would be at most $1 billion/year, and that money is
651.
by jltsiren 2y ago
A 5-hour movie is long, but not that long for people used to binge-watching TV shows. And I'd argue that watching modern productions without subtitles is a clearer indication of masochism. Too many actors just mumble their lines. If yo
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by jltsiren 2y ago
Travel to the USSR was different, at least towards the end. Partly because they didn't have the surveillance technology we are used to. Partly because of widespread corruption. And partly because they didn't want to scare away vis
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by jltsiren 2y ago
Europe is too decentralized. Each country has its own languages, cultures, laws, and politics. If you leave things to the market, the chances are you get a large number of regional solutions tailored to the local conditions. None of which i
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by jltsiren 2y ago
If you drive to a bookstore a mile away to pick up the book, the carbon emissions from that final mile are higher than from shipping the book across the ocean. Large ships are very energy efficient and their payload fractions are high. Whic
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by jltsiren 2y ago
I prefer the way it used to be in Finland (and still mostly is). Board members are elected by the people affiliated with the university. Votes might be split 4:3:3 or 5:4:4 between professors, other staff, and students. Some board positions
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by jltsiren 2y ago
I don't think the controversy is about deporting people who are no longer wanted in the country. It's about the use of unnecessary force. The principle of minimum necessary force is pretty integral to Western societies. It include
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by jltsiren 2y ago
In Finland (and I guess in some other European countries) deportation in itself is not a sufficient reason for arrest. Once you have been informed of the decision, you get some time to leave voluntarily, or to challenge the decision in the
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by jltsiren 2y ago
Manufacturing represents ~15% of the EU GDP, vs. ~11% in the US. Both because lower wages make manufacturing in the EU more competitive and because financialization has not gone as far as in the US.
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by jltsiren 2y ago
Do you believe that non-citizens should be allowed to run for any office? Or that citizens living outside a state/district should be allowed to represent that state/distict? If not, courts and/or election officials must have
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by jltsiren 2y ago
The "center" in that means a collaborative project with multiple PIs instead of a grant used to fund a single lab. The total funding for the project in the current funding cycle seems to be ~$10 million over 5 years: https:/

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