That’s actually not what I said.

> If the PI chooses use some funds from a grant to carry out speculative research. Good. GOOD. That is what scientific inquiry is meant for.

My claim is not about good or bad. My claim is that there is a gap between how science is done and how it is presented to the public.

> This is grants 101

You seem to agree such a gap exists, you just think it’s a good thing or a matter of business.

> because it is not my expertise

So notice when I bring up correct information, I’m told I don’t have the experience/expertise to do so despite my academic union card.

Please do share opinions about software. We have no professional organization. People argue with ideas.

> You are contributing to the decline of American science, and I will not stand for it.

you seem to identify intellectualism as a group of people or an organization.

I think that’s a mockery of truth and ideas.

Yes American science as a family of organizations deserves scrutiny and critiques. Funding these organizations is not an absolute public good.

Banning gambling doesn’t mean hunting down gamblers, it means stopping them from being in the App Store listings and showings ads in TV.

If you want to find sketchy websites on your own after that - that’s your freedom.

Having 20 year old men bombarded with gambling media is not freedom.

Ease of access and advertising matter.

Yes. Ban the phone apps and had the ads. Advertising works people, that’s why they pay for it!

This is such a strange mindset to me. Part of staff engineer is learning you don't need to solve tomorrow's problems. You solve it with the constraints you understand and leave room for expansion if needed.

Why do we have the opposite belief organizationally? And why as a manager would you want your top workers to be speculating about things you might want rather than achieving at the tasks you gave them?

(This is a genuine question.)

Yes, we are in agreement. That's why promoters are so valuable.

> in the same way a PI doesn't spend their days doing lab work.

This large workforce of Phd's protecting the time of the PI also represents a massive allocation of young intelligent talent, and that's part of my concern.

> an excess of PhDs is not a collapse, it is a boon.

It's difficult to talk about demand for required credentials. A large percentage is foreigners securing visas to work in the US.

> You have absolutely no clue how much public reporting is involved in grants. Just a complete ignorant comment right here.

> Conspiracy bullshit. Take your meds.

I think researchers put a great deal of care into public reporting. And I think they use their intellect to construct a story conducive to their careers. Who doesn't?

I am aware of researchers who use a technique where they get funding for a project that is basically finished, and use the funds for more speculative research. TTheir sources of funding expect more predictability than they can realistically provide. Wouldn't you say that represents a gap in the public's visibility?

> Every PI I know does the stuff they like

I don't doubt they are passionate and driven. I'm saying something different. When you are in the thick of establishing yourself you have to care more about what system cares about (this is maybe your situation?), and modern competition makes this all encompassing. But the book they write in sabbatical tends to look different than their official title.

> they get it well funded, because they are the best in the world at what they do.

How would we falsify this statement?

> You post about tech and programming and call yourself a "software engineer".

PhD to software engineer is a common career path.

> Good. You should feel ashamed for the way you are acting.

Name calling doesn't sound intellectual to me. I choose not to reciprocate.

EDIT: to focus on my personal beliefs and not yours.

I actually lived it, so thanks for your understanding and consideration.

> Getting money to fund an idea is not lesser than, it is often the hardest part.

Difficulty is not value. Extremely talented people are doing arbitrary waste work!

And you’re right - promotors aren’t lesser. They are greater - more valued in academic job placement and promotion.

> There is a tremendous amount of publicly available oversight at every step,

Did you miss the prior comment? The existing oversight is ineffective. Researchers see it as a hoop to jump through.

> If you ask, scientists will leap at the chance to tell you what they did

Personal communication is not systematic public reporting.

Also professors tend to use a two job approach: stuff they like, and stuff that’s important for their career. Unless I attend a specialized conference I won’t hear about the latter, except in a form crafted for public reception. That’s the one that gets grants.

> Again. Its all public info. Its all publicly presented.

There is public info - but it’s a facade. It’s constructed with the goal of appeasing the public requirements.

> yes you are buying into (or actively promoting) anti-intellectualism.

Name calling.

1. Our top researchers are wasting their time and energy promoting projects for grants. 2. Any attempt by the public to oversee or guide these grants is thwarted by smart people. 3. If you try to learn more about where the money is going or what’s being counted as science people on HN will call it “anti-intellectual propoganda”.

The absurdity is Americans assuming people won’t express in-group preference.

Of mainstream politicians they are most aligned with Obama or Clinton.

The Trump movement since 2016 has taken republicans away from mainstream Economics.

This is not true at all. Far more important in upper management is ego - they will lose money to improve their legacy or beat a competitor.

> If you have salaries, you have politics, and a downward trend towards more of them

Nobody said politics do not exist.

So let’s take what you said at face value - management is paying for jobs but they are looking to cut costs, etc.

Is that arrangement something you can use to benefit your life for a season? Or an inherent war zone?

Yeah capitalism is sad in a lot of ways - particular the modes of possible value. But we are actually talking about working in hierarchical management organizations which have existed forever and have nothing to do exclusively with capitalism.