How should we make it attractive for them [young people] to spend 5,6,7 years in our field, be satisfied, learn about excitement, but finally be qualified to find other possibilities?" -- H. Schopper
Given that cheap and disposable trainees — PhD students and postdocs — fuel the entire scientific research enterprise, it is not surprising that few inside the system seem interested in change. A system complicit in this sort of exploitation is at best indifferent and at worst cruel.
but finally be qualified to find other possibilities
I've always thought of legends like Manuel Blum and the institutions he's advised such as Shafi Goldwasser, Micali, Adleman -- and even their students -- as people who transcend this notion of the PhD as a mantle piece for their résumé. You can tell by the relevance and pointedness of their papers. These people are plugged in. They're solving really interesting problems in really elegant ways. You can tell a lot of love goes into their work.
It's not their job to market the field to people unlike themselves. I see inspiration in Dr. Blum's writing for people who truly want to philosophize like he does. It's your job to love thinking and working on the problems as much as them, and be good like them. When your contribution is cited and useful to others these notions of being "exploited" by "the system" must be secondary. If one feels that way one can go the Larry & Sergey route and change the world that way too.
I don't think there is a finally for any of the names I mentioned here when it comes to computer science.
As a scientist, it is fascinating to watch developed societies slowly but surely chomp down at the very hand that feeds them.
The U.S. is the world leader in scientific research, and what they do, others follow. The absolute gutting of the NIH and other institutes, along with the ruthless exploitation of extremely talented graduate students in a nefarious pyramid scheme, does not bode well for the future of scientific research.
Make no mistake, the scientific method is the only thing that separates homo sapiens from the plethora of majestic flora and fauna on this fragile planet. Only through arduous devotion of driven individuals carried out over hundreds of millennia have we reached our current, almost unfathomable state of knowledge which has conferred upon us unprecedented control over our environment.
Comments
How should we make it attractive for them [young people] to spend 5,6,7 years in our field, be satisfied, learn about excitement, but finally be qualified to find other possibilities?" -- H. Schopper
Given that cheap and disposable trainees — PhD students and postdocs — fuel the entire scientific research enterprise, it is not surprising that few inside the system seem interested in change. A system complicit in this sort of exploitation is at best indifferent and at worst cruel.
https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=7766377
but finally be qualified to find other possibilities
I've always thought of legends like Manuel Blum and the institutions he's advised such as Shafi Goldwasser, Micali, Adleman -- and even their students -- as people who transcend this notion of the PhD as a mantle piece for their résumé. You can tell by the relevance and pointedness of their papers. These people are plugged in. They're solving really interesting problems in really elegant ways. You can tell a lot of love goes into their work.
It's not their job to market the field to people unlike themselves. I see inspiration in Dr. Blum's writing for people who truly want to philosophize like he does. It's your job to love thinking and working on the problems as much as them, and be good like them. When your contribution is cited and useful to others these notions of being "exploited" by "the system" must be secondary. If one feels that way one can go the Larry & Sergey route and change the world that way too.
I don't think there is a finally for any of the names I mentioned here when it comes to computer science.
As a scientist, it is fascinating to watch developed societies slowly but surely chomp down at the very hand that feeds them.
The U.S. is the world leader in scientific research, and what they do, others follow. The absolute gutting of the NIH and other institutes, along with the ruthless exploitation of extremely talented graduate students in a nefarious pyramid scheme, does not bode well for the future of scientific research.
Make no mistake, the scientific method is the only thing that separates homo sapiens from the plethora of majestic flora and fauna on this fragile planet. Only through arduous devotion of driven individuals carried out over hundreds of millennia have we reached our current, almost unfathomable state of knowledge which has conferred upon us unprecedented control over our environment.
Those who who don't know history...