tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22973357.post176180606584808400..comments2023-09-27T07:44:19.769-04:00Comments on Sabine Hossenfelder: Backreaction: We have only ourselves to judge on each otherSabine Hossenfelderhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06151209308084588985noreply@blogger.comBlogger65125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22973357.post-20115891131043766882009-09-20T21:36:11.096-04:002009-09-20T21:36:11.096-04:00In the history of theatre, government money has ge...In the history of theatre, government money has generally been pernicious. The Moscow Art Theatre was a place the well-funded government theatre could pick up talent from, but that talent then did nothing significant. The government's money merely diverted talent to staid, safe, useless projects. That was my experience of theatre in Canada as well, actually.<br /><br />There used to be much Russellhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10028133169012516129noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22973357.post-60611621943630917552008-07-28T09:57:00.000-04:002008-07-28T09:57:00.000-04:00Hi Dan,Yes, I read that article. I am somehow skep...Hi Dan,<BR/><BR/>Yes, I read that article. I am somehow skeptic however about the conclusions they draw. A change in citation behavior might just be due to technical developements, and not necessarily have some deeper meaning about the organization of science itself. Best,<BR/><BR/>B.Sabine Hossenfelderhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/06151209308084588985noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22973357.post-36497905944183468362008-07-28T09:54:00.000-04:002008-07-28T09:54:00.000-04:00Another set of constraints on the freedom of the a...Another set of constraints on the freedom of the academic marketplace of ideas. See: Evans, James A. 2008. “Electronic Publication and the Narrowing of Science and Scholarship.” Science 321:5887(395 – 399). 18 July. DOI: 10.1126/science.1150473 http://www.sciencemag.org/cgi/content/full/sci;321/5887/395<BR/><BR/>Evans finds “Using a database of 34 million articles, their citations (1945 to 2005),DRhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16590648217423927742noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22973357.post-40459991834789446552008-07-19T13:26:00.000-04:002008-07-19T13:26:00.000-04:00Hi Dany,Thanks.-B.Hi Dany,<BR/>Thanks.<BR/>-B.Sabine Hossenfelderhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/06151209308084588985noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22973357.post-55833810265642248302008-07-19T12:02:00.000-04:002008-07-19T12:02:00.000-04:00Hi Arun,“Rayleigh thought about it a great deal an...Hi Arun,<BR/><BR/>“Rayleigh thought about it a great deal and said, "Well, I don't see why that should be so, provided you do what you understand and do not contradict young people.'<BR/>I don't think Einstein could have said that, or Dirac, or Heisenberg. Eddington wouldn't have said that.”<BR/><BR/>P.S. I remember “TO FULFILL A VISION”, Jerusalem Einstein Centennial Symposium on Gauge Theories Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22973357.post-73838678500037271022008-07-19T10:50:00.000-04:002008-07-19T10:50:00.000-04:00Hi Dany,I've just deleted your initial insult and ...Hi Dany,<BR/><BR/>I've just deleted your initial insult and the following exchange between you and Phil. If you want to avoid that I just delete completely what could have contained some interesting points, I recommend you disentangle inappropriate comments about other people's mental capabilities from the actual content.<BR/><BR/>Best,<BR/><BR/>B.Sabine Hossenfelderhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/06151209308084588985noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22973357.post-757943906110813472008-07-18T12:34:00.000-04:002008-07-18T12:34:00.000-04:00Hi Christine,All that is not “our department”. The...Hi Christine,<BR/><BR/>All that is not “our department”. The only thing I know is that the distance from the failure to the solution is very short. I have nothing to add. But read A.Voznesensky,“Плач по двум нерожденным поэмам”. He knows better.<BR/><BR/>Regards, Dany.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22973357.post-51222238927717987982008-07-18T09:20:00.000-04:002008-07-18T09:20:00.000-04:00Concerning the age issue. There are many internal ...Concerning the age issue. There are many internal and external factors, as well as historical factors (formative factors) that come into play for doing high-quality, relevant research. Age is only one of these factors.<BR/><BR/>As you get old, positive and negative points come into play, but their relative weights vary from person to person. The positive ones are maturity, amount of accumulated Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22973357.post-81561637841849075952008-07-18T08:58:00.000-04:002008-07-18T08:58:00.000-04:00Dany wrote:I don’t know who Lee is but Dr. C.C.Dan...Dany wrote:<BR/><BR/><I>I don’t know who Lee is but Dr. C.C.Dantas reminds me Rosalind Franklin.</I><BR/><BR/>Well, I'm very honored to read this, thank you, although I feel lost in the comparison.<BR/><BR/>Concerning "Lee", I suppose it is reference to "Lee Smolin", and his quotation given by Bee in the post.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22973357.post-52331973121101558062008-07-18T08:21:00.000-04:002008-07-18T08:21:00.000-04:00Dear Arun,Thanks for the further quote. I think I ...Dear Arun,<BR/><BR/>Thanks for the further quote. I think I misunderstood the first one. I think Chandreasekhar has a point there. Science and art is different. It is different in that creativity in art is the aim whereas in science it's the means. In science you're not actually striving to create something, but to discover something (or at least that used to be the case before scientific Sabine Hossenfelderhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/06151209308084588985noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22973357.post-2757524391219516712008-07-18T07:48:00.000-04:002008-07-18T07:48:00.000-04:00Oops! "Lie" should be "like."Oops! "Lie" should be "like."PlatoHagelhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00849253658526056393noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22973357.post-77343074594920146562008-07-18T07:45:00.000-04:002008-07-18T07:45:00.000-04:00I though you might like this Quote below Bee and S...I though you might like this Quote below Bee and Stefan.<BR/><BR/> <I>I suppose you are two fathoms deep in mathematics,<BR/> and if you are, then God help you, for so am I,<BR/> only with this difference,<BR/> I stick fast in the mud at the bottom and there I shall remain.<BR/> -<B>Charles Darwin</B></I><BR/><BR/>Some may use the fishbowl to represent humanities thinking, and "PlatoHagelhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00849253658526056393noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22973357.post-55605126756898413162008-07-18T03:58:00.000-04:002008-07-18T03:58:00.000-04:00Hi bellamy,“Lee's comments are human, and oldly so...Hi bellamy,<BR/><BR/>“Lee's comments are human, and oldly so.”<BR/><BR/>I don’t know who Lee is but Dr. C.C.Dantas reminds me Rosalind Franklin.<BR/><BR/>Regards, Dany.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22973357.post-11384480475109962762008-07-16T15:06:00.000-04:002008-07-16T15:06:00.000-04:00Age isn't necessarily a determiner, but often it i...Age isn't necessarily a determiner, but often it is. Lee's comments are human, and oldly so. There is actually a system that obviates human dysfunction - but emotional conditions stand in the way. And will for some time.bellamyhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/12243108422389386105noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22973357.post-57013932165171013372008-07-16T11:50:00.000-04:002008-07-16T11:50:00.000-04:00Hi Christine,“The fruits of this are only coming n...Hi Christine,<BR/><BR/>“The fruits of this are only coming now, when I am 41 years old -- too old to make a groundbreaking contribution, right?”<BR/><BR/>Wrong. No doubt. Better late than never. The same true for Bee also.<BR/><BR/>“If you do not prepare yourself, you will be trapped in your dream, instead of diligently building the scenary to make it happen at least at some point of your life.”<Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22973357.post-77314061380295746212008-07-16T07:55:00.000-04:002008-07-16T07:55:00.000-04:00Chandrasekhar (elsewhere):"When you discuss the wo...Chandrasekhar (elsewhere):<BR/><BR/>"When you discuss the works of a great artist or writer, the assumption always is that there is a growth from the early period to the middle period to the mature work and the end. The artist's ability is refined. Clearly he's able to tackle difficult problems. It obviously required an enormous effort, an enormous emotional control to be able to write a play Arunhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03451666670728177970noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22973357.post-66212961018922397362008-07-16T07:37:00.000-04:002008-07-16T07:37:00.000-04:00Anonymous,That quote is from the Ryerson lecture b...Anonymous,<BR/><BR/>That quote is from the Ryerson lecture by S. Chandrasekhar. S.C.'s scientific model was Lord Raleigh who was scientifically productive throughout his long career. This idea that only the young can produce great science is one that bothered S. Chandrasekhar and he kept trying to explain why it was (only) apparently true.<BR/><BR/><BR/>Hi Bee, <BR/><BR/>Unfortunately Arunhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03451666670728177970noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22973357.post-25063079214170762402008-07-16T04:59:00.000-04:002008-07-16T04:59:00.000-04:00Dear Arun,I admittedly totally don't understand th...Dear Arun,<BR/><BR/>I admittedly totally don't understand the quote. From the necessity of constant learning in doing research it seems to me the conclusion should have been exactly the opposite: "the apparent <I>ability</I> of a scientist to continually grow and mature"? Best,<BR/><BR/>B.Sabine Hossenfelderhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/06151209308084588985noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22973357.post-51379162552489422072008-07-16T04:56:00.000-04:002008-07-16T04:56:00.000-04:00Hi Anonymous,That's interesting. Looking around fo...Hi Anonymous,<BR/><BR/>That's interesting. Looking around for a bit I found later publications seem confirm what you quote, though with a slightly younger age. See e.g. <BR/><BR/>http://tinyurl.com/57738k<BR/><BR/>("Genius and Eminence" Robert S. Albert, 1992). It leaves me to wonder though how well a year of publication reflects the time of having had an idea, esp. in fields like physics the Sabine Hossenfelderhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/06151209308084588985noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22973357.post-59435645315869103172008-07-16T03:35:00.000-04:002008-07-16T03:35:00.000-04:00arun:Actually, you couldn't be more wrong. At the...arun:<BR/><BR/>Actually, you couldn't be more wrong. At the age of 40, most scientists have not even begun to do their best work!<BR/><BR/>Christine:<BR/><BR/>I'm sure you will be heartened by the following excerpts from an old paper by C. W. Adams.<BR/><BR/>A list was made of 4204 scientists whose ages at the time of their chief work could be determined plausibly from information close at hand.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22973357.post-70723145980793476272008-07-15T23:01:00.000-04:002008-07-15T23:01:00.000-04:00http://www.sawf.org/Newedit/edit02192001/musicarts...<A HREF="http://www.sawf.org/Newedit/edit02192001/musicarts.asp" REL="nofollow">http://www.sawf.org/Newedit/edit02192001/musicarts.asp</A><BR/>Chandrasekhar:<BR/><BR/>"In 1817, at the age of forty-seven, when the long period of meditation, during which Beethoven composed very little, was coming to an end, he said to Cipriani Potter with transparent sincerity, "Now, I know how to compose." I do Arunhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03451666670728177970noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22973357.post-36668644607489017782008-07-15T16:13:00.000-04:002008-07-15T16:13:00.000-04:00Yes, Bee, we are talking about the same problem.Th...Yes, Bee, we are talking about the same problem.<BR/><BR/>The question is whether one is willing to play the game or fight against the system... This is the old story of humanity... :) There is of course attitudes in between...<BR/><BR/>I think you are doing a very nice job in pointing out the problems and trying to find solutions here in your blog. But it is a long way to see actual changes as Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22973357.post-60429877749375836062008-07-15T15:16:00.000-04:002008-07-15T15:16:00.000-04:00Hi Christine, CIP,I see very well that the way the...Hi Christine, CIP,<BR/><BR/>I see very well that the way the system is presently set up internal advertisement is important and that's why people do it: it is a strategy that helps them to survive. But that is exactly what I say the problem is. This strategy is not beneficial for progress. Best,<BR/><BR/>B.Sabine Hossenfelderhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/06151209308084588985noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22973357.post-22743251227434483112008-07-15T15:06:00.000-04:002008-07-15T15:06:00.000-04:00I am talking about the internal organization of sc...<I>I am talking about the internal organization of science.</I><BR/><BR/>But Bee, I think CIP is also talking about the same issue, in the sense of how things are in reality, how the system works, unfortunately. He is talking about advertisement *within* the system. OTOH, you are talking about how it should be ideallistically -- free of advertisements --, which of course is how things should be Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22973357.post-67609167622850929732008-07-15T14:53:00.000-04:002008-07-15T14:53:00.000-04:00Hi CIP,Unfortunately (or not), there is very littl...Hi CIP,<BR/><BR/><I>Unfortunately (or not), there is very little money set aside for research for scientists to decide how to use wisely. </I><BR/><BR/>Indeed, and that's exactly what I'm saying is unfortunate. <BR/><BR/><I>That fact is why advertising is actually crucial.</I><BR/><BR/>No, you are still confusing two different points. I am talking about the internal organization of science. ThereSabine Hossenfelderhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/06151209308084588985noreply@blogger.com