tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22973357.post47595919455767786..comments2023-09-27T07:44:19.769-04:00Comments on Sabine Hossenfelder: Backreaction: Looking back at Perimeter InstituteSabine Hossenfelderhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06151209308084588985noreply@blogger.comBlogger19125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22973357.post-90633527663979335742009-09-30T17:05:39.156-04:002009-09-30T17:05:39.156-04:00Neil Turok has, of course, been the driving force ...Neil Turok has, of course, been the driving force behind the <a href="http://www.aims.ac.za/english/index.php" rel="nofollow">African Institute of Mathematical Sciences</a> (AIMS), which he essentially founded six years ago. AIMS is situated just outside Cape Town in South Africa and basically offers a nine-month postgraduate training programme for students from all over the African continent in Bruce Bartletthttp://math.sun.ac.za/~bbartlett/noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22973357.post-23491653676216396962009-09-28T23:18:38.066-04:002009-09-28T23:18:38.066-04:00Observer:I just hope that the New director N.Turok...Observer:I just hope that the New director N.Turok brings to P.I. The neccesary strong hand to keep everybody focused. I was amazed to see several "new arrivals" come with "Prima Donna" attitudes. Intellectual freedom is right and good but come on... you have to adjust yourself to the rules and regulations.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22973357.post-70152055188357683102009-09-27T03:58:23.309-04:002009-09-27T03:58:23.309-04:00Hi Pope,
Incidentally, I found Kalamazoo to be a ...Hi Pope,<br /><br />Incidentally, I found Kalamazoo to be a very nice place, in particular during the summer, whereas I found Trieste noisy and generally annoying. That is just to say people may differ in what preferences they have for location.<br /><br />What I find frankly much more important is that an institute be located in vicinity of a major international airport. The one thing that Sabine Hossenfelderhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/06151209308084588985noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22973357.post-71859734082302314082009-09-27T03:26:06.579-04:002009-09-27T03:26:06.579-04:00Hi Tkk,
I see. I think we agree on the question o...Hi Tkk,<br /><br />I see. I think we agree on the question of who is responsible for keeping up the spirit then.<br /><br />Reg your reply to Giotis: You don't need VIPs for mentorship and guidance. In my experience people who think themselves VIPs are rather annoying to deal with. If they aren't about to appear on radio, talk with a journalist, jump on a plane to somewhere, or a busy Sabine Hossenfelderhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/06151209308084588985noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22973357.post-46231254975392246862009-09-27T03:12:25.856-04:002009-09-27T03:12:25.856-04:00Tkk asked:
"How many postdoc publish a signi...Tkk asked:<br /><br />"How many postdoc publish a significant paper all by themselves, without assistance and review by faculty? "<br /><br />Only the good ones, the ones who will one day do something important.<br /><br />"How many love to publish with a 'VIP' name tagged along?"<br /><br />All the bad ones, the people who sink without a trace.<br /><br />One Pope Maledict XVInoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22973357.post-52818242801946671382009-09-26T14:46:48.691-04:002009-09-26T14:46:48.691-04:00Bee:
By 'executive' I mean those prominent...Bee:<br />By 'executive' I mean those prominent scientists who run the place. I can't imagine otherwise. <br /><br />Giotis:<br />Don't dismiss 'VIP'. The 'VIP', essentially the faculty and chairs of some prominence, are vital. Because young scientists are no more than young people engaged in science. And all young people can benefit from mentorship and visionary Tkknoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22973357.post-11815951825533363362009-09-26T10:20:10.651-04:002009-09-26T10:20:10.651-04:00Hi Giotis,
only time will tell whether PI is succ...Hi Giotis,<br /><br />only time will tell whether PI is successful or not. And I'm thinking 50-100 years. <br /><br />Regarding the VIP's and the young ambitious scientists. I think a mix of different levels of experience is essential. Otherwise the young ambitious people will just repeat mistakes of the past. The issue with the VIPs is more tricky. While I sympathize with what you say, Sabine Hossenfelderhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/06151209308084588985noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22973357.post-63089429640456976262009-09-26T07:15:10.834-04:002009-09-26T07:15:10.834-04:00It is hard to find a safe criterion to say that su...It is hard to find a safe criterion to say that such an institute is successful or not. In my opinion, with so many physics institutes around, such a criterion would be to create a school, a new way of thinking and doing physics that will produce innovative work. But you can't do that from top to bottom i.e. you shouldn't try to make a fuss and build a reputation by attracting VIPs with Giotisnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22973357.post-78140411178249937892009-09-26T07:04:39.417-04:002009-09-26T07:04:39.417-04:00Hi Bee,
I’m envisioning Einstein and Godel with t...Hi Bee,<br /><br />I’m envisioning Einstein and Godel with the first as being socially astute and the latter the opposite. Einstein said of his later years that the thing he enjoyed most about being at the Princeton Institute for Advanced Studies was no longer his research, yet the conversations he had with Godel as they walked to and back from work. It would be nice to imagine that PI becomePhil Warnellhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15671311338712852659noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22973357.post-5110681107642873472009-09-26T06:49:13.366-04:002009-09-26T06:49:13.366-04:00Hi Phil,
I don't think there's a paradox....Hi Phil,<br /><br />I don't think there's a paradox. A monoculture of either type of research style is something to avoid. There's no reason to think "mavericks" are more able scientists than "sociable people," but you don't want to exclude either, for it's not a criterion relevant for their scientific abilities. Frankly, in my experience literally Sabine Hossenfelderhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/06151209308084588985noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22973357.post-38941224585718733212009-09-26T05:13:53.057-04:002009-09-26T05:13:53.057-04:00Hi Bee,
I think there exists a paradox in the PI ...Hi Bee,<br /><br />I think there exists a paradox in the PI vision, being that on one hand they would like to have all of their people be mavericks in the sense of their research direction and yet collaborative in their social perspective. Hence you have two different models for success. the forner based on individual strengths and the latter reliant on those of a collective. To tell you the Phil Warnellhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15671311338712852659noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22973357.post-81549828348613217222009-09-26T04:49:06.983-04:002009-09-26T04:49:06.983-04:00Hi Bee,
“PS: Regarding the world-travelling Bee,...Hi Bee,<br /><br /><i> “PS: Regarding the world-travelling Bee, the more I get around the more difficult I find it to fit in anywhere, even my home country.” </i><br /><br />Perhaps this is because in the process you are developing the perspective of a globalist and as of yet there exists no place that represents being your home. I find myself much in the same position, only in this case I Phil Warnellhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15671311338712852659noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22973357.post-89023828585497882222009-09-26T01:59:05.561-04:002009-09-26T01:59:05.561-04:00PS: Regarding the world-travelling Bee, the more I...PS: Regarding the world-travelling Bee, the more I get around the more difficult I find it to fit in anywhere, even my home country.Sabine Hossenfelderhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/06151209308084588985noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22973357.post-39849627988847851452009-09-26T01:53:52.574-04:002009-09-26T01:53:52.574-04:00Hi Tkk,
I basically agree with you, just that I d...Hi Tkk,<br /><br />I basically agree with you, just that I don't think it will work if "executives" or "the management" provides what I called spirit and what you call the "smell." Generally my impression is that scientists won't let anybody who is not of their kind tell them what to do (even though this would sometimes be a good idea). I thus think this can Sabine Hossenfelderhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/06151209308084588985noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22973357.post-25582967457854871812009-09-25T23:52:38.475-04:002009-09-25T23:52:38.475-04:00My read is Joao has an axe to grind and he used hi...My read is Joao has an axe to grind and he used his critique of Burton book to swing the axe on PI under Turok. He arrived at PI during the early phase. The place was small, unstructured, exciting, everybody does things their way. This fits very well with his personality. He is, after all, a man who makes a living selling the snake oil of Faster than the Speed of Light! Trouble is, the publishingTkknoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22973357.post-91865887004583080372009-09-25T15:49:02.425-04:002009-09-25T15:49:02.425-04:00Hi Matt,
Good to see you around :-) What is funny...Hi Matt,<br /><br />Good to see you around :-) What is funny about maladministration is if it gets really bad, it becomes less frustrating because you stop expecting it to work. There are whole countries that are good examples for that. The problem is if you think it makes some sense and rely on it to work but then the outcome is just nonsense and a waste of time. Best,<br /><br />B.Sabine Hossenfelderhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/06151209308084588985noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22973357.post-17915384583392704722009-09-25T15:45:51.113-04:002009-09-25T15:45:51.113-04:00Hi Tkk,
I completely agree. You can't one the...Hi Tkk,<br /><br />I completely agree. You can't one the one hand ask for people who are independent, bring a rebellious spirit, think outside the box, and constantly try to improve things - and on the other hand expect them to accept a top down management and keep their mouth shut. <br /><br />Constructive advice has actually two requirements. For one, you need somebody who isn't afraid Sabine Hossenfelderhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/06151209308084588985noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22973357.post-82436628892501350792009-09-25T15:31:54.312-04:002009-09-25T15:31:54.312-04:00You think that PI had bad organization and maladmi...You think that PI had bad organization and maladministration whilst you were there? Ha, you should have been there in 2004!Matt Leiferhttp://mattleifer.infonoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22973357.post-21645738836378474162009-09-25T15:02:27.423-04:002009-09-25T15:02:27.423-04:00Managing a research institution, especially one wi...Managing a research institution, especially one with PI mission, is difficult. It is not like a business organization where there are lots of knowledge from business schools and lots of experienced people to consult.<br /><br />The whole point of business is focused effort under tight management to produce a highly structured success from products and services. <br /><br />But the whole point of Tkknoreply@blogger.com