tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22973357.post7028524102294161709..comments2023-09-27T07:44:19.769-04:00Comments on Sabine Hossenfelder: Backreaction: So you want to get a PhD?Sabine Hossenfelderhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06151209308084588985noreply@blogger.comBlogger31125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22973357.post-75387730393984054752011-04-27T11:37:39.643-04:002011-04-27T11:37:39.643-04:00"It simply shows that postdoc'ing takes u..."It simply shows that postdoc'ing takes up those who can't find a tenure-track job professor'ing when times are hard."<br /><br />That's what I'm saying. Show me one postdoc who's not on a temporary contract.Sabine Hossenfelderhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/06151209308084588985noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22973357.post-82822642780818150152011-04-27T11:21:12.077-04:002011-04-27T11:21:12.077-04:00The chart presented in this post does not show a &...The chart presented in this post does not show a "trend towards more and more research done by scientists on temporary contracts." It simply shows that postdoc'ing takes up those who can't find a tenure-track job professor'ing when times are hard. If anything this chart shows the academic job market is in equilibrium and uses the postdoc appointment to keep gainfully bizdiets! tovarichhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01535898356464805509noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22973357.post-55821315935783917692011-04-27T07:48:12.713-04:002011-04-27T07:48:12.713-04:00Hi Eric,
As I’ve had it defined, the flexibility ...Hi Eric,<br /><br />As I’ve had it defined, the flexibility you speak of is to be found in the act of the curiosity realizing the possibilities contained in space which has been provided. Thus this would have intelligence as being the hybrid of the two. None the less, for me, it’s always being difficult to have imagined as to how a computational machine, although having a space in which to Phil Warnellhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15671311338712852659noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22973357.post-7782836618112427582011-04-27T06:58:27.885-04:002011-04-27T06:58:27.885-04:00Hi Neil,
I’m glad you agree that curiosity being ...Hi Neil,<br /><br />I’m glad you agree that curiosity being the key, yet you transpose this to having an imagination. I would concur and yet the two are not the same; that is if taken as nouns (things), the former being defined as a desire and the latter as a place (a dimension or degree of freedom if you prefer). This of course begs the question, if both being fundamental or if one being Phil Warnellhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15671311338712852659noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22973357.post-48335363892324469092011-04-26T14:36:51.228-04:002011-04-26T14:36:51.228-04:00I'm not surprised, Neil. This whole Black/Whit...I'm not surprised, Neil. This whole Black/White crap is overdone in America. Proof: I was once a counter manager at an equipment rental store, to whit:<br /><br />Half the faces I looked at across the counter every day were white, half were black. They were all good, with one exception:<br /><br />Older. Teenage. Boys. <br /><br />They're pretty terrible, regardless of ethnicity.<br /><brSteven Colyerhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10435759210177642257noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22973357.post-50596311607023301402011-04-26T14:23:29.588-04:002011-04-26T14:23:29.588-04:00Well then, in keeping with interest in showing wha...Well then, in keeping with interest in showing what "ordinary people" can do as counter to mass-PhDeeing (sorry), I offer <a href="http://www.physorg.com/news/2011-04-citizen-scientists-incredible-discoveries.html" rel="nofollow">http://physorg.com: Citizen scientists making incredible discoveries</a>. The discovery of the greenish-looking "Voorwerp" etc. is fascinating, but INeil Bateshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04564859009749481136noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22973357.post-70979636751528649072011-04-26T14:22:38.469-04:002011-04-26T14:22:38.469-04:00This comment has been removed by the author.Neil Bateshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04564859009749481136noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22973357.post-56113623072887009992011-04-26T13:32:29.200-04:002011-04-26T13:32:29.200-04:00On MENSA, two thoughts;
1) I was invited to join ...On MENSA, two thoughts;<br /><br />1) I was invited to join MENSA, and went to see if I liked the people there, so I went and I didn't. Too many people debating the size of their intellectual penises, and praising Richard Feynman for his expert use of the real one, assuming morals go out the door. I have since invoked Groucho Marx's attitude re same, that being "I would never join Steven Colyerhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10435759210177642257noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22973357.post-77863660207793331972011-04-26T12:31:54.789-04:002011-04-26T12:31:54.789-04:00Phil, very well spoken. I couldn't have said i...Phil, very well spoken. I couldn't have said it better myself. And Neil, you got at the exact problem with why Intelligence is necessary for achievement but is not sufficient. Equally important is intellectual flexibility. Far too many people in the former category are sorely lacking in the second category. Too busy patting themselves on the back to look at the other guys viewpoint, I suppose.Erichttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08213251864943443334noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22973357.post-11659652080522312032011-04-26T11:13:36.001-04:002011-04-26T11:13:36.001-04:00Bee wrote:
Hi Steven:
"The Ivy Leagues have a...Bee wrote:<br /><i>Hi Steven:<br />"The Ivy Leagues have actually gotten better at not inflating grades,"<br />I recommend you look at some of the figures on the website I mentioned, for example this one showing the long term grade inflation by institution. Best,<br />B.</i><br /><br />I did, and I stand by my words. I speak only of the Ivy League schools. This was a BIG deal about 10 Steven Colyerhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10435759210177642257noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22973357.post-40120435239164807982011-04-26T09:06:10.836-04:002011-04-26T09:06:10.836-04:00Good observation, Phil.
“Imagination is more impo...Good observation, Phil.<br /><br />“Imagination is more important than knowledge. For knowledge is limited to all we now know and understand, while imagination embraces the entire world, and all there ever will be to know and understand.”<br /><br />- Albert Einstein<br />[Full quote.]<br /><br />Well, my own experiences tell me that most scientists do not want to hear critical challenges to whatNeil Bateshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04564859009749481136noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22973357.post-30628614655568147362011-04-26T07:11:44.842-04:002011-04-26T07:11:44.842-04:00Hi Neil & Al,
All this talk about I.Q. and i...Hi Neil & Al,<br /><br />All this talk about I.Q. and idiocracy forgets that is having more to do with the C.Q. (curiosity quotient), as it relates to the acceptance of mediocrity. That is to be able to recognize how curious people are in terms of measurement and how this can be maintained through education as a bare minimum and grown most preferably. It’s been noted here Feynman having anPhil Warnellhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15671311338712852659noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22973357.post-91081932141993544912011-04-26T00:20:30.709-04:002011-04-26T00:20:30.709-04:00The higher-education bubble<a href="http://www.economist.com/blogs/schumpeter/2011/04/higher_education" rel="nofollow">The higher-education bubble</a>Thomas Larssonhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15985129937633673870noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22973357.post-63609595723033402572011-04-25T21:05:18.924-04:002011-04-25T21:05:18.924-04:00@Neil Bates. (ISPE too - boring people). Sarah P...@Neil Bates. (ISPE too - boring people). Sarah Palin is functionally stupid. Stupid stupids are sludge. Neither class should be subsidized or regarded.<br /><br />Personnel hires drinking buddies. Mentioning Mensa is a quick exit (no jury duty!). Roland Berrill, Lancelot Ware, and Cyril Burt organized Mensa to breed the smart against regression toward the mean. The US idiocracy supresses Uncle Alhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/05056804084187606211noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22973357.post-40700240280710949752011-04-25T20:01:44.346-04:002011-04-25T20:01:44.346-04:00Eric, thanks for reminder about Feynman (who told ...Eric, thanks for reminder about Feynman (who told Mensa - top 2%tile or IQ req. 132 on a common scale) ~ "sorry, I don't meet your requirements.") You have a point. But e.g. most physicists would score top 1%tile or better, I would be amazed if Bee, Sean Carroll, Peter Woit, Ed Witten, et al didn't score at least that high. Furthermore, it sure must help hashing out the higher Neil Bateshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04564859009749481136noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22973357.post-80553856250182123602011-04-25T19:18:18.135-04:002011-04-25T19:18:18.135-04:00This comment has been removed by the author.Neil Bateshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04564859009749481136noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22973357.post-36598071153935474562011-04-25T17:49:53.711-04:002011-04-25T17:49:53.711-04:00Richard Feynman's measured IQ was 125. I hate ...Richard Feynman's measured IQ was 125. I hate to bust anyone's self gratification bubble but IQ is not the end all and be all in assessing intelligence. In many ways IQ tests are best at identifying how far one is on the autistic characteristic spectrum without being actually autistic. I know this is true just from observing social interactions on Bee's blog. I would say that it is Erichttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08213251864943443334noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22973357.post-90862053253985693602011-04-25T17:30:47.177-04:002011-04-25T17:30:47.177-04:00Al - since we're both Mensa members, and I'...Al - since we're both Mensa members, and I'm a Mensa test proctor, we'd like to believe we've got something special for real (even if rather modest and in line with the crowd coming here.) I don't blame you for skepticism about those claims of IQ mushiness, but you realize that they can't be just brushed off either. You'd need to look at the credibility of the claims, Neil Bateshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04564859009749481136noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22973357.post-30162726782495936132011-04-25T17:27:55.662-04:002011-04-25T17:27:55.662-04:00This comment has been removed by the author.Neil Bateshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04564859009749481136noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22973357.post-22235024437870218632011-04-25T16:31:45.392-04:002011-04-25T16:31:45.392-04:00http://www.pnas.org/lookup/doi/10.1073/pnas.101860...http://www.pnas.org/lookup/doi/10.1073/pnas.1018601108%20%20after%20publication<br /><br />Official Truth burns hot today! Everybody is equally intelligent, epecially those who are not.<br /><br />http://news.sciencemag.org/sciencenow/2011/04/what-does-iq-really-measure.html?ref=hp<br /><br />"Richard Nisbett, a psychologist at the University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, argued that differences Uncle Alhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/05056804084187606211noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22973357.post-19788887292119705302011-04-25T16:25:57.966-04:002011-04-25T16:25:57.966-04:00I've heard it's really rough for PhD physi...I've heard it's really rough for PhD physics grads in the US, and most places too I expect. Elsewhere? Maybe some developing nations need them, but I suppose "help us develop nuclear weapons" is a possible if not likely occupational hazard.Neil Bateshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04564859009749481136noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22973357.post-39021398649969740022011-04-25T11:29:15.531-04:002011-04-25T11:29:15.531-04:00In September 1973, 40,000 undergrad Michigan State...In September 1973, 40,000 undergrad Michigan State University's first term majors organic had 1200+ enrollment, including Uncle Al. 15 of them graduated BS/Chem, including Uncle Al. 2008 input and output were the same. Moo U chemistry is a blood sport.<br /><br />40,000 enrollment UCLA graduated 238 BS/Chem in 2008. Some 200 of those BS/Chem were assuredly empirical garbage, and unneeded Uncle Alhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/05056804084187606211noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22973357.post-55931301202296188442011-04-25T05:39:48.066-04:002011-04-25T05:39:48.066-04:00The Flynn effect has raw IQ test scores rising by ...The Flynn effect has raw IQ test scores rising by almost a standard deviation per generation. College GPAs should follow suit :)Arunhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03451666670728177970noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22973357.post-41445390213901009862011-04-25T01:47:24.407-04:002011-04-25T01:47:24.407-04:00Hi Steven:
"The Ivy Leagues have actually go...Hi Steven:<br /><br />"The Ivy Leagues have actually gotten better at not inflating grades,"<br /><br />I recommend you look at some of the figures on the <a href="http://gradeinflation.com/" rel="nofollow">website I mentioned</a>, <a href="http://gradeinflation.com/figure3.gif" rel="nofollow">for example this one</a> showing the long term grade inflation by institution. Best,<br /><br Sabine Hossenfelderhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/06151209308084588985noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22973357.post-83841365727970619912011-04-24T23:59:44.555-04:002011-04-24T23:59:44.555-04:00You also have to take financial aid into account. ...You also have to take financial aid into account. Harvard provides full scholarships for poor people. I think the cutoff is a family income of $80,000 a year. A lot of other schools provide a fair bit of aid. I know MIT used to be part of a scholarship pool in which a group of top colleges had standards for financial aid, at least until it was ruled in violation of anti-trust laws.Exl Bloggerhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01383080419846815353noreply@blogger.com