tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22973357.post6726858090494110899..comments2023-09-27T07:44:19.769-04:00Comments on Sabine Hossenfelder: Backreaction: Science MetricsSabine Hossenfelderhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06151209308084588985noreply@blogger.comBlogger19125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22973357.post-14382586814147770862010-06-18T13:18:49.454-04:002010-06-18T13:18:49.454-04:00Hi,
As one of the editors in charge of developing ...Hi,<br />As one of the editors in charge of developing the poll and writing up our analysis of it, I really appreciate you taking notice. You are absolutely right to be cautious about the the results of our poll as it was a small sample of largely self-selecting respondents. Still, I think there are important suggestions within. I hope your blog continues the discussion.bmaher.sciwriterhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16923605554910814957noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22973357.post-6388815338765910372010-06-18T09:14:53.297-04:002010-06-18T09:14:53.297-04:00All companies have the same problem, they have to ...All companies have the same problem, they have to evaluate the employees on a regular basis. Some tried metrics in the sense that the managers had to fill out a form for every employee that they were responsible for. This was not very successful, because one cannot characterize the performance of a human being with a fixed set of numbers or degrees. People have different strengths and weaknesses Tim van Beekhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00620855422265823494noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22973357.post-41442551758269655062010-06-18T07:47:38.369-04:002010-06-18T07:47:38.369-04:00Hi Bee,
I see once again we are discussing the me...Hi Bee,<br /><br />I see once again we are discussing the merits of metrics when it comes to evaluating quality in scientific research. The strange thing of course is the problem doesn’t rest with what represents being good science, as that’s decided by the method itself. The problem is what represents as being a good scientist, which is more a matter of discovering intent, s outcome can neverPhil Warnellhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15671311338712852659noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22973357.post-72401933827161659072010-06-18T07:39:46.492-04:002010-06-18T07:39:46.492-04:00This comment has been removed by the author.Phil Warnellhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15671311338712852659noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22973357.post-27447719544227030002010-06-18T07:29:30.766-04:002010-06-18T07:29:30.766-04:00This comment has been removed by the author.Phil Warnellhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15671311338712852659noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22973357.post-38500797973861729252010-06-18T04:00:10.708-04:002010-06-18T04:00:10.708-04:00Jay,
The problem with evaluating all the fish wit...Jay,<br /><br />The problem with evaluating all the fish with one fast and easy evaluation system is centralization and streamlining. The more people use the same system, the more likely it becomes everybody will do the same research with the same methods. The obvious way to work against this is localization and deliberate heterogeneity. Clearly, the some few top institutions will grab off Sabine Hossenfelderhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/06151209308084588985noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22973357.post-27666246443075359782010-06-18T03:37:22.215-04:002010-06-18T03:37:22.215-04:00Mmm, "Minkowski Space." I think that'...Mmm, "Minkowski Space." I think that's my favorite <a href="http://tetrahedral.blogspot.com/2010/05/spacess.html" rel="nofollow">"space"</a> (after Phase Space, of course).<br /><br />Thanks for reminding us, Bee.<br /><br />:-)Steven Colyerhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10435759210177642257noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22973357.post-5339359771897674222010-06-18T03:08:01.695-04:002010-06-18T03:08:01.695-04:00Steven:
The word is very appropriate. A metric is...Steven:<br /><br />The word is very appropriate. A metric is not a measurement, it is a device that tells you how to make a measurement. On a manifold, it's a symmetric bilinear form (that's a thing with two indices where you can exchange the indices) that makes a space a metric space . What is the length of a vector x_a? Most people I guess would say it's |x| = \sqrt{\delta^{ab} x_a Sabine Hossenfelderhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/06151209308084588985noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22973357.post-37118640317089211752010-06-18T02:59:44.062-04:002010-06-18T02:59:44.062-04:00Delete Comment From: Backreaction
Blogger Steven...Delete Comment From: Backreaction<br /><br />Blogger Steven Colyer said...<br /><br /> I find the word "metric" to be strange. When did it come into vogue? I heard it for the first time 2 months ago, indeed I first heard it used here, by Bee. And now ... I hear it everywhere! Argh.<br /><br /> It means "measurement", right? Is measurement such a bad word? Why not just Steven Colyerhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10435759210177642257noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22973357.post-29441207187391824222010-06-18T00:41:55.109-04:002010-06-18T00:41:55.109-04:00This comment has been removed by the author.Steven Colyerhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10435759210177642257noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22973357.post-88331588810413096452010-06-17T15:48:18.909-04:002010-06-17T15:48:18.909-04:00Belief in these metrics contributes to groupthink....Belief in these metrics contributes to groupthink.Pmerhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16074347726717618603noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22973357.post-50146466272577013272010-06-17T15:00:08.758-04:002010-06-17T15:00:08.758-04:00Bee, I don't know what is the answer for the i...Bee, I don't know what is the answer for the issue you raised here. I guess you would feel this trend is inevitable in some sense. In first-tier institutions like MIT, Stanford, or Kyoto you don't need to look at quantitative data to make decisions on hiring or promotion since it is very easy to identify a small number of big fish. The situation is not quite so in 2nd- or 3rd-tier jayhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13749552288269055586noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22973357.post-79635932623742308922010-06-17T12:47:56.713-04:002010-06-17T12:47:56.713-04:00Hi Kay,
My point of view is simply that every sci...Hi Kay,<br /><br />My point of view is simply that every scientist has an opinion on what good research is and the collection of all these (expert's) opinions is the only relevant criterion to asses the quality of a researcher or his/her work. Everything else is a distortion. (This is basically what I wrote in more detail in my post <a href="http://backreaction.blogspot.com/2008/07/Sabine Hossenfelderhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/06151209308084588985noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22973357.post-18874513667588956032010-06-17T12:29:25.326-04:002010-06-17T12:29:25.326-04:00Management is process not product. Management is ...Management is process not product. Management is a stomach: it has no brain, it knows it is hungry, and the inevitable results are somebody else's problem. If you want to find the bottleneck, the first place to look is at the top of the bottle. The harder management squeezes the less juice comes out. Managers make decisions, workers make mistakes.<br /><br />http://www.mazepath.com/Uncle Alhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/05056804084187606211noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22973357.post-26102742473074022962010-06-17T12:12:06.925-04:002010-06-17T12:12:06.925-04:00Hi Bee,
who will say, some work is really good, i...Hi Bee,<br /><br />who will say, some work is really good, if it is a hypothesis ? And that is what should be counted: good work. <br /><br />Best, KayKay zum Feldehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04233793196547147876noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22973357.post-86388505733896884282010-06-17T11:37:51.223-04:002010-06-17T11:37:51.223-04:00Hi Daniel,
Yes, that's a similar divergence b...Hi Daniel,<br /><br />Yes, that's a similar divergence between primary goals (happiness) and secondary criteria (wealth). Though in this case there's an additional effect: research has also shown that happiness does depend on relative wealth, ie it matters how much you have compared to other people. If you combine that with the increasingly better global connectivity allowing you to Sabine Hossenfelderhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/06151209308084588985noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22973357.post-8176487891754533522010-06-17T10:59:45.443-04:002010-06-17T10:59:45.443-04:00Similarly, we tend to want to earn more money, mor...Similarly, we tend to want to earn more money, more and more. Even though it has been shown, repeatedly, that excess money does not bring happiness.Daniel Lemirehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01566622051558391310noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22973357.post-68033659823773134652010-06-17T10:43:21.644-04:002010-06-17T10:43:21.644-04:00Well, with h=0, there's no uncertainty ;-)Well, with h=0, there's no uncertainty ;-)Sabine Hossenfelderhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/06151209308084588985noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22973357.post-50368408089869852452010-06-17T10:40:03.909-04:002010-06-17T10:40:03.909-04:00As a professor of music friend told me "I dis...As a professor of music friend told me "I discovered my h is zero, what will happen to me?"Jorge Pullinhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07465581283254332265noreply@blogger.com