Hinton vs Musk
Standing with my long-term nemesis, standing with science
Geoff Hinton and I have notoriously disagreed for years on many things. On his new post, I am in full 100% agreement:
History will judge Musk harshly, for many reasons, including what he has done to science (as I discussed here last a few weeks ago).
Brian Wandell, Director of the Stanford Center for Cognitive and Neurobiological Imaging, has described the situation on the ground concisely:
The cuts are abrupt, unplanned, and made without consultation. They are indiscriminate and lack strategic consideration.
Funding for graduate students across all STEM fields is being reduced. Critical staff who maintain shared research facilities are being lost. Research on advanced materials for computing, software for medical devices, and new disease therapies—along with many other vital projects—is being delayed or halted.
Please call your congress people and come Stand up for Science, March 7, in DC and 31 other cities across the US.
Gary Marcus is broken-hearted by what has happened to research institutions in the US in recent weeks. Institutions that took decades to build are being rapidly disassembled, for no good reason.
Musk is a good lab rat (n=1) for ketamine frying brain cells. It makes one nostalgic for LSD... ;P
BTW, his use of insults as arguments is truly pathetic.
Lastly: “The insult dishonors the one who infers it, not the one who receives it.” ― Diogenes of Sinope
The attack on science cuts right to the heart of what America needs to be more competitive in the future. We need to invest more in science, scientific research, scientific careers, scientific literacy, and the infrastructure that science education and research depend upon. Not cut all of this to, then through, the bone!
I live outside Woods Hole, MA and can't even imagine what life is now going to be like for people associated with MBL (THE UNIVERSITY OF CHICAGO MARINE BIOLOGICAL LABORATORY) given the thoughtless cuts at NSF, NOAA and other federal agencies.
My grad school (UMASS Amherst) will be devastated.
Academia will be crushed.