My name is Roberto and I’m a Brazilian physicist working in the UK. Even working in an academic environment, that obviously do not guarantee an environment where rational/unbiased/critical discussions can happen. Science production in universities not always are carried out by thinking critically about a subject as many papers can be purely technical in their nature. Also, free thinking is as regulated in academia as it is everywhere else in many aspects.
That said, I have been reading and browsing Less Wrong for some time and think that this can indeed be done here. In addition, given later developments all around the world in many aspects and how people react to them, I felt the urge to discuss them in a way which is not censored, specially by the other persons in the discussion. It promises to be relaxing anyway.
It’s actually the first time I read it. I would be very happy to say that the situation improved over there, but that might not be true in general. Unfortunately, the way I see it is the completely opposite. The situation became worse everywhere else. Apparently, science education all around the world is becoming more distant of what Feynman would like. Someone once told me that “Science is not about knowledge anymore, it’s about production”. Feynman’s description of his experience seems to be all about that. I refuse to believe in that, but as the world embraces this philosophy, science education becomes less and less related to really thinking about any subject.
At least nowadays, unlike in 1950s Brazil, Feynman’s stuff is a Google search away for just about any undergraduate student. Now they just need to somehow figure out they might want to search for him...
Science production in universities not always are carried out by thinking critically about a subject as many papers can be purely technical in their nature.
I’ve found that theoretical physicists usually give me the vibe EY describes here, but experimental physicists usually don’t.
That’s more a question of taste, and there is nothing wrong with that. I also prefer theoretical physics, although I must admit that it’s very exciting to be in a lab, as long as it is not me collecting the data or fixing the equipment.
My point in the sentence you quoted is that you can perfectly well carry on with some “tasks” without thinking to deeply about them, even in physics. Be it theoretical or experimental or computational. That is something I think is really missing in the whole spectrum of education, not only in science and not only in the universities.
Hi.
My name is Roberto and I’m a Brazilian physicist working in the UK. Even working in an academic environment, that obviously do not guarantee an environment where rational/unbiased/critical discussions can happen. Science production in universities not always are carried out by thinking critically about a subject as many papers can be purely technical in their nature. Also, free thinking is as regulated in academia as it is everywhere else in many aspects.
That said, I have been reading and browsing Less Wrong for some time and think that this can indeed be done here. In addition, given later developments all around the world in many aspects and how people react to them, I felt the urge to discuss them in a way which is not censored, specially by the other persons in the discussion. It promises to be relaxing anyway.
I’m sure I’m gonna have a nice time.
Do you get to hear about the Richard Feynman story often when you introduce yourself as a Brazilian physicist?
It’s actually the first time I read it. I would be very happy to say that the situation improved over there, but that might not be true in general. Unfortunately, the way I see it is the completely opposite. The situation became worse everywhere else. Apparently, science education all around the world is becoming more distant of what Feynman would like. Someone once told me that “Science is not about knowledge anymore, it’s about production”. Feynman’s description of his experience seems to be all about that. I refuse to believe in that, but as the world embraces this philosophy, science education becomes less and less related to really thinking about any subject.
At least nowadays, unlike in 1950s Brazil, Feynman’s stuff is a Google search away for just about any undergraduate student. Now they just need to somehow figure out they might want to search for him...
I’ve found that theoretical physicists usually give me the vibe EY describes here, but experimental physicists usually don’t.
That’s more a question of taste, and there is nothing wrong with that. I also prefer theoretical physics, although I must admit that it’s very exciting to be in a lab, as long as it is not me collecting the data or fixing the equipment.
My point in the sentence you quoted is that you can perfectly well carry on with some “tasks” without thinking to deeply about them, even in physics. Be it theoretical or experimental or computational. That is something I think is really missing in the whole spectrum of education, not only in science and not only in the universities.