26 Jun 06
Originally posted by AThousandYoungI don't suppose he feels any are too sacred to investigate. But he was driven out of Harvard for simply asking scientists the wrong question.
He's an economist. Does that count as a "scientist"?
What aspects of economics does he feel are too sacred to investigate?
What does it matter if he is an economist? Can science not handle questions from ordinary people?
26 Jun 06
Originally posted by techsouthIn 2002, Summers stated that a campaign by Harvard and MIT faculty to have their universities divest from companies with Israeli holdings was part of a larger trend among left-leaning academics that is "anti-Semitic in effect, if not in intent."
I don't suppose he feels any are too sacred to investigate. But he was driven out of Harvard for simply asking scientists the wrong question.
What does it matter if he is an economist? Can science not handle questions from ordinary people?
26 Jun 06
Originally posted by XanthosNZWell, he hypothesized that women are not represented proportionally in higher math and science because their natural ability made it less likely for women to have such ability.
In 2002, Summers stated that a campaign by Harvard and MIT faculty to have their universities divest from companies with Israeli holdings was part of a larger trend among left-leaning academics that is "anti-Semitic in effect, if not in intent."
That earned him a lot of scorn.
Of course science doesn't hold any question off limits from being asked, it's just that we don't have any more funds to allow you to continue your research right now.
26 Jun 06
Originally posted by techsouthOh that stupid comment. He was an idiot about it.
Well, he hypothesized that women are not represented proportionally in higher math and science because their natural ability made it less likely for women to have such ability.
That earned him a lot of scorn.
Of course science doesn't hold any question off limits from being asked, it's just that we don't have any more funds to allow you to continue your research right now.
26 Jun 06
Originally posted by techsouthSure it can. But this is about science quotes. Anyway, I misunderstood your point, since you didn't clearly explain. You simply mentioned a name and implied he'd disagree with the quote. I took that to mean that he felt that there were some things that were indeed too sacred to investigate. Since he's an economist, I assumed that's the field he would have been referring to.
I don't suppose he feels any are too sacred to investigate. But he was driven out of Harvard for simply asking scientists the wrong question.
What does it matter if he is an economist? Can science not handle questions from ordinary people?
26 Jun 06
Originally posted by techsouthscience had asked the question well before he asked...
I don't suppose he feels any are too sacred to investigate. But he was driven out of Harvard for simply asking scientists the wrong question.
What does it matter if he is an economist? Can science not handle questions from ordinary people?
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sex_and_intelligence
26 Jun 06
Einstein, Albert :
" I have never belonged wholeheartedly to a country, a state, nor to a circle of friends, nor even to my own family.
When I was still a rather precocious young man, I already realized most vividly the futility of the hopes and aspirations that most men pursue throughout their lives.
Well-being and happiness never appeared to me as an absolute aim. I am even inclined to compare such moral aims to the ambitions of a pig. "
Quoted in C.P. Snow, Variety of Men, Penguin Books, Harmondsworth, U.K. 1969, p 77. (1)
PS: A good reason to believe he suffered the Asperger's syndrome ( see : http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Asperger's_syndrome )
26 Jun 06
3 edits
Originally posted by AThousandYoungWell, this thread is meant for science quotes. Some quotes posted here are quotes from scientists or authors. They are not necessarily science quotes, as some of the instances show. They are more or less philosophical in nature.
"Creationists make it sound like a 'theory' is something you dreamt up after being drunk all night"
-Isaac Asimov, Russian-born - American author
Not sure if he counts as a scientist, but he should. Many of his books are scientific nonfiction. For example, The Neutrino.
There is a thread called "Philosophy Quotes" where you can post them in.
.... and certainly the political quotes do not belong in this thread. If you got any, please post them in the thread called "Political Quotes", even in case the author happens to be a scientist.
.... and spiritual quotes belong in the "Spiritual Quotes" thread in the Spirituality Forum.
26 Jun 06
Originally posted by XanthosNZTuesday he faced an angry faculty gathering where "his ears were pinned back," as one reporter said. Summers now seems to be saying he made a mistake in airing the idea of gender-related differences in the interests and aptitudes of scholars. But here is what he may be forgetting, for people under pressure often lose track of their lack of culpability: Summers did nothing wrong. He thought aloud about an interesting question in a colorful and un-defended way. That's what universities are for.
Oh that stupid comment. He was an idiot about it.
....
But what the Summers story most illustrates is that American universities now seem like Medieval cloisters. They're like a cloister without the messy God part. Old monks of leftism walk their hallowed halls in hooded robes, chanting to themselves. Young nuns of leftist deconstructionism, pale as orchids, walk along wringing their hands, listening to their gloomy music. They become hysterical at the antichrist of a new idea, the instrusion of the reconsideration of settled matter. Get thee behind me, Summers.
-Peggy Noonan