Dear List,
First of all, thanks for the fabulous post and discussions of the "Doctor Dropout" article. I had shared with my own PhD fellows. Well, I didn't join the discussion before because I feel like preaching to the choirs: who remains on this list is not a successful academic?
For this speech of Professor Dyson, I do admire the courage of the University of Michigan to let this heretic to speak on their commencement. But I'd hate to be one of the happy degree receivers, especially PhDs, to be sitting there. Frankly if I was a relative of those students at that occasion, I might shoot Mr. Dyson with a tranquilizer on the spot so nobody needs to hear his crap. Just imagine after all these years of efforts and struggles, now on the day of harvest, this annoying person tells me that my degree might be worthless. Well, thank you but shut up! Who is he to judge? Couldn't make it through PhD doesn't make a person a hero, and doesn't automatically give him the right to attack the system. It's a personal choice, many did choose to leave PhD program and criticize it, but not so obnoxiously at a commencement. That's just low, and disgusting.
And about his other heresies, I have to say he doesn't have much evidence to prove his point. Yes, the models of climate can never stimulate the real world, too many variables, it's impossible to model "Butterfly Effects", so it's in his physics world. But the models can predict general trends. And most importantly, the discussion on global warming issues keeps the environmental issues on the table, and always reminds us to limit our growth for a sustainable future.
So Mr. Dyson doesn't believe in PhD, nor God when he talked about how children in the future will play genetic alternation experiments like our computer games today. I don't see how he could insist that bio-technology will become household skills. Where is the similarity or connection? The inventers of computer didn't foresee the drastic developments in IT technology doesn't mean bio-technology has the same future. This sounds like a wishful thinking from a person who is either too eager to stick his nose into other discipline's business, or equally eager to make heretical statements to show how he smart is.
I really don't care how important his findings in physics are, all I can see in this lecture is a self-indulging and very insensitive person.
Sorry that I have strong opinions against BS...
Cheers!
Tao Huang
PhD Candidate
Architecture + Design
Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University
Homepage: http://filebox.vt.edu/users/taohuang/index.htm
Blog: http://spaces.msn.com/members/taohuang/
|