don't miss 'The final lecture, Advanced Quantum Theory, ruined Terry’s intellectual happiness (for 20+ years) by presenting a proof of quantum nonlocality.'
''we have a 'dumb' culture.''
we certainly came from a schoolyard culture that devalued high value jobs -
like was the kid who said - 'oh, I want to be an accountant' ------- valued or laughed at.
in the schoolyard - would a kid have been proud to say - 'I want to be a ..................
physicist
accountant
philosopher
scientist
mathematician
electronics designer
sociologist
writer
artist
historian
musician?'
No - would have been laughed out of the playground
and yet, it is from that basis that nations grow and the biggest advances in science and discovery grow
yet, right at the cultural base - it's seen as 'whadda ya wanna do that for?'
and you see it today, even on here ------------ 'what use is that stuff' 'how will that help you get a job'
so, the culture grows a fermented population and only the few who dare go there - Eg Kurt Lambeck - and the odd nerds etc - end up with the boomer discoveries
Look at Jeremy O'brein --------- out of Oz - spent a long time OS - Britain, Japan etc --
the boneheads on here would have been saying - 'he's not an Aussie, cause he's not here, he's run away'
uh huh - and he did - to Silicon Valley --------- now coming back to Oz because 'Oz needs him'
And Check Terry Rudolph -- one assumes that this is 'mostly' just joking -
''Terry Rudolph was forced into a basic science degree by cruel parents, who failed to appreciate the merits of him becoming a pro squash player. Studying Physics and Mathematics (they seemed the hardest), he attended six lectures over three years.The final lecture, Advanced Quantum Theory, ruined Terry’s intellectual happiness (for 20+ years) by presenting a proof of quantum nonlocality. A year of backpacking found him penniless and sleeping on a street in downtown Toronto, at which point a PhD seemed like a reasonable alternative.
Fortunately his PhD mother was extremely lax and let him study the nascent field of quantum information. As an early adopter little talent was required to become an expert, so he began teaching the topic at the University of Toronto. After time as a postdoc in Vienna and facilitating the collapse of Bell Labs’ basic research group from within, he came to Imperial on an Advanced Fellowship where he continued his exponential decay into a normal academic state.''
thank god his mum didn't like the squash idea (and thank god the boneheads didn't get to him with 'get a haircut and get a job)
