Why do scientists lack so much ambition and imagination? Did school and college drain them of all individuality?
>>17080676I think the answer is basically just “Yes”. science was much more vibrant and making a lot of progress in the years 1850-1950. During WW2 and the Cold War most of science, physics especially, became more of a government-sponsored public program, and not the domain of independently wealthy “gentleman scientists”. It became bureaucratized and formulaic, and the class of people aspiring to work in the field became increasingly dominated by careerists and “fake-it-till-you-make-it” hucksters. The field is way way worse for honest intellectuals than it was back in the days of Einstein or Heisenberg or von Neumann. The same thing applies in other branches of science besides physics. The increasingly state-dominated basis for the pursuit of pure science is a very corrupting force. But there really is no way to return to the “gentleman scientist” model of the old days. I am not optimistic about this scenario
>>17080721>physics is a government public jobs programEvery time that we stop doing because we want to and start doing because we have to we lose our joy.
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