tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15453937.post6690658416095529363..comments2024-01-10T17:36:15.040-07:00Comments on The Lippard Blog: Robert B. Laughlin on "The Crime of Reason"Lippardhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16826768452963498005noreply@blogger.comBlogger3125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15453937.post-54304857105790777682009-11-07T16:58:47.491-07:002009-11-07T16:58:47.491-07:00I think perhaps he was engaging in frequent hyperb...I think perhaps he was engaging in frequent hyperbole to be provocative. I skimmed a few bits of his book on Google Books and it is definitely far better organized than his talk, and says more about some of the issues that he barely touched upon in his talk, like how biotech is privatizing the production of biological knowledge and providing pressures to not share data (out of profit motive, not claims that sharing knowledge is morally wrong). He places some blame on <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bayh%E2%80%93Dole_Act" rel="nofollow">Bayh-Dole</a>, the law that gave universities the right to control and profit from intellectual property produced by professors in their employ, even if funded by federal dollars.Lippardhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16826768452963498005noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15453937.post-90192788228638756772009-11-07T16:45:14.231-07:002009-11-07T16:45:14.231-07:00How can he claim that the knowledge learned in sch...How can he claim that the knowledge learned in schools isn't valuable? It's (for the most part) foundational knowledge required to acquire the more advanced forms of knowledge. And even the stuff that isn't necessarily foundational knowledge (like phys. ed. or sex ed.) is valuable in that it helps keep you healthy (at least in theory) -- and without health it becomes near impossible to profit from any knowledge you might have.<br /><br />I think he might have a point though about academic knowledge being valued over technical or practical knowledge. This was certainly the case when I was in school, and at least still partly true now. Maybe undervalued would be a better word. After all, auto mechanics often earn pitifully low wages for the amount of knowledge and the amount of physical exertion required in their jobs. And the wage trend on entry level CS jobs has been on the downward path since the late '80s (correct me if this is wrong).<br /><br />There was a lot of interesting stuff mentioned in that talk it seems. A lot of it covered by Neal Stephenson in Cryptonomicon, which while a novel, at least touched on many of these issues and did so well I thought.Lhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09230447874923339087noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15453937.post-65073916960629861782009-11-07T15:32:03.295-07:002009-11-07T15:32:03.295-07:00I haven't read the book, but I had the same im...I haven't read the book, but I had the same impression from his talk at Cato a couple of years ago.Timothy B. Leehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00645660899552245766noreply@blogger.com