
National Science Foundation: US no longer ‘uncontested leader’ in science - pseudolus
https://www.nature.com/articles/d41586-020-00084-7
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selfishgene
Who cares all that much about being the "uncontested leader" in science?

Isn't there a more important question to ask here, namely how the US compares
to other countries in bringing "traditionally marginalized peoples" into the
R&D workforce.

After all, when one factors in the impact on social justice, there's a big
difference between a discovery being made by the oppressor, e.g. the "douche-
bro entitled STEMlord" that Scott Aaronson talks about in this recent blog
post:

[https://www.scottaaronson.com/blog/?p=4522](https://www.scottaaronson.com/blog/?p=4522)

versus one made by the objects of their oppression, e.g. all of the women who
are being denied "free and conveniently located childcare that makes a
colossal difference to women's choices of whether or not to stay in STEM."

So let's stop fretting about "global leadership" (that's kind of a
testosterone-driven thing anyway) and focus our attention instead on making
sure that lactation stations are installed in all laboratories that receive
government funding. The requested childcare centers should quickly follow
though.

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totalZero
How did you so quickly turn a nation's standing among the world's scientific
powers into some sort of battle of the sexes?

I for one don't think that science supremacy is a reasonable goal for a
nation. The goal should be to provide those Americans who wish to do so with
the opportunity to spend their lives doing real research, and to carry that
research product to other American who wish to use it for purposes that are
useful to the nation.

~~~
selfishgene
"How did you so quickly turn a nation's standing among the world's scientific
powers into some sort of battle of the sexes?"

I had just finished reading the hacker news item on Scott Aaronson's
controversial blog post -- that's all.

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Apofis
Caught up in political issues, we're slipping and they are closing the gap.
This is unacceptable.

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alpineidyll3
Congressmen love gaps. Sadly I do not think the NSF is a force for good in US
science. It's panels are merely mechanisms for old scientists to slow down the
young and the top five universities to cement prestige. It's puny hard won
grants are like millet turning doves into ravenous pigeons.

It's been sapped of all virtue by decades of neglect, malice and deprivation.

