
Help a quantum computing researcher out - chrismealy
http://scottaaronson.com/blog/?p=476
======
intended
Erm, what is wrong with your country?

Non American here - one of my country's favorite discussion topics is figuring
out how to hack our (somewhat broken) national governance system/national
culture into working well.

One of the ways to do that is to get fewer people into the consulting jobs
which steal our brightest and best because of better pay and resulting
prestige. Now obviously to do this you need to significantly up the budget for
any and all science so that people make a wage which:

a) they can live comfortably on b) point to so that their clan/community
doesn't constantly tell them - "what a waste of your life, make sure your kids
don't do that."

That would have immense trickle down effects and huge repercussions for our
development. Civilizational transitions/evolutions have more to do with the
introduction of technology (fire, agriculture, the stirrup, medicine, writing,
the press) than any other agent (I'm guessing mother nature comes close).

So how is this stuff being discussed when "innovation" is supposedly meant to
save the economy? How do you guys plan to handle this? Ignore-let it blow
over/give them what they want-let them deal with the fallout/???

May I suggest that this is being done for political mileage, that the
politicians are smart and understand how the game is played and that this is
going to get them votes.

May I further suggest that this be made to blow up in their faces? Since not
losing votes<<<<<<<<<<< getting votes?

------
PostOnce
The video on the first link has the guy saying "Should we really be spending N
dollars on soccer research!?!"

Prime example of misinformation that I was just discussing with someone
yesterday.

He'd probably say we wasted billions on this
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Very_Large_Array> so that NASA could listen to
the radio.

------
jwh
As other comments have drawn attention to, it's a shame that the first things
to go in any government austerity drive are sciences and things too
complicated for the average, TV-educated Joe to care about. Imagine how
different the world would be if in the 1940s the UK decided computers had no
use outside of war and cut their funding. Or if in the 1960's the US
government decided that DARPA should be focusing on cutting costs, not trying
to connect these computer machines together over this network they'd been
working on...

------
_delirium
Well, choosing the National Science Foundation as their first target for
cutting isn't likely to improve their standing here: scientists identify 55%
as Democrats, 32% independents, 6% Republicans (<http://people-
press.org/report/528/>).

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jessriedel
With all the great writing Aaronson puts up, does HN really need to highlight
the rare political post?

~~~
nopassrecover
Perhaps. I've never seen something from him before.

~~~
jessriedel
Exactly. If you've never read the blog of this brilliant researcher in
computational complexity, the last post of his that HN should be showing you
is some (justified) tongue-in-cheek political rant.

------
iwwr
With upwards $1.4trillion of deficit, surely there are fatter targets to cut
first.

Still, on quantum computing alone, I'd be surprised if no private company is
interested in the field at all.

~~~
tomjen3
Yeah, but the problem is that you pretty much have to cut social security and
the military, which are two things that can't be cut without unless you end
your political career.

So what is left to do is to scramble for the peanuts, while trying to appear
economically "though".

~~~
_delirium
There are at least some bigger peanuts than trying to take a few nibbles out
of the NSF budget ($7 billion) though. Like farm subsidies (~$20 billion),
homeland security (~$45 b), or department of justice ($27 b). But I suppose
I'm not surprised they didn't take on any of those, either.

~~~
tomjen3
All of which a lot of lobbyism is paid to protect.

------
greenlblue
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