The Problem With Sabine Hossenfelder

Comments · 14K

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  @Vilohit-gy5kt · 1 year ago (edited)

  this is sabine&apos;s comment that is not visible for many people<br><br>&quot;Hi Dave, first of all, thanks for being polite and respectful. I am not offended. As you have probably noticed in the video about how I don&apos;t trust scientists, I am very aware of the audience split that you mention. <br> <br>That said, a few comments. <br> <br>1) I have always tried to stress in interviews I have given, articles I have written and videos I have made that the stagnation that I am referring to is in the foundations of physics, not in physics overall. In fact I say this in the part of my video that you refer to at <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=70vYj1KPyT4&amp;t=486">8:06</a>. You then go on to make it sound like that was a statement about all of physics. It is ironic in that I have a standard phrase that I repeat in all interviews that I give which is to stress that this problem does not exist in other areas of physics, and then I list them pretty much the same that you do. <br> <br>2) As I think that the foundations of physics are of extraordinary relevance for societal progress, I am afraid that the problem will spread to other areas of physics eventually, and from there to other areas of science, hence the title of my video that physics is dying. <br> <br>3) For what the development of my channel is concerned, you have it backwards. The fact that my book which you show was written in 2015 (and published with delay in 2018) should have demonstrated that this is certainly not a recent development. Indeed, if my agent would have let me, I&apos;d have written much more about the problems with academia in general already back then. <br> <br>It isn&apos;t hard to check that I have been going on about the problems with academia for almost 20 years starting with my blog. I have known Eric almost as long. Indeed the reason we know each other is that I organized a conference about the problems in academia (a long time ago). I did not talk on YouTube about this because I felt that no one would be interested (a stance that my agent just a month ago repeated, nevermind the video views). <br> <br>The part that you get right is that only now do I feel free to talk about it since there are no future prospects to ruin. <br> <br>4) You are right that there will be more content about the problems with academia on my channel because I think it is a huge problem and someone needs to talk about it, exactly BECAUSE there are so many science deniers. You will disagree I expect, but I think that people like you -- who deny that academia has a problem -- are the ones causing the problem. We can&apos;t solve it unless we face it. <br> <br>5) In general you make it sound like I am not sincere about what I say. I want to kindly ask you to respect that I indeed mean what I say. The current situation in academia worries me tremendously. <br> <br>If you want to have a private exchange, pls contact my agency, I&apos;ll tell them to pass through any message coming from you.&quot;

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• MI

  @michaels.3709 · 1 year ago

  <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=70vYj1KPyT4&amp;t=421">7:01</a> - Clarification: &quot;good research tends to get funded&quot; is generally correct, yes. However, good research with buzzwords tends to get better funded than good research without buzzwords, which I still think is a valid complaint.

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• AV

  @avonlight · 1 year ago

  &quot;Most scientific output is kind of boring, even for people who are familiar with the field.&quot; Truer words have seldom been spoken. And it is so very important to understand that this is absolutely a good thing. Imagine trying to build and expand your foundation but every inch you try to fortify something new just blows up. People need to understand how powerful of a tool independently corroborated research is.

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• MI

  @Michelt007 · 10 months ago

  From what I heard when I was a physics student, oh so long time ago, the average university professor works 70 hours a week, spending half his time on research, half on teaching, and half on applying for grants. Tough job!

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• GE

  @georgeyasko6882 · 1 year ago

  I recently retired from a university after forty years of service. &nbsp;I do not have a PhD, but provided technical support for a variety of research, of which the PIs I supported had little knowledge. &nbsp;Over the years, and &apos;promotions&apos; I ended my career as the director of a newly constructed science building. &nbsp;My time and experiences were not all positive. &nbsp;The administration will indeed treat well-published scientists differently than those who struggle due to the nature of their research. &nbsp;This does not make it bad research, but an area of new research where grants are difficult to come by. &nbsp;Money plays a huge part in academia. &nbsp;I&apos;ve seen what is considered promising research at other institutions derailed due to a lack of support from the university. &nbsp;Another issue, that affects many support staff, is the treatment they receive from research faculty. &nbsp;In any other industry, the abusers would be fired. &nbsp;But instead, the abused suffer, the offender experiences no consequences, is rewarded, and their behavior is reinforced. &nbsp;The idea of tenure is problematic. &nbsp;Academia indeed has problems, and the problems are not all focused on just science.

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• JA

  @jarlsparkley · 1 year ago (edited)

  “grant money is acquired by pursuing research that is innovative” I really think that this is a huge assumption that people should not be willing to take for granted, considering grants typically are awarded by independent foundations, private companies, and government organizations that are not necessarily staffed by people who actually have the background required to understand what projects have the most potential. A huge part of the grant writing process is being a sales person trying to convince a layperson to be interested enough in your idea to think it’s worth funding. Ridiculous to assume that such a process could be counted on to actually fund the most innovative research even more than half the time.

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• DI

  @disembodiedvoicek · 1 year ago

  As a professor myself while I agree that Sabine’s narrative is exaggerated. However, it’s hard for me as a man to even consider the amount of sexism she must’ve faced. After politics, academia has the largest number of tinpot dictators and the level of sexism I’ve seen would’ve discouraged anyone. If that’s what drove her to the current level of vitriol I don’t agree but I can sympathize.

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• BA

  @bananaquiet · 1 year ago

  I had a hard time with academia too. Eventually I realized my hostility, though based on some sexism, was out of proportion, so I went to therapy. I&apos;m working toward being able to make a small contribution by translating musicology papers for a lay audience. I thought about using my platform to highlight problems similar to what Sabine describes, or only talk about papers I agree with... but the fun part is disagreeing, and while my field has problems too... when all of academia is under attack it feels wrong attack it as a whole. Instead, I can point out problems as I find them and also cover papers that give me hope. Actually Professor Dave has been a good example of someone who while not a working scientist, still respects the field enough to make a small contribution according to his talents and education. That&apos;s inspiring.

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• CL

  @clauricaune · 1 year ago (edited)

  As someone who is about to finish a PhD in education, I sympathize with Sabine. I would not describe her perspective as dishonest--it&apos;s what she lived and witnessed. Paper culture is extremely toxic, as it instutionalizes and ultimately ossifies knowledge. I do believe that many (if not most) academics are against it, but they just can&apos;t escape it. It&apos;s publish or perish--and yes, it will crush your soul and destroy your creativity if you let it. I&apos;m also living through that sh*t.

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• AL

  @alphahurricane7957 · 1 year ago

  this was unexpected lol. i got pushed away from her channel by video titles, but this was the last place i expect her to appear. on the other hand im waiting for a collab with Kyle Hill or Milo Rossi :)

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• JA

  @jamesrichie7844 · 1 year ago

  I&apos;m a PhD candidate in the humanities. I&apos;ve noticed there are so many communicators (in humanities, social sciences, and hard sciences) who left academia to become YouTubers. I think that&apos;s great overall (we need people who can reach large audiences). I like when people who left academia talk about all the drama (it can be fun to hear), but sometimes I think they give an overly negative view of academia and don&apos;t talk enough about the problems of the corporate world. I feel way more respected and energized by the work that I do as a researcher and as an instructor than I did working at an office.

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• IH

  @IheartDogs55 · 1 year ago

  Thank you for this. Discernment is warranted in any topic with which one is unfamiliar. Hearing what sounds like conspiratorial output has become my personal red flag. I also want to use an array of sources when first being confronted with an unknown subject to which I have never been exposed. The amount of misrepresentation and outright lies that are so prevalent today makes the investigation of claims both more difficult and more important.

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