Links for you. Science:
Excellent observation on only funding the absolutely most amazing science
JPM Wrap-Up
No, You Shouldn’t Let Fears of a Scary Nervous System Disease Stop You From Getting a Flu Shot
Ebola’s Possible Future as an Endemic Disease
New research reveals how orcas attack baleen whales, and how the whales fight back
Other:
Announcing (Actually, Confirming) Our Focus on the CBO’s Dubious Models and Political Bias
Restoring King
Happy Robert E. Lee Day! Why some states can’t celebrate MLK without remembering the Confederate general, too.
WTF Is She Talking About?
L.I. Teacher Refuses To Administer Common Core Tests, Urges Others To Join Her
Sarah Culhane is white. Michael Brown is dead.
Wikipedia tacitly endorses GamerGate by blocking its opponents from editing gender-related articles
Common Core tests set kids up to fail (yes, they do)
Sports Unillustrated: Magazine lays off its entire photo staff
The Reality Tale of Two Education Systems: One for the Poor, and One for the Rest. New data reveals our public—not private—school system is among the best in the world. (it’s not new data, but the really does show how ‘inconvenient’ international comparisons mysteriously go missing…)
Andrew Cuomo: Let’s Make New York More Like Wisconsin
Playing Devil’s Advocate to Win
Landowners say consent not given for Games plans: Deny that organizers have contacted them
Kristen Buras responds to NBER paper about charters (now they’re just making shit up)
The obscenity of calling Saudi King Abdullah a “reformer”
They will never quit
There’s other arguments for having more good science than just the “best” projects. Think about how lucky we got with people like Farraday, who by sheer luck was given a chance to do science instead of being a servant. How many great scientists did we not have because they never go the chance to do it.
Or how about all grunt work that goes into great discoveries? It isn’t glamorous, but the people running the experiments, noting the data, organizing it, etc. make great discoveries possible. So you need a lot of people that know how to do that and so having lots of experiments going. Even if it turns out to be a bust, you still added to our knowledge and added an experienced group of researchers to maybe move to something that won’t be a bust.
There’s also the progress argument. Great discoveries get press, but lots of labs running with them are what turn it into practical things. Hard to do that when there aren’t a lot of labs.
Finally, how do we know what is going to be the next “great” discovery anyway? The discovery of the electron was thought to be a curiosity, but it revolutionized our existence. Pretending that a committee can possibly select the best and most rewarding projects is ludicrous.