On Thu, 30 Jan 2003, James A. Donald wrote:
> --
> On 30 Jan 2003 at 11:31, Eugen Leitl wrote:
> > I'm not arguing pro strong state. I'm merely saying that the
> > tax funded ivory tower R&D is complementary in scope to
> > privately funded research. If 95% of it is wasted (and
> > lacking libertarian drive in Euland it's bound to stay that
> > way for quite a while), it's still nice to see a percent or
> > two to go into bluesky research.
>
> You will notice a disproportionate amount of blue sky research
> comes from countries that are highly capitalist. Thus
> Switzerland is roughly comparable to Sweden in size and wealth,
> but we see quite a bit of blue sky research coming out of
> Swizterland, not much from Sweden.
>
> Since blue sky research is a public good, only governments can
> efficiently produce blue sky research.
No, it doesn't follow at all. It follows that to create advanced
technologies takes resources and skills beyond the capability of small
groups. it's a function of scaling, not politics or authority. You get
cool breakthroughs when you invest sufficient resources, smart people and
access to the very best of tools and resources.
> Does not follow,
> however, that governments *will* efficiently produce blue sky
> research, and on the available evidence, they do not.
'efficiently produce'...what a fuzzy wuzzy, feelgood, spindoctor bullshit
term. There are three way to produce breakthroughs; luck, special insite,
many parallel efforts. The most important factor is the third. The second
will allow you to make leaps but it's up to the vagaries of genetics there
so no organizational issue exists (other than breeding programs perhaps).
Luck is pretty much the same for everyone, be there at the right time,
with the right resources, and recognize it at the time.
--
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