Money and Finance
- Jeremy Grantham: Be Persuasive. Be Brave. Be Arrested (if Necessary)
Found via The Big Picture. I have yet to meet a climate scientist who does not believe that global warming is a worse problem than they thought a few years ago. The seriousness of this change is not appreciated by politicians and the public. The scientific...
- Bill Gates Quote From Charlie Rose Interview (or, How The World's Best Companies Are Built By Fanatics)
My shortened transcription of a part of their conversation as I watched the interview. Any errors are mine. Charlie Rose: Did you have what you now have (this fascination and love for science)...for a while? Was this something that was in you? As a kid,...
- Richard Leakey: Evolution Debate Will Soon Be History
Richard Leakey predicts skepticism over evolution will soon be history. Not that the avowed atheist has any doubts himself. Sometime in the next 15 to 30 years, the Kenyan-born paleoanthropologist expects scientific discoveries will have accelerated to...
- Freeman Dyson On Econtalk
Freeman Dyson of the Institute for Advanced Study in Princeton talks with EconTalk host Russ Roberts about science, his career, and the future. Dyson argues for the importance of what he calls heresy--challenging the scientific dogmas of the day. Dyson...
- Heretical Thoughts About Science And Society - By Freeman Dyson
At the Wesco Annual Meeting, Charlie Munger said that we should listen more to Freeman Dyson and less to Al Gore. Here’s a good article to start on that path (thanks for the link, Bud). I think the first paragraph is very applicable to investing as...
Money and Finance
Why doesn’t America like science? - By Gillian Tett
Michael Bloomberg, mayor of New York, does not often hide his views. When he recently addressed an international economic forum at Columbia University, on the seemingly “dull” topic of science and politicians, however, his words were incendiary, even by his standards.
“We have presidential candidates who don’t believe in science!” he lamented, referring to the current field of people jostling to become Republican candidate for the 2012 elections. “I mean, just think about it, can you imagine a company of any size in the world where the CEO said, ‘oh I don’t believe in science’ and that person surviving to the end of that day? Are you kidding me? It’s mind-boggling!”
It is a comment that many observers might echo, particularly among the ranks of American scientists. For while Bloomberg did not specify whom he considers to be “mind-boggling”, the list of targets is long. Thus far, just three of the eight potential Republican candidates have positively declared that they believe in the scientific basis for evolution. The rest have either hedged, or – like Rick Perry – claimed that evolution is just “a theory that is out there... [but] it’s got some gaps in it”. Meanwhile, Michele Bachmann, another contender, has actively called for creationism to be taught too, since she has similar doubts about the evolutionary science.
Newt Gingrich has cast doubt on the virtues of stem cell research, Herman Cain has questioned whether there is any scientific evidence behind homosexuality, and most of the candidates have queried climate change. Indeed, whenever any candidate has defended evidence-based science, they have suffered a backlash: witness the travails of Mitt Romney.
- Jeremy Grantham: Be Persuasive. Be Brave. Be Arrested (if Necessary)
Found via The Big Picture. I have yet to meet a climate scientist who does not believe that global warming is a worse problem than they thought a few years ago. The seriousness of this change is not appreciated by politicians and the public. The scientific...
- Bill Gates Quote From Charlie Rose Interview (or, How The World's Best Companies Are Built By Fanatics)
My shortened transcription of a part of their conversation as I watched the interview. Any errors are mine. Charlie Rose: Did you have what you now have (this fascination and love for science)...for a while? Was this something that was in you? As a kid,...
- Richard Leakey: Evolution Debate Will Soon Be History
Richard Leakey predicts skepticism over evolution will soon be history. Not that the avowed atheist has any doubts himself. Sometime in the next 15 to 30 years, the Kenyan-born paleoanthropologist expects scientific discoveries will have accelerated to...
- Freeman Dyson On Econtalk
Freeman Dyson of the Institute for Advanced Study in Princeton talks with EconTalk host Russ Roberts about science, his career, and the future. Dyson argues for the importance of what he calls heresy--challenging the scientific dogmas of the day. Dyson...
- Heretical Thoughts About Science And Society - By Freeman Dyson
At the Wesco Annual Meeting, Charlie Munger said that we should listen more to Freeman Dyson and less to Al Gore. Here’s a good article to start on that path (thanks for the link, Bud). I think the first paragraph is very applicable to investing as...