The absence of creativity
I was reading through the latest Physics Today where I found this quote:
When, exactly, did science cease to be a vocation? The answer is World War II, which spurred the notion that science could not only win a war but maintain a permanent technological, and hence economic, advantage. That sort of thinking created the factory mentality in which well-rounded intellects, as Mehta notes, are now actively deselected. The job market presently favors those who stay in the same academic discipline, finish their studies in record time, and thus bring the least perspective-and maturity-to the job. Generalists are not wanted; familiarity with the programming code of the day is now more important than being able to think outside the box.
(If you'd like to read the whole discussion, it can be found here.)
I find his conclusion compelling, although I cannot say that I agree with his reasoning about why it is this way. The thing is, I didn't see this as much in physics, although my experience there is pretty limited. I sure do/did in engineering. Most of my experience in engineering consisted of learning a lot of facts, processes, and applications without getting a good feel for the theory behind them. And you need to be able to regurgitate them as quickly as possible. It made me insane because I don't function well without understanding why it works that way. I'm amazed by people who do.
I was going to give a long discussion on my thoughts, but interestingly enough, a friend sent me a video on this very topic. I found the argument and line of reasoning similar to what I was going to say (albeit much more funny), and points to the reasons why some of this is happening. If you want the short story, it's because that's what every educational system in the world is designed to do, starting from a very early age.
The video, BTW, can be found at this page. It's 20 minutes long, but it's very entertaining as well as interesting.
When, exactly, did science cease to be a vocation? The answer is World War II, which spurred the notion that science could not only win a war but maintain a permanent technological, and hence economic, advantage. That sort of thinking created the factory mentality in which well-rounded intellects, as Mehta notes, are now actively deselected. The job market presently favors those who stay in the same academic discipline, finish their studies in record time, and thus bring the least perspective-and maturity-to the job. Generalists are not wanted; familiarity with the programming code of the day is now more important than being able to think outside the box.
(If you'd like to read the whole discussion, it can be found here.)
I find his conclusion compelling, although I cannot say that I agree with his reasoning about why it is this way. The thing is, I didn't see this as much in physics, although my experience there is pretty limited. I sure do/did in engineering. Most of my experience in engineering consisted of learning a lot of facts, processes, and applications without getting a good feel for the theory behind them. And you need to be able to regurgitate them as quickly as possible. It made me insane because I don't function well without understanding why it works that way. I'm amazed by people who do.
I was going to give a long discussion on my thoughts, but interestingly enough, a friend sent me a video on this very topic. I found the argument and line of reasoning similar to what I was going to say (albeit much more funny), and points to the reasons why some of this is happening. If you want the short story, it's because that's what every educational system in the world is designed to do, starting from a very early age.
The video, BTW, can be found at this page. It's 20 minutes long, but it's very entertaining as well as interesting.