Yes the epidemic has infected our culture at large, not just students. People justify their entitlement mentality with loaded words like "fair".
And if they don't get their perceived entitlement they will blame you, attack you, tax you, steal from you. It's easier that way. Existentialists like Jean-Paul Sartre called this behavior "leveling". In a purely relativist culture (as ours is becoming) it is sufficient to "get ahead" by pulling down or punishing those who excel. Ideally, some "watchdog" organizations will keep an eye out or anyone who is doing too well, and help you tear them down.
For more examples of leveling, look at the effect of labor unions on productivity, our current obsession with hating "the rich" (anyone who makes more than me), affirmative action hiring practices, maximum speeds enforced in quarter-mile drag racing, and of course... our public schools, where they "bring up the low and bring down the high"... and where our children get their first lessons in leveling.
Has anyone noticed the disconnect between this topic (superconducting) and the icon (supercomputing) Slashdot is using to summarize this topic? I know they both have the word "super"... and a "c". But the similarities end there.
Supercomputing is all about massively parallel computation, not just computers... nor chips. This article is about condensed matter physics and (who knows?) a possible replacement for the semiconductor.
I guess it's kind of like the Monty Python spoof of the Jewish Zealots' rebellion, as portrayed in _The Life of Brian_....
zealot: "How _much_ do you hate the Romans?" Brian: (trying to gain approval) "A lot!" zealot: "Alright. You're in!"
You have to hate Micro$oft in order to have credibility, because for anyone to understand computing (technology and/or culture) and like Micro$oft is, well... incredible!
If "Implied Consent" does not apply to Chat conversations, then the next thing you know we'll have to reply to email asking one another: "May I *save* that email you sent me?":-(
That would be just plain silly.
Slashdot Mirror
"I'm not dead yet! I think I'll go for a walk now."
-- from Monty Python's "Search for the Holy Grail"
Truth really is stranger than fiction...
Yes the epidemic has infected our culture at large, not just students. People justify their entitlement mentality with loaded words like "fair".
And if they don't get their perceived entitlement they will blame you, attack you, tax you, steal from you. It's easier that way. Existentialists like Jean-Paul Sartre called this behavior "leveling". In a purely relativist culture (as ours is becoming) it is sufficient to "get ahead" by pulling down or punishing those who excel. Ideally, some "watchdog" organizations will keep an eye out or anyone who is doing too well, and help you tear them down.
For more examples of leveling, look at the effect of labor unions on productivity, our current obsession with hating "the rich" (anyone who makes more than me), affirmative action hiring practices, maximum speeds enforced in quarter-mile drag racing, and of course... our public schools, where they "bring up the low and bring down the high"... and where our children get their first lessons in leveling.
It just doesn't get any easier than that...
Has anyone noticed the disconnect between this topic (superconducting) and the icon (supercomputing) Slashdot is using to summarize this topic? I know they both have the word "super"... and a "c". But the similarities end there.
Supercomputing is all about massively parallel computation, not just computers... nor chips. This article is about condensed matter physics and (who knows?) a possible replacement for the semiconductor.
Got a semiconductor icon, perhaps?
As a Ph.D. physicist, I know that math was only my 2nd strongest subject, but... 1980 is not more than 30 years in the past. Yet.
I guess it's kind of like the Monty Python spoof of the Jewish Zealots' rebellion, as portrayed in _The Life of Brian_....
zealot: "How _much_ do you hate the Romans?"
Brian: (trying to gain approval) "A lot!"
zealot: "Alright. You're in!"
You have to hate Micro$oft in order to have credibility, because for anyone to understand computing (technology and/or culture) and like Micro$oft is, well... incredible!
If "Implied Consent" does not apply to Chat conversations, then the next thing you know we'll have to reply to email asking one another: "May I *save* that email you sent me?" :-(
That would be just plain silly.
Umm, wouldn't it have been easier to just recharge the batteries than recall them all when the batteries run down? ;-)