Discussion about this post

User's avatar
Overcoming Bias Commenter's avatar

My best physics teacher so far has been a woman. She actually cared that you learned. She got emotionally involved. When at one point I failed to understand something and gave up on it, she got visibly concerned "Is everything alright with you (at home, emotionally, etc.)?" She worked it out with me. No other teacher has ever paid so close attention. I got my best grades with her.

Expand full comment
Michael Bishop's avatar

There is a lot of good stuff in this essay, but doesn't she oversell it a little bit? Take this paragraph towards the end:

"Few academic scientists know anything about the equity crusade. Most have no idea of its power, its scope, and the threats that they may soon be facing. The business commu­nity and citizens at large are completely in the dark. This is a quiet revolution. Its weapons are government reports that are rarely seen; amendments to federal bills that almost no one reads; small, unnoticed, but dramatically con­sequential changes in the regulations regarding government grants; and congressional hearings attended mostly by true believers."

Do we really believe this could be a significant roadblock for scientific progress?

Expand full comment
24 more comments...

No posts