Comments on: RegEM

By: Re-Visiting RegEM: Rutherford et al 2005 « Climate Audit

Re-Visiting RegEM: Rutherford et al 2005 « Climate Audit — Fri, 11 Feb 2011 14:57:59 +0000

[...] self-contained and so I re-visited some of our previous comments on Rutherford et al here here here here . I’m going to reprise two issues today: Collation Errors, a small but amusing defect; [...]

By: Sara Chan

Sara Chan — Tue, 11 Jul 2006 09:16:53 +0000

Steve M (#18), thanks for such a considered reply! I see your point about learning things in business. Like the importance of outside audits, for example…. Kindly appreciated, Sara

By: Jack Lacton

Jack Lacton — Sun, 09 Jul 2006 11:54:33 +0000

#35: Please stop embarrassing us Aussies! We have a terrific record of scientific achievement that we should be proud about and shout from the rooftops (without fear of being bashed). I enjoyed reading Steve’s little trip down memory lane, as it was similarish to my own and it’s always interesting to understand how people have come to the point they have. I competed in three Australian mathematics competitions (not winning but making top 3% each time) and ended up going into business for myself, which I ran for 15 years before selling it a few years back. I must admit that I am biased towards the views of people who have survived the rough and tumble of the commercial sector over those theoretical practicians who seem to make more noise.

By: TCO

TCO — Sat, 08 Jul 2006 22:58:43 +0000

We’re too stupid and poorly educated. We’re from the US. We’re not Canadian Fields Medal winners. Oh…ok…for you Steve. Last transmission.

By: Steve McIntyre

Steve McIntyre — Sat, 08 Jul 2006 22:56:46 +0000

Stop this discussion please or take it elsewhere.

By: TCO

TCO — Sat, 08 Jul 2006 22:16:07 +0000

Maybe they are just smarter than us?

By: Roger Bell

Roger Bell — Sat, 08 Jul 2006 21:50:21 +0000

Re #31 and 45.
Much of the US problem with the public schools system comes from the teachers unions, which won’t allow higher salaries for people capable of teaching scientific and mathematical subjects.
Another US problem is the number of hours students spend in the classroom over the academic year. I’ve read that it is significantly less for US students than for those in other sountries, such as Japan.
Roger Bell

By: xmd

xmd — Sat, 08 Jul 2006 16:26:36 +0000

Re: #31 – Jae: You say “The whole public schools system stinks and is failing, due to the lack of any type of a special reward system for excellence”. The premise is questionable — did you know that in the 1950 in the US, only 50% of adults had a high school diploma? That’s up to about 80% lately. Do you have any evidence for your premise? Since I’m pretty sure your premise is wrong, I won’t bother commenting on your hypothesized mechanism.

By: John A

John A — Sat, 08 Jul 2006 06:21:46 +0000

The incentives in academia today leads one to be politically correct versus being correct. The two may be the same on occassion but they are often opposed. The incentive in academia should be heavily weighted toward being correct. In the internet age everyone has “academic freedom” as M & M have demonstrated.

Yes, but being correct in the academic freedom in the Internet Age pays really poorly. The incentive isn’t just in academia, but also in publishing – the more controversial and ludicrously wrong a proposition, the more books it will sell. It’s the Ann Coulter phenomenon.

I don’t doubt that quite a few academics abuse their tenure with ludicrous propositions, but the problem is not tenure, but the extraordinary relaxed attitude to ethics shown by the institutions.

By: mark

mark — Sat, 08 Jul 2006 05:42:54 +0000

I will be homeschooling, jae. Oh, and in relatively non-political subjects such as engineering, the tenure system probably actually works rather well. Engineering professors don’t often make headlines, either. They (soon we) busily publish away hoping to be the next Viterbi.

Mark