Comments - John von Neumann: A Strange Kind of Bird

Modern scientific endeavors are a stultified and cultish mess of bureaucracy pushing against ever greater natural barriers of complexity. Even assuming someone like vN could survive 16 years of extraordinarily deficient modern American schooling to begin an approach to academia, it would be for naught. Assuming his talent isn't passed over for belonging to a white male, he then joins a research group where he barely has access to his PI while investigating an extremely specific and relatively unimportant question for which funding was secured during the prior year. Use of equipment in deviation from this program is grounds for a grant audit. Regardless of results, the group must publish at least one paper per year to maintain funding. Data may be falsified. Graduate coursework is even more strictly defined than undergraduate majors, and interdisciplinary study is strongly discouraged, as his credit-hours would be supported through the department by an R/TA. There is simply no time for

Modern scientific endeavors are a stultified and cultish mess of bureaucracy pushing against ever greater natural barriers of complexity. Even assuming someone like vN could survive 16 years of extraordinarily deficient modern American schooling to begin an approach to academia, it would be for naught. Assuming his talent isn't passed over for belonging to a white male, he then joins a research group where he barely has access to his PI while investigating an extremely specific and relatively unimportant question for which funding was secured during the prior year. Use of equipment in deviatio