The fact of the matter is that basic research must be in place before applied research can utilize that information. Until American society as a whole understands what research is and why it is important, these kind of simple-minded attacks will continued. Unfortunately, America is not composed of only highly educated and brilliant people. We have a large group of brilliant people who are uneducated and a large segment of well educated people that actually lack much brilliance. We also have a significant group of people who are brilliant and well educated, but this is counter-balanced by a similar sized group of people who are neither well educated nor very intelligent.
I suspect that many European countries are posed to blast past the US simply because Higher Education is virtually guaranteed to students, whereas in the US if you grew up economically disadvantaged (such as did I) you are burdened with a 5-6 figured student loan debt. Meanwhile, many countries guarantee a BS and MS to those who can hold grades. My above speculation on the collage of American brilliance and education is a very important consideration. People who are brilliant and educated are posed to serve society in a positive way, can think outside of the box and come of with solutions to some of our most difficult challenges. People who are not brilliant but are well educated may not work outside of the box, but having useful tools at hand can still contribute in many useful ways, even challenging the successes of those who are both brilliant and well educated. People who are brilliant but poorly educated may be more dangerous to society. They have the ability to think outside of the box and they can certainly develop well supported hypotheses and solutions. These may, however, be based on bad data, unsubstantiated rumor, or even imaginary scenarios. Their lack of education has left them without the tools analyze the situation properly, to understand which information has bias and which information is not possible. They assemble large houses of cards to support their ideas. Ideas that essentially get us nowhere and fall flat at the slightest breeze. However, they tend to gather the support of other brilliant and poorly educated folks. They also have the colloquial language skills that hit home with the poorly educated people who lack any brilliance who can understand these simple arguments, but get lost in the complexities presented by the educated-brilliant. These latter two groups are more likely to be suspicious or at least jealous of the former two groups. They lacked opportunities that they should have been afforded. And, society has lost out because their contributions tend to be destructive rather than constructive. What makes it worse is that the quality of education in America has gradually decayed to a point of ridicule. I recall recently seeing a copy of an 8th grade health textbook from the early 1900s. I can tell you that most college students would have found this book very difficult to read. It also was leaps and bounds better than the commonly used current text many may be familiar with. Until Americans push for widespread educational advancement for the populace, strengthened educational standards at each level, and funding to support it, I can't imagine how we can stabilize American education let alone pull ahead of the pack. Malcolm On Tue, Oct 28, 2008 at 3:43 PM, Paul Cherubini <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: > Jason L Kindall wrote: > >> Viewed alone, it might be pretty hard to justify >> research on fruit flies to the average Joe (plumber >> or six-pack). Connect it with autism or human health >> and then it becomes more palatable to the public. > > Perhaps Sarah Palin and the average Joe's are refering > to the big research grants that are awarded for seemingly > frivolous projects like the one below dealing with the health > of an economically unimportant, but charasmatic insect: > > http://tinyurl.com/2d6r9f > $679,492 Grant to assist professor's study of butterflies > > Altizer received the National Science Foundation Faculty > Early Development Career award to study migration and > infectious disease patterns in Monarch butterflies. > > Altizer hopes her research will help with conservation. She > wants to know how migration keeps Monarchs healthy. > "People tend to love Monarchs to death," Altizer said. > Keeping humans from disrupting the butterflies' migration > will help keep them healthy. > > Paul Cherubini > El Dorado, Calif. > -- Malcolm L. McCallum Associate Professor of Biology Texas A&M University-Texarkana Editor, Herpetological Conservation and Biology http://www.herpconbio.org Summer Teaching Schedule & Office Hours: Ecology: M,W 1-2:40 pm Cell Biology: M 6-9:40 pm (don't ask!) Forensic Science: T,R 10-11:40am Office Hours: MW 12-1, 5-6, TR 11:40-12:30, "until we as a people stop killing each other and stop not getting our education we are never going to be successful." -Charles Barkley
