tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-29059245.post1331371790690559838..comments2024-03-25T02:33:41.590-05:00Comments on FemaleScienceProfessor: TransformativeFemale Science Professorhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15288567883197987690noreply@blogger.comBlogger13125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-29059245.post-4195690519660353972007-08-30T22:53:00.000-05:002007-08-30T22:53:00.000-05:00I'd be satisfied if people would quit referring to...I'd be satisfied if people would quit referring to a lectern as a "podium". But the lure of self-aggrandizement through costuming meaning in inappropriate words appears to be immortal.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-29059245.post-44717455872135286982007-08-30T11:08:00.000-05:002007-08-30T11:08:00.000-05:00Could this be the death knell for the use of "impa...Could this be the death knell for the use of "impact" as a verb?<BR/><BR/>Crossing my fingers...Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-29059245.post-70264193686206280082007-08-27T10:32:00.000-05:002007-08-27T10:32:00.000-05:00You assume this word is your enemy. Make it your f...You assume this word is your enemy. Make it your friend. You must (as necessary) label everything <I>you</I> want from science and your career as "transformative". If someone gives you reasons to define it as not, then you should argue that those reasons are evidence that it is! Since a buzz word is by nature is both ill defined and fleeting, be prepared to do the same with the next one.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-29059245.post-1390030574163370472007-08-27T00:50:00.000-05:002007-08-27T00:50:00.000-05:00Julia Cameron and Mark Bryan have written a book "...Julia Cameron and Mark Bryan have written a book "Money Drunk, Money Sober" and outline different types of people who have problems with money. e.g. the Cash Co-Dependent whose debt comes from their spouse, a Poverty Addict who is incapable of spending on themselves. <BR/><BR/>Why is this relevant? Well, there's also the "Big Deal Chaser". All their money problems will be solved with the big deal comes through (or they win the lottery!) They are waiting for the Transformative experience.<BR/><BR/>The truth is that, financial health comes not through one big leap but through lots of small disciplines and advances. Yes, you may get lucky, invest in whatever tech stock comes along and get out before the bubble bursts, and it's worth taking a risk now and then. But the main route to financial freedom comes in small increments. Building a wall brick by brick.<BR/><BR/>It sounds like the NSA Transformative approach is aimed at funding the big deal chasers. <BR/><BR/>Not such a problem if they also fund the slow and steady, incremental stuff. But silly as a sole strategy. <BR/><BR/>Think of Japan - its post-war economic growth was built on taking others' ideas and making a series of incremental changes to produce things just a bit better. <BR/><BR/>I suspect that usually the great leaps of ideas come from close attention to something else - they are a byproduct and not something you can force.<BR/><BR/>Thanks for the blog - keep them coming!Like to the Larkhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/12000851468722770032noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-29059245.post-82062713169611201752007-08-26T20:05:00.000-05:002007-08-26T20:05:00.000-05:00I was at an event in January where Arden Bement (t...I was at an event in January where Arden Bement (the NSF director) spoke, and he used the word "transformative" ten times in the last two minutes of his talk. I kept track. I felt like I was in a flashback to my time at Westinghouse's Science and Technology Center as a summer intern, where management used to talk about Total Quality and Generating Synergy. Unfortunately for the NSF, the amount of truly transformative research (e.g., inventing PCR, the laser, the transistor) is a pretty tiny fraction of the whole, and that's unlikely to change even if we relabel all of our own work as transformative.Douglas Natelsonhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13340091255404229559noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-29059245.post-3882615683276511762007-08-26T19:57:00.000-05:002007-08-26T19:57:00.000-05:00A hate beaurocrats. I'm with the first anonymous ...A hate beaurocrats. I'm with the first anonymous poster on this one. The sad thing is that my first job out of college involved coming up with words like that to describe NASA - I worked for a company hired by NASA Aeronautics to develop mission and vision statements along with a long-range plan for that branch of the agency. Turned out to be a collosal waste of time, though I did get a free week-long trip out of it ... to St. Louis.Quantum Moxiehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07299376366027872094noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-29059245.post-67494721315021252232007-08-26T14:48:00.000-05:002007-08-26T14:48:00.000-05:00Ah perfect! Now that you've let the cat out of the...Ah perfect! Now that you've let the cat out of the bag I can freely expect funding for my transformative research which will create novel synergies among distinct sub-fields and thus facilitate further interdisciplinary work. <BR/><BR/>Makes me want to carve my own heart out with a spoon.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-29059245.post-29387661731769285022007-08-25T12:08:00.000-05:002007-08-25T12:08:00.000-05:00ok, I found a definitiion: (I'm bright that way)"T...ok, I found a definitiion: (I'm bright that way)<BR/><BR/>"Transformative research is defined as research driven by ideas that have the potential to radically change our understanding of an important existing scientific or engineering concept or lead to the creation of a new paradigm or field of science or engineering."<BR/><BR/>I don't understand seeking novelty for the sake of novelty. I understand that ideas that involve a aparadigm shift may be generally not well received and it is nice that they get a boost, or at least a second look. But I don't understand why "radically changing our understanding" is a necessarily any better than something that merely deepens it or extends it.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-29059245.post-1837183627564831652007-08-25T12:03:00.000-05:002007-08-25T12:03:00.000-05:00see, I understand translational, but what does tra...see, I understand translational, but what does transformative mean? I understand the advantages of research being translational (although buzzwords make me roll my eyes), but what is the benefit of research being transformative? Some research questsions don't need a transformation, just steady, solid work. Or does it mean something that has nothing to do with the root of the word?Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-29059245.post-29481113144210184072007-08-25T08:50:00.000-05:002007-08-25T08:50:00.000-05:00In MyCountry, we have 'translational', but it's sp...In MyCountry, we have 'translational', but it's special and not everything has to be so. Since MyCountry is not English speaking (most of the reserch proposals and so are done in English, though), they were nice enough to explain what they mean.<BR/><BR/>Is 'transformative' something similar?Schlupphttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16399256701731431557noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-29059245.post-61572862701247120212007-08-24T22:10:00.000-05:002007-08-24T22:10:00.000-05:00Hmmm...It does not look good. The title of Sokal'...Hmmm...<BR/><BR/>It does not look good. The title of Sokal's famous paper is:<BR/><BR/>Transgressing the Boundaries: Towards a Transformative Hermeneutics of Quantum Gravity<BR/><BR/>There is your word in the title. This paper was complete nonsense and caused quite a stir. <BR/><BR/>Googling transformative leads to a lot of other dicey hits. I am afraid that transformative is the buzzword analogous to translational on the NIH side of things.<BR/><BR/>My sympathy.<BR/><BR/>BonzoMr. B.https://www.blogger.com/profile/02067666077743889680noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-29059245.post-54943682768003967682007-08-24T21:49:00.000-05:002007-08-24T21:49:00.000-05:00THe buzz word at NIH is translationalTHe buzz word at NIH is translationalAnonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-29059245.post-82187383873090135792007-08-24T16:24:00.000-05:002007-08-24T16:24:00.000-05:00Makes you want to shoot a bureaucrat, doesn't it ;...Makes you want to shoot a bureaucrat, doesn't it ;)Anonymousnoreply@blogger.com