Book Chomp

Why I think you should check out: 

Falling Behind?  - Michael S. Teitelbaum (publ.2014)

Trust is something we regard as sacred in a relationship, whether it be romantic or platonic - it’s vital. The reason is simple: no one wants to get screwed. It’d be more poetic to say “because it selflessly lifts the idea of love above all the evil in the world”, but more realistically it just keeps life flowing more efficiently. Less drama, less headache.

Why is it then, that we should regard trust with the government as any different? Now, hold up, I’m not jumping into conspiracy theories or a self-proclaimed mob of angry thoughts towards the hierarchy of the nation I live in. I regard that route as immature and obnoxiously childish. Like a relationship, the ideology of love is always, always, a work in progress. It doesn’t exist on its own. Such is true for the ideology of a nation. It takes work. To just point fingers is a resignation from this work; retirement of effort towards a goal - the goal of living efficiently and effectively. The goal of science.

The government, our society - because let’s not separate ourselves here - is not the ideal, well-oiled machine where the levers are controlled in voters’ booths how we want it to be. That’s okay. This ideal does not exist. Accept it. This imperfect view is not something to be feared (or worse, abandoned). The nation in which we live is as organic as our own living body, where it make sense that all parts should work autonomously, but it doesn’t. Get over it now, or suffer with your broken fantasies. The body can blame the stomach for the ulcer, the calf muscle for the Charlie-horse, the arteries for their plaqued walls, but really, realistically, they all function as a whole and are co-dependent entities.

It’s just as easy to blame politicians for our problems, our taxes and our unequal pay. It’s just as addicting to heartlessly and shamelessly point fingers at broken celebrities passing through revolving doors of rehabilitation centers. But who are we really blaming? Who are we really pointing at? It’s much harder to look at ourselves and accept some blame, responsibility or even some action to fix a problem we never remember making. No one said being classy and noble was easy. But these affirmations and actions of truth produce the high-grade oil that greases that big machine. The end product is completely worth it; we’re just too afraid to try.

So having said this, I’m just reiterating the concept of neutrality. 

My intention is not to place blame, but to serve as a guide towards your own impetus of action. This book is bursting with facts and neutral fences that allow you to see a broad spectrum of the nation we live in. Turn off your television and read. We can fix the body by changing our mindset first.

The issue of scientific funding is seamlessly weaved into a web of financial, political, legal, and practical standpoints within America. This book addresses this issue and it very well should. It’s completely en vogue - directly affecting our nation, affecting us. You hear the need for more scientists and engineers in Obama’s speeches. You are well aware that the pay is apparently very high for these fields. You hear of other countries having mind-blowing inventions that seem ineffable (Google Japanese toilets on your work break). This may not seem important to you, but trust me, it is. Whether you are a science undergraduate, or even someone working in a retail store - this does indeed affect you. If it affects the nation, it affects you.

America is in my opinion, and in many others’, quite unfortunately notorious for its cowboy attitude. Confidence is fine, but other countries regard our nation as a little too proud and patriotic to a fault. Not everything our country does is fantastic. Not everything is bad either, but we need to pay more attention to progression than to old ideologies that just do not come true, despite all financial support (ahem, federal funding). Some questions our nation should be asking: Are we progressing scientifically? Are we progressing as well as other countries? Should we pretend we’re still the best at it? Or is it time to put the cowboy costume in the closet, grow up a bit and face the adult world head on? The hound dog attitude of the World Wars’ era was by all means necessary and pivotal, but now the once respectable dog is old, tired and out of touch with the chase of the rabbit of progress. Back then, countries were more segregated and national pride was taken seriously. What we made, we wore with honor. But now, we live in such an integrated world of global perspectives that it is impossible for us to take the same approach. We’re not just trying to make one living body work, we’re trying to have it agree and work efficiently with other living bodies. How do we help the body properly function? We use facts. Then we act appropriately.

This book, as I mentioned earlier, gives facts. The best way to speak truth is to give real facts. I stress the real part because a lot of sources claim to hold substantial evidence when in fact they do not. The author Michael Teitelbaum cites highly influential albeit now questionable reports that had enormous impacts on our political, scientific and economic reality. Imaginary turned real. Magic? No this is simply the power of the press among other networks. He stresses that the dubious assumptions of these reports are what caused alarms, booms and busts in science and engineering; this implies its associations, research and funding. This entire situation is tirelessly regarded as critical importance - or more passionately, a crisis!

His three core findings regarding these reports, which focused heavily on the scientific research and education “crisis”, were as follows: the shortage and shortfall claimed by researchers and corporations that caused alarms inconsistent with empirical evidence; examples of these kinds of alarms in U.S. history from the Cold War to the high-tech industry of today; and the harm disguised as help that resulted from funding that did as much to aid science as spoiling a child does for his or her future work ethic.

Teitelbaum reviews the reports in detail by means of goals and recommendations for federal action. He notes that the reports are overlapping in authors - CEOs of big businesses and researchers prodded by Congressman to make a speedy assessment (I mean seriously - 10 weeks!) of the reality of this nation’s science and engineering force, or lack thereof. The result is an inevitably redundant thrash of information. Notice, I say information. Not facts. All reports were scrutinized by adept researchers, but simultaneously supported by people in power. More bluntly - these reports served a political agenda rather than a pure scientific one.

A pattern forms here; these reports were written in 2005 but are so incredibly reminiscent of speeches and reports throughout our nation’s modern history (1948-2008). Teitelbaum walks you through “Parts” and “Rounds” of which these “alarms” of deficiency in science and engineering (and therefore competitive edge) produce “booms” in scientific endeavors and their subsequent funding, that lead to “busts” in the success of further research and therefore careers of those in these fields. This pattern is blurry, but comes into focus once Teitelbaum effortlessly maps it out for you. Then, and only then, do you see a looming reality in the back of your mind… Are people making up facts to get support or money for their own agendas? It shouldn’t be such a surprise; we are humans where the practice of manipulation is evident even in infants. But...we’re talking about money on the scale of billions. Not to mention the effect it has on everything but the agenda it was intended for. Impacts are a natural part of this billiard game of politics, but whether these impacts are good or bad depend completely on the player and the pocket the ball rolls into.