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Believing in Computer Science (existentialtype.wordpress.com)

1 points by ky3 ↗ HN
It seems to me that many researchers who move into political and administrative roles are either bored with, or do not believe in, computer science as an academic discipline. Their own research area is, or maybe always was, boring, or has been obviated by technological developments or scientific advances. So they move into politics, perhaps carrying a sense that there is something wrong with the field that can only be corrected by radical surgery. They then demand that researchers do what they themselves never did in their own careers, kicking the ladder out from behind them.

Harper goes on to say that the above is a "somewhat contentious premise." I agree it's acrimonious; I'm not sure I agree with the acrimony.

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[dead] ky3
It seems to me that many researchers who move into political and administrative roles are either bored with, or do not believe in, computer science as an academic discipline. Their own research area is, or maybe always was, boring, or has been obviated by technological developments or scientific advances. So they move into politics, perhaps carrying a sense that there is something wrong with the field that can only be corrected by radical surgery. They then demand that researchers do what they themselves never did in their own careers, kicking the ladder out from behind them.

Harper goes on to say that the above is a "somewhat contentious premise." I agree it's acrimonious; I'm not sure I agree with the acrimony.