tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6976144462093297473.post1174855285799558579..comments2024-03-26T19:10:00.791-04:00Comments on West Coast Stat Views (on Observational Epidemiology and more): More Martian musings – – reality shows and diet pillsJosephhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10760453165301871031noreply@blogger.comBlogger2125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6976144462093297473.post-76282260542842862832015-03-16T17:13:54.461-04:002015-03-16T17:13:54.461-04:00We've got a couple of posts coming up that add...We've got a couple of posts coming up that address some of your points, including one on Whitney's "enhanced" prototype.Markhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14705408455380402571noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6976144462093297473.post-49612310265266920952015-03-15T18:41:47.510-04:002015-03-15T18:41:47.510-04:00I largely agree with you, but technological breakt...I largely agree with you, but technological breakthroughs don't come from nowhere. They come from wasting the taxpayers money on crackpot ideas. OK, some of the projects aren't completely out of cloud cuckoo land, but they are a bit out of easy reach. Funding them isn't about the project, it's about getting enough relatively bright people thinking about new stuff, trying new things and basically banging on the edge.<br /><br />It's like interchangeable parts. Eli Whitney scammed the Continental Congress, even before the US was independent, to spend money on manufacturing guns with interchangeable parts. It took 30 years before his son, EW Jr and Sam Colt actually produced such guns and another 30 years to develop "armory practice" and another 30 years before "armory practice" became the standard for machine tooling and metal work. At any given point this 90 year project looked like a ridiculous boondoggle, but the result was a manufacturing nation full of machine people. Funny how that works out.Kaleberghttps://www.blogger.com/profile/05283840743310507878noreply@blogger.com