more on BOY, IS THIS RIGHT ON djf -- U.S. Is Losing Its Dominance in the Sciences

[Dave Farber <dave () farber net>]

From: Guru Parulkar <guru_parulkar () yahoo com>
Subject: Re: [IP] BOY, IS THIS RIGHT ON djf -- U.S. Is Losing Its Dominance in
 the Sciences
To: dave () farber net


Dave,

So here it is. Yes feel free to share it with IP.

I read this posting with a lot of interest because I also grew up in
India and have been following changes in US and in India (as an
ordinary interested citizen) for the past 20 years since I came to this
country. I was a bit surprised with the generalizations about both
India and US suggested in the email from Slashdot.

India is a big country with a lot of diversity. The type of value
system as well as exposure to science/engineering implied in the
Slashdot posting (children writing essays about getting Nobel prize,
children growing up aspiring to be pioneers in science and technology)
apply to a small cross-section of the society. I don't think it applies
to India in general or even to the majority in India. It is definitely
true that the large middle class in India puts tremendous emphasis on
education. However, the reason for this emphasis has been that careers
in engineering and medicine have been the only way to make descent
living. Right or wrong (like it or not) at a very early age kids
recognize (because parents and society drill it down) that unless they
do well in academics, they wouldn't be able to get into engineering or
medicine and thus not have a descent life. And so kids get serious
about education and they start to respect other kids who do well in the
school. It is not the "love of science or innovation" that has been
making people serious about education. It is simply the financial
rewards down the road. A lot of us Indians here in US wonder if this
academic pressure on kids in India is appropriate because this means
kids study and study and don't have time to learn, enjoy, and
experience other stuff that matter too in life.

Interestingly enough India has been importing the culture and value
system from US, good and bad, at a phenomenal rate (thanks to
globalization, Internet and all those 200+ TV channels and Hollywood
movies that are easily accessible in India).  The changes are amazing.
On the positive side: entrepreneurship is encouraged and getting
rewarded; kids have other careers besides engineering and medicine that
would pay descent money;  quality of production of TV programs, movies,
and performing arts in general has gotten much much better, and more
(btw, it is a pleasure to see (good) Indian movies these days). But at
the same time, there is many fold increase on the screen of violence,
nudity, sex, and everything that we don't want to see here in US.
Similarly kids' and people's obsession with the TV, movie, and sports
super stars has been going up and up. Needless to say a cricket star or
a TV star gets more respect than a reputed scientist even in India. And
so not that much different from here in US.

It is possible that US is losing its dominance in science. I cannot be
sure.  However I believe the changes in US over the past 20 years in
terms of the value system or culture haven't been as dramatic as they
have been in India. For more than 20 years that I have been here in US,
I believe that kids/people are encouraged to excel and excel in
something: sports, academics, performing arts, business, social
service, or whatever. And there isn't a strong bias in favor of or
against academics. Excellence is rewarded in terms of attention as well
as financial returns. Kids understand the system and are well informed
about the odds of making it big (e.g. in a sports vs business major)
and associated financial rewards. Most importantly, kids do respond to
that. For example, when high tech was booming during 90s, computer
science enrollments grew at a record pace and when the bubble burst and
outsourcing moved the jobs away, the enrollments dropped. Now
enrollments are on the rise in bio majors because that is considered
hot. So I am ok with the encouraging excellence in all aspects of our
lives and rewarding it  rather than putting too much emphasis just on
academics.

Of course there are a lot of things that we can do better here in US
and that list is long ...

In summary

  o The contrast between US and India in terms of the value system
suggested in the email from Slashdot is highly overstated

  o India is a large and diverse country and emphasis on education for
the love of science and innovation may apply to a very small
cross-section of population. For rest it is mostly driven by financial
well being.

  o US emphasis on "excellence in something" appeals to me as opposed
to too much emphasis on just academics.

-guru

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