You don't have to be fixated to work here...

[David Farber <dave () farber net>]

Begin forwarded message:

From: Brian Randell <Brian.Randell () ncl ac uk>
Date: March 12, 2009 8:06:01 AM EDT
To: dave () farber net
Subject: You don't have to be fixated to work here...

Hi Dave:

It's just possible you might want this (IMHO rather fine) article from  
the (London) Times Higher Education weekly for IP.

Cheers

Brian

----

You don't have to be fixated to work here...

12 March 2009

By Matthew Reisz

The academy has long been a haven for obsessives, but now its emphasis  
on teamwork would ill suit socially inept geniuses such as Paul Dirac,  
writes Matthew Reisz

For Lennard J. Davis, universities are akin to licensed madhouses and  
obsession is the name of the game.

"If you're an academic, you had better be obsessive - that sort of  
behaviour is rewarded. Any academic setting will have people who are  
obsessive, research junkies and graphomaniacs. And most academics  
collect books and often get funding for it," he says.

"It's not just publish or perish, it's publish continuously. The  
reality of having so much 'free time' is that you are always working.  
I get up at 6am and go to my computer."

Davis should know. He teaches across a range of disciplines at the  
University of Illinois at Chicago and is also visiting professor in  
the department of English and linguistics at the University of  
Westminster. Recently he published a book called Obsession: A History.

It is an apt subject, as obsessiveness is built into the warp and weft  
of the academy.
. . .

Full story at:

http://www.timeshighereducation.co.uk/story.asp?sectioncode=26&storycode=405725
--
School of Computing Science, Newcastle University, Newcastle upon Tyne,
NE1 7RU, UK
EMAIL = Brian.Randell () ncl ac uk   PHONE = +44 191 222 7923
FAX = +44 191 222 8232  URL = http://www.cs.ncl.ac.uk/people/brian.randell




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