Comment by eqdw | Hacker News Reader

Comment by eqdw | Hacker News Reader

To everyone, from someone who has dealt with this man personally:

I don't know the specifics of the situation. I generally assume I'm only getting part of the story when I read these sorts of articles. However, knowing Dr. Lukacs, he is most probably correct and in the right on (almost?) everything he is saying, and he is most certainly being royally f*'d over by the university.

That being said, it was just a matter of time until he went up against someone who didn't appreciate his lack of social skills. He is certainly not a diplomatic person by any means. He's one of those guys who would go up to you, tell you how everything about you is wrong (assuming you are in fact wrong), and be honestly perplexed when you get upset about it.

In short, he reminds me of that scene in The Big Lebowski: "You're not wrong, Walter, YOU'RE JUST AN ASSHOLE". This guy is Walter. He's not wrong, but his lack of tact pissed off someone in power over him.

I hope he comes out of this on top, because (as far as I can tell) he didn't do anything wrong, and even if his conduct was in error, seriously university, thanks for giving my degree a bad reputation (by proxy; I got CS, not math).

Just some insight from someone who knows the guy (me!). Hope you find it interesting

People like Lukacs need to find organizations that are compatible with their irreverence. Although merit goes a long way, academia is VERY political especially when it comes to making tenure decisions.

Most large companies don't have a place for him either. Telling your boss directly he's wrong (even if he is) is a career staller, and going over his head will definitely give you enemies.

There are probably quite a few "Walters" here on HN who said "F* it, I'll do my own startup".

I think what you say is very true. I know one fellow from Electrical Engineering, who was very much like Gabi. Insanely smart (did the 5-year degree in 4 years, with an A+ in every course except two), utter balls at tact and diplomacy. He actually quit his masters because he couldn't deal with the politics at that level.

That may be true, but he is already a professor so I assume that he has already covered his tenure.

And given his achievements, and speed at which he has achieved them, he is one of those people who probably won't have trouble getting tenure, no matter how much of a dick he is being.

He's too young to get tenure. So, unfortunately for him, he is SOL in that regard

At US schools, being up for tenure is a function of how long you've had a tenure-track position at the school. It has nothing to do with how young you are. (And that would run afoul of age discrimination regulations.) I would be surprised if it was different in Canada.

People like Lukacs need to find organizations that are compatible with their irreverence. Although merit goes a long way, academia is VERY political especially when it comes to making tenure decisions.

It's funny that you would say that, because it seems there are few environments better suited to people like Lukacs than academia. The way they see it: sure, the politics is a pain in the ass, but at least they're in an environment where they can make very substantial contributions to the world. The pain of politics is worth doing what they love.

Disclosure: my father is a very well known research professor in his field, who is always complaining about campus politics. "So why are you still there?" always gets the response, "Where else could I go to do this?" If you happen to know somewhere else, let us know.

You didn't say what your father actually researches, but there are tons of cushy research jobs in industry, if you're smart enough. Many big tech companies (MS, Google, IBM) will hire people to work on whatever they want, simply to prevent them from working for a competitor or to be able to drop names when recruiting other people.

Oh, oops! He's in mechanical engineering, and deals primarily with turbomachinery efficiency and aerodynamics.

> People like Lukacs need to find organizations that are compatible with their irreverence.

No. We have to bend organizations into compatibility.

It's said that a reasonable person adapts itself to reality and doesn't try to change the world. Therefore, all the progress comes from the unreasonable ones.

He may be right to contest that the student got the degree, but he certainly was not right to air the students private health problems in the public arena.

Those private health problems are bullshit. He made it through years of school all the way to the PhD final exam which he fails twice before contracting the ridiculous "exam anxiety" disease? Now everybody has to treat this cheat with kid gloves because he is "disabled"?

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