Help a quantum computing researcher out
scottaaronson.com
scottaaronson.com
Non American here - one of my country's favorite discussion topics is figuring out how to hack our (somewhat broken) national governance system/national culture into working well.
One of the ways to do that is to get fewer people into the consulting jobs which steal our brightest and best because of better pay and resulting prestige. Now obviously to do this you need to significantly up the budget for any and all science so that people make a wage which:
a) they can live comfortably on b) point to so that their clan/community doesn't constantly tell them - "what a waste of your life, make sure your kids don't do that."
That would have immense trickle down effects and huge repercussions for our development. Civilizational transitions/evolutions have more to do with the introduction of technology (fire, agriculture, the stirrup, medicine, writing, the press) than any other agent (I'm guessing mother nature comes close).
So how is this stuff being discussed when "innovation" is supposedly meant to save the economy? How do you guys plan to handle this? Ignore-let it blow over/give them what they want-let them deal with the fallout/???
May I suggest that this is being done for political mileage, that the politicians are smart and understand how the game is played and that this is going to get them votes.
May I further suggest that this be made to blow up in their faces? Since not losing votes<<<<<<<<<<< getting votes?
Prime example of misinformation that I was just discussing with someone yesterday.
He'd probably say we wasted billions on this http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Very_Large_Array so that NASA could listen to the radio.
Still, on quantum computing alone, I'd be surprised if no private company is interested in the field at all.
However, private companies typically do not engage in long-term research that isn't likely to lead to directly commercializable results. I know this flies in the face of red-blooded 'merican "all socialism is evil" doctrine, but public sector research, funded by tax-payer money, is needed to build the foundations for tomorrow's industries. Quantum computing, like many other bleeding edge fields, is too immature, too high-risk, and with pay-offs that are far too distant for the private sector.
Research and education are both investments that can yield fantastic returns, but they are long-term investments and require steady commitment rather than periodic outbursts of zeal punctuating long periods of apathy. A minor cut now might help balance the books today, but the lost opportunities down the road will more than negate that.
Top researchers don't hang around after you cut the funding they run their labs and pay their students and post-docs with. They go where the money they need to work is, and if they can't find that in the U.S., they'll likely find it in Canada, China, Australia, etc.. The U.S. is far from the only country doing quality research in QC these days.
So what is left to do is to scramble for the peanuts, while trying to appear economically "though".