Freeman Dyson's Brain

It's as great a part of the human adventure to invent things as to understand them. John Randall wasn't a great scientist, but he was a great inventor. There's been lots more like him, and it's a shame they don't get Nobel Prizes.

Is it the scientists who are putting them down?

Yes. There is this snobbism among scientists, especially the academic types.

Are there other kinds?

There are scientists in industry who are a bit more broad minded. The academics look down on them, too.

Is that a weird British hangover?

It's even worse in Germany. Intellectual snobbery is a worldwide disease. It certainly was very bad in China and probably held back development there by 2,000 years.

How would you stop this intellectual snobbery?

I would abolish the PhD system. The PhD system is the real root of the evil of academic snobbery. People who have PhDs consider themselves a priesthood, and inventors generally don't have PhDs."

The general rule I tell people is: "While you're young, work on the fashionable stuff - that's where you get ahead fast and make a reputation. When you're older, do the unfashionable things that, in the end, may be more important but that won't get you recognized right away."

Let's all go make facebook and twitter clones in Lisp, Erlang, and Scala!