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Comment by nerdchum | Hacker News Reader

The optimal amount of my tax dollars going into government funded science is zero.

Scientists need to earn their money like the rest of the world.

I'm sure there's a country you could immigrate to where the political consensus is that no basic research of any sort should happen, but the country we're talking about has the opposite consensus. Put differently: is there an argument you could make here that would be persuasive to someone other than an ancap?

I don't think that America has a consensus on this at all. Numerous people I talk to think science should be privatized.

And if more people were aware of the corruption that goes on in science the pendulum would quickly swing.

What Tobias said about the NeverNudes applies.

Reality has a way of asserting itself.

https://www.usdebtclock.org/

Are you implying that private agencies have less corruption than public ones? It's fascinating how jarring that is with my life experience.

Before you answer, remember, Stanford is a private institution.

Sure. Then please refrain from using anything that was invented/developed from government funding. Including the internet.

That happened to more than 30 years ago, like I said in my original statement.

If I refrain from using anything invented and developed from government funding in the last 30 years, what would I have to give up?

Every medication developed in the last 30 years, for starters. I mean, you're basically asking for a list of every invention derived from government-funded basic research (also known as "all basic research"). It might make more sense to ask what you could use.

I find it telling you can't name one.

I find it telling that you think it's challenging to name an invention that depends on any of the last 30 years of basic research, so we're at an impasse.

You're the one you said to stop using technology invented by the government.

Then I said I would be happy to if you could name a single one in the past 30 years.

And you can't.

Off the top of my head...

- Soft-white LEDs

- Data-over-headphone-jack

- ZK-SNARKs

- Tor

- Energy-harvesting power monitors

- TCP congestion control

These all had government funding or were invented in government labs.

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