Knowledge-based society, my ass

Original Article ↗ Hacker News Discussion ↗

Post-Soviet / Bureaucratic Academic Culture

  • Several commenters locate the story in Eastern Europe and say the described dysfunction (title-worship, ceremonial defenses, food spreads for committees, PhDs to dodge the army) is typical of former Warsaw Pact countries.
  • Some note the story’s “Kafka / Lem / Discworld” vibe as characteristic of Iron Curtain-era bureaucracies that never really modernized.

Mass-Produced PhDs & ‘Knowledge-Based Society’ Policies

  • Commenters link the program to EU Lisbon Strategy targets and pressure to “absorb” EU money.
  • Doubling PhD numbers overnight is seen as inevitably chaotic, changing “knowledge” into a metric to hit rather than a substance to cultivate.
  • One view: this was an experiment whose outcomes were politically claimed as success but practically untraceable.

Experiences with PhD Programs Worldwide

  • Many readers report eerily similar experiences in Romania, Poland, other Eastern European countries, and also in the US, UK, Germany, and Japan.
  • Others had decent or even positive PhD experiences, but they describe these as exceptions.
  • Some argue entire countries or institutions simply cannot train researchers properly; others say the advisor matters more than the country.

Professors, Power Gradients, and Abuse

  • Commenters discuss narcissism, sadism, and indifference in faculty, with students trapped by financial or contractual obligations.
  • There’s a call to think about “power gradients considered harmful” in academia, analogous to aviation’s crew resource management.

Debate on Technical Competence (C++ Anecdote)

  • The story about a professor planning to “learn C++ by Monday” triggers a long debate:
    • One side: with strong fundamentals, you can get far enough in a weekend to teach beginners.
    • The other: this shows disdain for expertise; teaching requires deep understanding, especially in a complex language like C++.

Role and Value of Academia and Government in Research

  • Some criticize government-led “knowledge society” plans as box-ticking bureaucracy, not real innovation.
  • Others strongly defend funding more PhDs and basic research, arguing that over-optimization and heavy administration distort incentives more than the raw spending itself.

Conformity, Obedience, and Ignorance-Based Society

  • Several comments generalize: schooling often trains conformity, obedience, and tolerance of arbitrary obstacles.
  • One theme is an “ignorance-based society” where blind spots and status protect incompetence, and questioning is penalized.