Key insights

• 💡 The woman's thesis on olfactory oppression in English literature sparked positive and negative reactions on social media, igniting a debate on ideological bias in academia.
• 🎓 Criticism of the value of taxpayer-funded Ph.D. theses and reference to Paul Graham's argument highlighted the real issue with such theses.
• 💰 Concerns about the perceived lack of demonstrable value of academic research to society leading to potential future funding challenges and increased pressure on researchers.
• 🔬 Prediction of impending defunding of academic research due to physicists' inability to produce valuable work, along with collaboration with Brilliant to make science learning more engaging.
• 🌐 Description of Brilliant as a platform offering a variety of science, computer science, and math courses, contributing to general problem-solving skills, with a free trial and discount on annual subscription.

Q&A

• What is Brilliant and what does it offer?

  Brilliant is a platform offering a variety of courses in science, computer science, and math, contributing to general problem-solving skills. It covers diverse topics such as differential equations, language models, and quantum mechanics, with new courses added monthly. There's a free trial available, and using the provided link gives a 20% discount on the annual premium subscription.

• What challenges might academic research face in the future?

  Some academic research lacks perceived value for society, leading to potential future pressure on tax-paid researchers to demonstrate value. This may result in funding cuts in various fields of academia, including humanities and physics.

• What was the critique about the value of certain Ph.D. theses funded by taxpayers?

  There was a critique of the value of certain Ph.D. theses funded by taxpayers, with a reference to an original and coherent thesis on smell in English literature. This critique also emphasized the real issue highlighted by Paul Graham regarding the funding of such theses.

• How did the woman's academic work on gender, race, and power structures result in negative reactions?

  The woman received hateful and threatening comments regarding her academic work on gender, race, and power structures, sparking a debate about ideological bias in academia. It is important to note that academic students often don't choose their PhD topics themselves and may not receive high pay.

• Why did the woman's social media post about her graduation go viral?

  The woman's social media post about her graduation went viral, receiving over 250 thousand likes and 100 million views, due to the controversial and thought-provoking nature of her thesis, which sparked both positive and negative reactions on social media.

• What is the topic of the woman's PhD thesis?

  The woman's PhD thesis explores 'Olfactory Ethics: The Politics of Smell in Modern and Contemporary Prose' and examines the role of smell in creating and subverting power structures related to gender, class, sexual, racial, and species dynamics in English literature.

• 00:00 A British woman's PhD thesis on olfactory oppression in English literature went viral, sparking both positive and negative reactions on social media.
• 01:08 A woman received hateful and threatening comments regarding her academic work on gender, race, and power structures, triggering a debate about ideological bias. She doesn't deserve the hate and might not have chosen the topic herself.
• 02:15 Critique of the value of certain Ph.D. theses funded by taxpayers and a reference to Paul Graham's argument about the real issue with such theses.
• 03:17 Academic research may face funding challenges in the future due to a perceived lack of demonstrable value to society, leading to increased pressure on researchers.
• 04:24 Academic research may face defunding due to physicists' inability to produce valuable work. Collaboration with Brilliant aims to make learning science easier and more engaging.
• 05:43 Brilliant is a platform offering a variety of courses in science, computer science, and math, contributing to general problem-solving skills. There's a free trial and a discount on the annual subscription when using the provided link.