Hawking Searching For Africa's Einsteins 276
nuke-alwin writes "Stephen Hawking has traveled to South Africa in search of Africa's Einsteins. The project will create Africa's first post-graduate center for math and physics. The British government has unfortunately decided not to back the project, which is hoping to fight poverty by identifying the kind of talent that can create wealth." Neil Turok is deeply involved as well; he was recently named to head the Perimeter Institute in Canada, whose server we brought to its knees this morning.
The purpose? (Score:5, Interesting)
Re:The purpose? (Score:3, Interesting)
Re:Brain drain, ver 0.1 (Score:5, Interesting)
You don't know what it's like to grow up in an impoverished country. Hence you don't know what it's like to hurt for your country and to have a sense of duty to make it better.
Also, just because the talent is exported, people can still do great things to enable others to become great. You see this in soccer all the time. African talent is being exported to the top clubs in Europe but many players go back home to establish soccer academies, schools and the like.
Hats off to Hawking.
Re:Brain drain, ver 0.1 (Score:5, Interesting)
Some people do genuinely have a feeling of responsibility.
That aside, it is an established fact that people living outside impoverished areas send a lot of money back home. In some countries, this is the primary source of foreign currency.
No more Einstein's (Score:3, Interesting)
I support the project, not the marketing of the project.
Africa and its genetic diversity (Score:5, Interesting)
http://www.pubmedcentral.nih.gov/articlerender.fcgi?artid=1288178 [nih.gov]
http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2005/03/050310103042.htm [sciencedaily.com]
http://www.science.psu.edu/alert/Tishkoff1-1999.htm [psu.edu]
It might be easier to find a genius among very different subjects, than finding one in a group where everybody is similar.
Hawking is a genius
Re:Einstein is over-rated (Score:3, Interesting)
rising to the bait, there are fundamental problems to Africa, the two key ones are corruption in the governments and the continuous fighting within and between countries (for resources and between tribes). The D.R. Congo should be one of the richest countries in the world with its unequalled wealth of mineral resources, but years of corruption, greed and fighting have ensured its ability to exploit those resources are minimal.
another key problem is that foreign governments have caused major problems. for example, when Belgium controlled one part of Africa they deemed it unncessary to have much if any higher education, so there are very few universities, and thus people's education plateaus.
Re:Brain drain, ver 0.1 (Score:5, Interesting)
Despite how people play the "brain drain" story, how many people in any country even feel that the job they're doing REALLY benefits their country directly? Sure you may feel you're benefiting your company/boss, but your contribution feels so diluted by the time it reaches the country level it doesn't even matter.
One can talk about "some kind of loyalty to the country" but calling that into question based on taking a overseas job because you want better pay to help support yourself and your family is utterly unfair. We all want to see our country do well, but sometimes you can help more by becoming an export that keeps paying the country back. If you want to use nonsense metrics to compare ones sense of civic duty, why don't you compare voter turnout: US voter turnout in 2004 was 56%, compared to South Africa at 77%.
(I am South African, I have worked in the UK, I am now living back in South Africa and did bring money back.)
Re:Brain drain, ver 0.1 (Score:4, Interesting)
Re:Africa and its genetic diversity (Score:1, Interesting)
I sense a flaw in your reasoning. Just because there is more genetic diversity in one population than another does not mean that there will be a greater prevalence of a certain trait in the more heterogeneous population. Indeed, by definition, the homogeneous population will posses certain traits in greater abundance. It is just a question of what. As an example, chimps [findarticles.com] have more genetic diversity than humans, yet you wouldn't expect them to harbor a higher proportion of geniuses.
Re:Brain drain, ver 0.1 (Score:5, Interesting)
Re:Brain drain, ver 0.1 (Score:3, Interesting)
Re:Einstein is over-rated (Score:4, Interesting)
Put any kid of any race (say, your kid) in a third world country with little food, no medical care, and have unlearned people raise him, and don't send him to school, and he'll be just like the native Africans.
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Absolutely true. As an example, look at the Kalash tribal people of Pakistan. They're basically white-caucasian (descended from Greeks), but they are among the poorest ethnic groups in the region.