Wednesday, July 30, 2008

Good to know how SV feels about scientists

Parliamentary Secretary to the Department of Knowledge (Kunnskapsdepartmentet) Jens Resvold - from the Socialist Party (SV) - has given the following comment about the possibility of forming separate schools for science and technology: "Egne skoler for realfag og teknologi er litt problematisk. Det kan bli litt nerdeskole over det" ("Separate schools for studies of science and technology could be problematic, as they would be nerd academies.").

Way to go, Jens Resvold - not only do you affix the label "nerd" to people who are interested and demonstrate skills within science and technology while being an employee at the Department of Knowledge, which actually amounts to libel, you also provide more nails in the coffin for any hope Norway might have of clawing it's way to a better school and in turn a true science elite within the natural sciences. At least as long as the hammer and sickle wave from the government flag pole.

How does he think that other countries have developed excellent programmes within PAMS? How would institutions like NASA, MIT, CalTech etc. be if the US government didn't applaud scholastic achievements within science and technology?

Just because Resvold wasn't able to count before he was fifteen and never has read any book that wasn't small and red shouldn't preclude other people from acquiring actual knowledge and utilize it in such a way as to contribute to society.

If there's still anyone out there who earnestly believes that SV is a party which supports science and scholastic achievements, I've got a nice piece of land smack dab in the middle of Paris to sell ya real cheap. The only disadvantage is that it comes with this big hunk of metal erected into some sort of misshapen pyramid, but it's nothing you can't demolish once you've procured said property. It's a real steal, I tells ya.

2 comments:

Anders said...

Where did mr. Jens Resvold say that? Not that I necessarily believe in separate schools for science and technology, but that arguement is way out of line. In fact, it's really more an arguement for a technocracy or at least a requirement for a minimum amount of education and passing suitability test before you can become a politican.

Wilhelm said...

Aftenposten a couple of days ago, I believe. Probably other outlets also. He also said that if some students were ahead of schedule, they should help their classmates get to their level rather than be promoted or given extra attention. Way to kill the ambition.

Yet it's ok to have special academies for top athletes.....