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Terence Tao on the suspension of UCLA grants

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280 points dargscisyhp | 1 comments | 02 Aug 25 06:28 UTC | HN request time: 0s | source
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padjo ◴[02 Aug 25 08:22 UTC] No.44765718[source]▶
It’s pretty clear that the only numbers this administration are interested in are ones that support the narrative that the great leader is infallible.
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exe34 ◴[02 Aug 25 08:33 UTC] No.44765768[source]▶
They just fired the commissioner of Labour Statistics. The great thing about autocrats is that they neuter their own country pretty quickly. When you make it risky for people to give you bad news, you end up with missiles that don't work and capital ships that sink.
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eterm ◴[02 Aug 25 09:31 UTC] No.44766036[source]▶
That may be a comforting thought, but the reality is that it takes decades for these things to have an effect, and there's no guarantee that transitioning to a low trust and high corruption society will result in the removal of the autocrat.

See North Korea or Russia. People have been claiming they're on the verge of collapse for decades but the reality is that they just keep going.

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1. rvba ◴[02 Aug 25 10:31 UTC] No.44766397{3}[source]▶
It does not take decades to ruin something. In the example here: scientists can go somewhere else and never come back. Even if the next administration vhanges course you will never know if there wont be constant flip-flopping. That's bad for business, science and life. People want predictability.