I can only say that this direclty matches the experience of my two college graduates.

First kid gradudated end of 2023, and I played an active role in helping him finding jobs to apply for. Applied to easily 200+ roles. Many of them seemed like spam or junk listings that fullfilled some regulatory obligation. It wasn't that the kid got back a no thanks, just silence. He eventually did find a job, but it was almost a bit of dumb luck that something came together. CS degree for those curious.

Second kid graduated May 2025. Same boat. We apply to everything that is a match or is even a bit of a reach, because why not. The reply rate is terrible. It's not a no. Just silence. He did score a virtual interview. But so far, no answer there either. Nuclear Engineering degree with this one. So more specialized, but fewer graduates... so... maybe easier than CS these days? I dunno. Makes me nervous for those who are further away from these STEM fields.

Kid #3 is still working their way through the system. We shall see how this plays out.

I’ve worked with a bunch of Nuke Es. Smart, interesting people with strong technical skills. They’re not working in the field though. If you really want to be around nuclear reactors, you’re much more likely to get there if you join the navy.

Nuclear engineers don't work around nuclear reactors, they work in offices.

I'm old. I instantly recognized your username.

I’m getting there, but I was trapped in a movie that wouldn’t be made for another five years… https://clip.cafe/the-secret-of-my-success-1987/why-are-wear...

I think your argument hinges on the implied idea that whoever makes up these entities (the FDA or otherwise) are intrinsically made of finer clay that the rest of us mere mortals.

For the avoidance of doubt, I'm not implying anything; I'm categorically stating it: experts are better than the hoi poloi. Always.

To continue my example of thalidomide, the FDA's Dr. Frances Oldham Kelsey prevented millions of American babies from being born with devastating deformities.

At the same time millions of American mothers and their GP's were clamoring for the anti-nausea drug that the British mother's were enjoying. And they too said the FDA was getting in their way.

Experts aren't "made of finer clay" : they just know a lot more than the populace about specific topics. There are other topics where I am the finer clay. See 'specialisation'.

I hear ya. I suppose the equivalent would be - last time the Chicago Cubs won the world series.

Griping a bit, I know, but we, Europeans, always see these questions in various trivia games.

It's not our fault that you don't pay attention to something called the World Series. It's also not our fault you don't have teams good enough to qualify. It's not the called the American Series where you'd be expected to ignore it. /s

I've always laughed at these types of names. The Miss Universe pageant has always made wonder what Miss Andromeda would be like, and if her answers would also talk about whirled peas too.

No. Lower energy costs saves lives. Energy is the life blood of civilization.

Do you say that because you think the majority of HN readers are sympathetic to the Trump administration? Or do you say that because you think those with the power to flag this kind of submission are secret MAGA hat wearing loyalists? Or is there something else you see that makes you see it this way?

I ask these questions because in my experience here in HN and in most other related tech forums, the participants and those with the unlucky job of being a mod are usually not in tune with Team Trump.

There is a huge number of posts specifically over the past month that are both tech related and extremely political. The critical ones of the admin get flagged, seemingly without fail.

"We can't talk about that"

I'd be curious if you have numbers to support this.

I have my anecdotal evidence and the number of comments in my post history that are discussing this, a long with the same comments from others.

It's fucking annoying, and arguably unethical and dishonest.

On OpenVMS, DCL (the shell and main scripting language of choice) had this as an exit code.

$ exit 2928 %SYSTEM-W-FISH, my hovercraft is full of eels

I got lucky - I got the Hagia Sophia twice.

I think this is a misunderstanding of the underlying issue.

It isn't about protection from straying from some level of orthodoxy. It's about people who are incredibly brilliant in one area of their life - and yet be incredibly dumb in another. I've always seen Linus Pauling as an interesting example of this. Brilliant in some ways, but going all in on Vitamin C is just weird.

I see the basic claim as - sometimes these prizes - well intentioned as they are - may lift critical guard rails that unintentionally let them drive off into their weeds. They go deeper and harder into the weeds because the prestige that comes with these prizes creates a halo effect that blunts or hides critical criticism that can no longer reach them.

_Rollerball_ a movie from 1975 (not the 2002 remake) is an interesting take on this. A futuristic society that promotes an increasingly violent game to entertain and misdirect the masses.