Re:Can The Human Brain Project be saved, and should it be?
by ploxiln on Monday February 16, 2015 @11:45AM
(#9057690)
That sort of thing really doesn't affect nearly everybody. But those people which it doesn't affect, leave the project, or are pushed out. So it's a self-selecting/reinforcing thing, which is what makes it problematic, I think.
I've seen a good number of boondoggles. At the center of each was a personality of such magnetism that people simply fell in line behind them. There are people who have the ability to spout utter nonsense, but to do so with such alpha authority that nearly everyone in the room just glazes over and nods. Whatever it is that our brains take as a signal of alpha status, these people know how to crank it to 11.
When are people going to learn that primate dominance gestures are not a reliable proxy for much else?
I will say that when actual merit and this level of dominance actually align in the same individual, amazing things can happen. But I see no sign that this is more common than would be predicted by the random assortment of traits.