Calidad de vida

Que vaya por delante que a pesar de llevar más de un cuarto de siglo fuera, soy y seré español, y escribo estas líneas más por frustración que por irritar a nadie (y recuerden, por favor, el título del blog). El caso es que más de una y más de doce veces, hablando con amigos compatriotas que siguen viviendo en esa nuestra patria trágica, sale el tema de la calidad de vida, y, más por evitar discusiones que por otra cosa, me suelo callar. Pero, teniendo ya unos años, un abanico de experiencias internacionales, y unos ciertos conocimientos de psicología, he llegado a la conclusión de que en muchas ocasiones la actitud de “en España se vive mejor” no es más que un autoengaño. Y si fuese solo eso, pues que cada cual se cuente a sí mismo las historias que le hagan la vida más cómoda. Faltaría más. Pero a menudo este tipo de sesgos llevan a la complacencia, a la resignación, y a la inercia, y se convierten en actitudes perniciosas que ponen piedras en el camino de las posibilidades de mejora de nuestro país.

Elegance and a (simple) math problem

This is a rant. Remember the title of the blog. You have been warned.

It has always slightly bothered me how sometimes simple arguments are made unnecessarily complicated. Sometimes people do this on purpose, to make themselves look smart. More often, people do this inadvertently, by assuming that, once they have understood something, their way is the only way. This is why, in maths, there is a difference between a proof and an elegant proof, and looking for simpler ways to prove known results is part of the job. Other disciplines (which shall remain unnamed but most readers can easily figure out) could learn a thing or two from that.

Rejected due to lack of reviewers

Today, for the first time since I became Editor of the Journal of Economic Psychology, I rejected a paper due to lack of reviewers.

This was a very sad thing to do. I saw promise in the paper (which was actually a Brief Report) and thought it would be interesting, but of course that is not how peer reviewing works. Without the support and review of peers, a paper cannot be evaluated. If a large number of natural reviewer candidates decline, at some point I cannot keep the authors waiting, and I have to take the hint that there is insufficient interest on the paper.

Sadly, this will most likely happen more and more in the future. And it might happen to any of us.

Musings on the German Universities’ “Chair System”

As a tenured full professor in Germany, for the last twelve years (and change) I have also been a “Chair holder” in the famous and infamous “Chair system” of German universities, where the power rests on the Chairs and not on the departments. That is, even if there is a Department of X, the actual administrative unit is the “Chair” (somehow, I feel that I have to capitalize that), where a single full professor has near-absolute power over a few assistants, a part-time secretary, and a modest research budget. The “Department” is then just a loose coalition of Chairs, which sometimes cooperate with each other. The most-prominent alternative is the actual department structure, where professors are colleagues within a larger unit, with hiring committees, common budgets, organized supervision of Ph.D. students, and front offices with shared administrative personnel.

Giving up the Chair’s Secretary

Note: I am in the process of leaving the German University system. This is the first of a series of posts recapitulating on the experience, in no particular order, to be written as the mood strikes and the opportunity arises.

A German university (full) professor and chair holder is typically endowed with his own secretary. Since I became a chair holder in Germany over twelve years ago (I am about to leave the system right now), I’ve had one, or rather a succession thereof. But, when the last one resigned, I gave up the position, and I have been without ever since. And, I have to say, this was an improvement for my research group.

Valencià o català?

Visc a l’estranger des de fa ja vora a vint anys, eixí que resulta inevitable que el meu bagatge intel·lectual i cultural haja derivat i es produïsquen, de tant en tant, xicotets (i no tan xicotets) episodis d’incomprensió mútua amb els meus compatriotes. I amb els ànims políticament calents que es viuen aquests dies a Espanya, el tema de la llengua genera molts d’eixos episodis.

Per aclarir les coses. Sóc valencià i em considere bilingüe, encara parle espanyol amb fluïdesa (tot i que no l’utilitze diàriament ni de lluny), però mai se m’ocorreria parlar amb els meus pares en cap altra llengua que el valencià.

I ja l’hem embolicat, acabe de dir-li “valencià”. Arribem al malentés.

Popular Science Books: Three Tests

Popular science books and books on research can be very useful. The general public cannot be expected to read research articles (regrettably), so such books are excellent places to look for knowledge. Reading a good popular science book can be like being told about a hundred research articles (which you do not have the time or inclination to read yourself). Ph.D. students and starting researchers can very efficiently get up-to-date on a topic. And even experienced researchers of a closely related field stand a lot to gain from reading a competently executed summary of a research area. I have read a few dozens of those, and even when I thought I was close to being an expert on the topic, I still learned something useful. My library includes popular (social) science books on anything from the madness/wisdom of crowds to persuasion, willpower, and habits. But you have to be careful, because there are many bad popular science books out there.

Pflichtlektüre

Aus gegebenem Anlass möchte ich die Lektüre folgenden Buches empfehlen. Michael Schmidt-Salomon, bekannter Religionskritiker, hat sich hier vorgenommen, die herrschende Schwarmdummheit zu analysieren. Gelungenerweise erklärt er, wie (an das Dilbert Principle erinnernd) sonst vernünftige Menschen offensichtlichen Dummheiten folgen können. Somit werden sie zu (so der Autor) Religioten, Ökonomioten, Ökologioten, und Politioten. Dagegen hilft nur eine Bildung, die ihren Namen auch verdient. Leider sieht es derzeit nicht so aus, wenn man sich die Studienordnungen an deutschen Unis und Gymnasien anschaut, als wäre dies in Sicht.

Some astonishing German words

After almost 20 years in the German-speaking world, I am still amazed by the German language. As many expats living in Germany, I sympathize with Mark Twain’s impressions and fully support his recommendations, as getting rid of the useless Dative or moving the verb forward in the sentence (here is an updated critique). But what really gets me is word pronunciation. In the German language, one is expected to pronounce incredibly long strings of consonants in the middle of perfectly normal, daily-use words. For instance,

Dieser Eintrag wurde gelöscht

Es gab hier mal einen Eintrag über studentische Empörungswellen, Mathe-Angst, und den Anschein der Ausländerfeindlichkeit. Ich wurde “von oben” darum gebeten, diesen Eintrag zu löschen. Er wurde also gelöscht, denn so wichtig ist es mir nicht (mehr). Meine Meinung ist und bleibt meine Meinung, jedoch ist sie in dieser Angelegenheit hier nicht mehr zu lesen, denn es könnte eine Empörungswelle geben. Für alle die es verstehen: dem Anschein nach, N=4.