[tjallingt]

I found this online: https://royalsociety.org/~/media/policy/projects/eu-uk-fundi... Seemingly this is a pretty unbiased source (but who knows nowadays).

In that document it states that most of EU's research funding for the UK ends up going to higher education, and it accounts for 9.7% of their total budget. This doesn't sound like much but it's a considerable amount of money and it isn't spread equally over all areas of research.

Of course there is also pan-European research in/from the UK which will be hit by far the hardest (and one could argue is among some of the more important research).

So depending on their area of research your PhD student/professor connections might have a good reason to be upset.

Of course it is bad for anyone to take out their feelings on other people by making up stories/insulting them. But then again I question what your own motives are in posting this comment online. Especially considering that there are plenty of people who seem to have the opposite experience.

With your last sentence i wholeheartedly agree (as sad as it makes me). These days it seems that most people aren't even aware that they place themselves in a position where no one disagrees with them (see Facebook).

[Normal_gaussian]

My motivations are mainly a frustration over the lack of useful discussion and the propensity of people to lock themselves into certain discussional tropes. I'm also massively conflicted over the kinds of people I want to br working amongst; whilst Academics tend towards the childish the business class tends towards the immoral.

I'm actually surprised that its as low as 9.7%, though of course that is direct funding and won't account for losses from businesses and who move (large banks bankroll the local Uni) or reduce spending.

What is notable in the funding is a decidedly different attitude to dealing with the problem, though this may simply be that researchers can't do much to affect funding wheras business iwners can.

As for echo chambers specifically - it can be heart-wrenching to be amongst several groups. The previous Scottish referendum caused significant damage to my family relationships, and the brexit is doing the same to my friends. There are few people willing to consider they don't and can't know all the facts.