[nicolasehrhardt]

"We certainly do not claim that publication record is the best measure, or a complete measure. However, it is the record that everyone sees and compares in CV, for jobs, grants, reports, etc." > That always makes me really sad.

[seanmcdirmid]

Signals are hard to come by in acedemic CS.

[javert]

There are no signals of value under socialism. It's a well-known problem in economics.

Yes, academic CS is socialism---I am a CS grad student, I know. CS academics are just sucking the public teets instead of trading value for value.

[Tloewald]

Sounds like as a CS person you've peripherally processed politic science and come up with binary answers to complex ill-posed questions. Academia is not socialism and even communism is not completely lacking in value signals (otherwise it wouldn't be able to deliver excellent medical care, for example).

If you're so convinced academia has no value signals it seems rather foolish (or at minimum hypocritical) of you to pursue academic credentials.

[seanmcdirmid]

Just to be clear, just because something isn't optimal doesn't mean its not worth being a part of. You can be critical and not leave at the same time. Actually, the ones who stay are the critical ones who have hopes (founded or not) that the system can improve.

[Tloewald]

Having no value signals is a lot worse than being sub-optimal. Everything is sub-optimal.

[seanmcdirmid]

I'm an ex-CS grad student; they even gave me a piece of paper called a PhD for my trouble.

Academics isn't socialism. There is definitely an aristocracy in there and whether your work is accepted (not just published, but appreciated) or not depends on how you fit into that. The aristocracy serves on grant and program committees; yes they direct money from the state, but that is where the socialism ends and the rat race begins.

You'll learn that eventually :)