What matters is not who

dpr — Fri, 30 May 2008 02:46:04 +0000

One of my grad students (whom I won’t embarrass here) just introduced me to a new UROP student as a fount of Internet know-how by saying that I “invented UDP”. This just seemed odd to me. Perhaps because our culture is so oddly focused on “who” and ignoring the more important “what”. People Magazine is far more appreciated

So I wrote an email back explaining what I thought matters contributions from many groups and a few individuals, all if he could publish it, and upon reflection I decided I should post the note in a place where he could refer to it, but I could ensure its integrity and currency.

The broader point is that what I really care about are the contributions I’ve managed to make to the world – the “what”. I’m not all that humble, but I’d be happy if the ideas I’ve struggled to develop contribute to improving man’s understanding of man and his world. That would be enough. Dayenu (as they say in Hebrew).