Since my youth, I have enjoyed playing in amateur orchestras. Undoubtedly, a performance by amateurs cannot compete with recordings by renowned professional orchestras. But what motivates the high effort to rehearse pieces which are mostly more or less known in numerous rehearsals? I cannot provide a general answer. However, during the interruption of regular rehearsals … Continue reading The sound of playing together
Article 5, paragraph 3 of our basic law in Germany states: Art and science, research and teaching are free. Freedom of teaching does not absolve faithfulness from the Constitution. It contradicts my understanding of democracy that the vast majority of lecturers and researchers cannot work freely in this field due to fixed-term employment contracts. In … Continue reading More freedom for teaching and research
The wealth of individuals that can be measured by money is distributed very differently. There are incomprehensible single fortunes. As these very large, hyper-solvent, and few single fortunes exert a strong controlling force, I see a need for a democratic state to counteract this financial imbalance. A democracy is based on equal rights and has … Continue reading Utilize our wealth together
It is difficult for scientists in Germany to continue working in academia long-term after completing a doctorate. They have to compete with each other for a small number of permanent positions. As an alternative, why not place the narrow bottleneck for long-term perspectives in research directly after the doctorate? On a fallow land, near the … Continue reading Perspective academia
Around a quarter of a million people went onto the streets in Germany in September 2016 to demonstrate against free trade agreements. Several national newspapers reported on this with headlines such as “Tens of thousands protest against TTIP and CETA” and then focused to a large extent on the question of who had estimated how … Continue reading Free trade
This post is only available in German. Krähen segeln im Sonnenuntergang an den Twin Peaks in San Francisco im Wind, im Jahr 2008. Dies beschreibt zwar obiges Bild, ist aber weder relevant, noch aktuell und somit keine Nachricht. Für Nachrichten waren für lange Zeit in Deutschland die klassischen Medienhäuser zuständig. An ein hoch profitables Geschäft … Continue reading Competing of the media for the profit
A whale jumps out of the sea, here off the Valdés peninsula in Argentina. Curious people might ask why whales jump at all. Up to now, science has no clear answer to this. In my understanding, it is the task of science to explain such observations. It is not enough merely to discover such new … Continue reading Competing science
