The important part of the scientific method isn't necessarily the process of discovery but the idea that something must be demonstrable in a repeatable and verifiable process. This allows us to separate truth from superstition and mysticism.
It is easier to have a successful welfare state in small countries with homogeneous populations, abundant natural resources, and strict immigration policy.
In Iceland children of foreign parents are not automatically citizens just from being born there. As an adult you need several years of residency, you must be reasonably fluent in Icelandic, you need signed letters of reference from former employers, you need to submit tax records, and finally there is a citizenship test.
I know Iceland is low on natural resources but the inexpensive energy is a big help economically.
I don't want to get political here but in the US many people argue simultaneously for expanding the welfare state, restricting the gathering of natural resources, opening the borders, and giving citizenship to all residents.
Years ago I stopped at a small motel in rural Canada. On entering the office there was a sign on the counter saying the owners were away for the weekend. It said to take a key off the board, stay in a room, and leave key with money in a basket on the counter when you left. On leaving the next day I dropped my key and cash into the basket with the others.
In the 20's & 30's a number of companies made all sorts of conversion kits for the Ford A & Ford T. One popular kit converted the car into a farm tractor. The Pullford come to mind, if do a google image search you'll see a bunch of them.
As a former geology professor this seems impossible to me. I can't imagine anything in rocks gathered at the beach which could be chemically reactive under any ordinary circumstance. Elemental phosphorus wouldn't last a minute on a beach before reacting with everything around it.
It does look very cool but I wonder about practical things like what happens to this when it rains? Do all those books get soaking wet? Has the extra weight been calculated into the structural design? Who cleans it up when the books are all sodden?
Do they have a choice, are they getting paid? Yes. It's a job.
Something not mentioned here is that in addition to being able to keep the donations they also receive $20 up front and a minimum of $50 a day for about six hours work. so if they get $2 for every 15 minutes in donations and $50 for six hours that works out to over $16/hr and I bet a lot of them will do much better.
I've done much worse jobs in my youth (slaughter house work) and for a lot less money.
I used to be a professor at a big county funded community college. At the end of every fiscal year there was a massive buying spree to use up the budget. Their budget process was based on the "use it or lose it" model. Under this model he departmental budgets for the next year were based on how much was spent the previous year.
There was also a huge number of 'not-really necessary-to-education' things. The school had a massive gym with all sorts of state-of-the-art fitness equipment; numerous sports teams each with their own coaches, staff, equipment, facilities, and fields; a theater; a full TV studio; radio studio; learning labs; cutting-edge computer labs; CNC machining shops; etc. Most of this the average student never even saw let alone used.
Also I don't know how many office for things like 'cultural outreach', 'community whatever' or 'interdisciplinary something-or-other' were also there. Each with PhD level directors, full staff and facilities. It was never clear to me what most of these did for the average student.
When I left about 20 years ago maybe 25% of the staff was involved with teaching classes.
This is just my opinion as a simple man with a few advanced degrees in physics and engineering.
In Iceland children of foreign parents are not automatically citizens just from being born there. As an adult you need several years of residency, you must be reasonably fluent in Icelandic, you need signed letters of reference from former employers, you need to submit tax records, and finally there is a citizenship test.
I know Iceland is low on natural resources but the inexpensive energy is a big help economically.
I don't want to get political here but in the US many people argue simultaneously for expanding the welfare state, restricting the gathering of natural resources, opening the borders, and giving citizenship to all residents.
Something not mentioned here is that in addition to being able to keep the donations they also receive $20 up front and a minimum of $50 a day for about six hours work. so if they get $2 for every 15 minutes in donations and $50 for six hours that works out to over $16/hr and I bet a lot of them will do much better.
I've done much worse jobs in my youth (slaughter house work) and for a lot less money.
LOL - Sorry, I just can't troll with a straight face.
There was also a huge number of 'not-really necessary-to-education' things. The school had a massive gym with all sorts of state-of-the-art fitness equipment; numerous sports teams each with their own coaches, staff, equipment, facilities, and fields; a theater; a full TV studio; radio studio; learning labs; cutting-edge computer labs; CNC machining shops; etc. Most of this the average student never even saw let alone used.
Also I don't know how many office for things like 'cultural outreach', 'community whatever' or 'interdisciplinary something-or-other' were also there. Each with PhD level directors, full staff and facilities. It was never clear to me what most of these did for the average student.
When I left about 20 years ago maybe 25% of the staff was involved with teaching classes.
This is just my opinion as a simple man with a few advanced degrees in physics and engineering.