cfrye@ciis.mitre.org (Curtis D. Frye) writes:
But the NSA? No way, Jose. They might be nerds who hacked some code at 3 am. But you put them on a salary and benefits in a pyramid, then tell them not to talk about their work, and you thwart whatever creativity they had. The NSA can kill you. But t({they can never out-think you.
Strong words that, IMHO, put way too much faith in the argument that a "restrictive" work environment inevitably crushes individualism and creativity. Any organization, .gov or !.gov, that:
* recruits the best and the brightest and pays them well;
Do you know how much NSA employees get paid? I'm wondering, because it is certainly _not_ the case in the CIA. The "analysts" may make somewhere between the $30K - $45K range, but that's hardly "good pay" for people who are experts on that kind of analysis, especially when they have Ph.D.s.
* gives access to substantial computing/financial resources and academic knowledge; * fosters team-building, creativity, and competition *within the group*; * rewards achievement and provides status *within the group*; and * provides other movitivation, be it patriotism/pride/whatever,
will produce more than its fair share of advances in a field. Given a concentrated environment and an advanced set of tools, it seems improbable that any group, regardless of organizational affiliation, could be outperformed *on an evolutionary basis* by a loose band of academicians and private researchers with irregular contact.
Curtis D. Frye cfrye@ciis.mitre.org "If you think I speak for MITRE, I'll tell you how much they pay me and make you feel foolish."
Please tell me how much MITRE pays you. Is your above description a description of MITRE? Jon Boone | PSC Networking | boone@psc.edu | (412) 268-6959