Yeah, when it comes to these two guys, who knows? But I've kept hearing about systemic issues about how science is funded and the pressures that puts on researchers and how that effects what science gets done. And I guess thats a hopeful thing, at least- I've kept hearing about it. People are talking about it. Hopefully this leads to change. Your theory about otherizing is interesting; I've always assumed that the preference for older researchers primarily comes from the fact that older researchers, by dint of having been around longer, have longer track records that can justify getting funding. On the other hand, people do tend to otherize like crazy- do you think there might be a possibility of removing some of its influence in the grant evaluation process? Obviously there can't be complete blindness (I'm thinking of orchestra auditions that take place behind a screen)- for one thing, experience at writing grants will show through- but is there any place in the process that could be more blind?