How scientists fool themselves and how they can stop
1–10 of 26 posts
Re: How scientists fool themselves and how they can stop
#2I think it's official, we moderns owe an apology to medieval barbers and conjurers.
Re: How scientists fool themselves and how they can stop
#3I think it's official, we moderns owe an apology to medieval barbers and conjurers.
We don't - first we have correcting mechanisms in place. Second - the self deception ability is greater the softer/fuzzier the field is.
Re: How scientists fool themselves and how they can stop
#4It's too bad that there's not a more robust discussion about the institutional incentives that drive scientists to fool themselves.
Re: How scientists fool themselves and how they can stop
#5A scientist's first instinct is "get more funding". This cannot help but bias their conclusions.
Re: How scientists fool themselves and how they can stop
#6A scientist's first instinct is "get more funding". This cannot help but bias their conclusions.
Unnecessarily cynical. Its a problem that science funding makes scientist's careers so precarious, but nobody goes into science for the money.
Re: How scientists fool themselves and how they can stop
#7A scientist's first instinct is "get more funding". This cannot help but bias their conclusions.
Unnecessarily cynical. Its a problem that science funding makes scientist's careers so precarious, but nobody goes into science for the money.
Maybe nobody goes into science for the money, but if you don't focus on the money you won't stay in science very long.
Re: How scientists fool themselves and how they can stop
#8It's too bad that there's not a more robust discussion about the institutional incentives that drive scientists to fool themselves.
Exactly. It is very easy to fool yourself when your entire career is on the line if you don't.
Re: How scientists fool themselves and how they can stop
#9A scientist's first instinct is "get more funding". This cannot help but bias their conclusions.
Do you expect to see any differences in the quality of science of those few scientist who are self-funded?
(I heard a lecture once from a researcher who was on Wall Street, made millions, then switched to femtosecond lasers. He worked out of a university, and funded his own lab. So such people do exist.)
If there are differences, are they measurable?
Re: How scientists fool themselves and how they can stop
#10I think it's official, we moderns owe an apology to medieval barbers and conjurers.
We don't - first we have correcting mechanisms in place. Second - the self deception ability is greater the softer/fuzzier the field is.
Who measures softness/fuzziness of a field? Who makes sure that measurement isn't biased? Just because you use maths doesn't imply your conclusions and theories are as precise and clean cut as 2+2.