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My biology paper in Science

scottaaronson.com

1–10 of 17 posts

Re: My biology paper in Science

#3
post #2

If papers themselves were written like that, "science" would be so much more approachable!

Unfortunately this is hard to do because (a) insufficient time (b) insufficient number of Scott Aaronsons. I struggle to think of anyone else who can write about science in such an accessible way (without convenient misconceptions and falsehoods).

Re: My biology paper in Science

#5
That's nice!

Turns out, biologists (many kinds of scientists probably) are in need of computer modelling, information retrieval and so on. Naturally it gives opportunity to us IT folks, even without terribly much scientific background.

I've co-authored a biology paper too. Here is the resulting code: https://github.com/alamar/microbe

Re: My biology paper in Science

#6
post #4
post #2

If papers themselves were written like that, "science" would be so much more approachable!

tbh, I found this much more confusing to read than normal biology papers.

I would take a guess that anc84 is accustomed to CS, and James001 is accustomed to bio. "Papers" in each of these fields are entirely different animals, and require a different mental skillset to quickly grok.

Re: My biology paper in Science

#7
post #2

If papers themselves were written like that, "science" would be so much more approachable!

This is written for random internet people. Science papers are written for other scientists working in that particular niche. They are not trying to be approachable to the general public.

Re: My biology paper in Science

#10
post #2

If papers themselves were written like that, "science" would be so much more approachable!

Unfortunately this is hard to do because (a) insufficient time (b) insufficient number of Scott Aaronsons. I struggle to think of anyone else who can write about science in such an accessible way (without convenient misconceptions and falsehoods).

Not sure that's true... It takes a lot of effort to translate text into concise science speak ("I'd have written a shorter letter if only I had more time").

This would have a huge added benefit of making per review easier, making science more approachable, and making it all less pedantic.

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