Re:We don't know how to fix science (2021)
by mike_hearn on Wednesday July 27, 2022 @04:54AM
(#32248269)
The main issue with the people-not-projects idea is a transition problem. New systems are desired because the current system isn't working well enough. How do you identify the superstars? By relying on metrics created by the current system.
In particular, any system that identifies superstars would probably have identified Lesné, the guy who seems to have been forging Alzheimer's research. He had already obtained huge and lavish grants for his lab on the back of this work. Winner-takes-all is a system that would throw accelerants on the fire of fraud, as presumably once a scientist has managed to get a blank cheque cut, nobody is incentivized to scrutinize how that money is being spent too closely. They're a superstar, after all.
In particular, any system that identifies superstars would probably have identified Lesné, the guy who seems to have been forging Alzheimer's research. He had already obtained huge and lavish grants for his lab on the back of this work. Winner-takes-all is a system that would throw accelerants on the fire of fraud, as presumably once a scientist has managed to get a blank cheque cut, nobody is incentivized to scrutinize how that money is being spent too closely. They're a superstar, after all.