> They just care more about their career.

It's not even that.

In most fields, you need lab space and equipment and grad students to get stuff done. And to pay for that, you need funding. And to get funding, you need to publish and apply for grants.

You have to pay attention to the "career" side of things -- otherwise, you won't get to do the science at all.

That’s exactly the rationale the corrupt senator uses to justify his actions in Mr. Smith Goes to Washington.

And yet it rings true. Sure, if everyone was a Mr. Smith it would be fine. But with poor incentive structures, people are collectively going to do what they have to do.

The same applies to police who aren't actively corrupt, but don't combat the corruption around them. The ones who do fight corruption end up fired 'with cause' at best, or forcibly committed to mental institution or killed at worst.

Used in the movie Wall Street to justify insider trading too:

Bud: Lou, I got a sure thing. Anacott Steel.

Lou: No such thing, except death and taxes. Not a good company any more. No fundamentals. What's goin' on, Bud? You know something? Remember, there are no short cuts, son. Quick-buck artists come and go with every bull market. The steady players make it through the bear markets. You're a part of something here, Bud. The money you make for people creates science and research jobs. Don't sell that out.

Bud: You're right, but you gotta get to the big time first, then you can do good things.

Lou: You can't get a little bit pregnant, son.

Bud: Lou, trust me. lt's a winner. Buy it.

Citizen science may be a direct response to these circumstances. When you think about it, it's basically just people who love science but _don't_ depend on it for income.

I have also talked to many researchers and professors about this, but to me it just seems to come down to survivorship bias. We all observe a lot of scientists who care a lot about their careers because the ones who don't focus as much on advancing their careers are no longer around. I've commented to many people at my own place of work about how I dislike the up-or-out nature of current research practices, because it incentives people to play it safe and focus on incremental ideas that get results by the end of the current funding cycle. But as other people are saying here, we need to change the incentives to reduce these kinds of behaviors. Form follows finances.