Re:Just 11% of 53 cancer research papers were reproducible
by jerf on Thursday May 09, 2013 @09:29AM
(#5680306)
Why do the research in the first place if the only outcome is a number, floating in space, disconnected from anything and unreproducible?
You're still sort of operating on the idea that the unreproducible papers have some sort of abstract value to them, and therefore we shouldn't slow the flow of them lest we ruin their value. But they don't. They're worthless. They're worse than worthless. They're of negative value. It would be far better to slow down and verify that what we think we know is actually true, because in the end that would actually both faster and a more efficient use of resources. Basically, instead of learning worse than nothing (thinking we know something but actually being wrong), we'd learn something. That's a pretty decent upgrade.
You're still sort of operating on the idea that the unreproducible papers have some sort of abstract value to them, and therefore we shouldn't slow the flow of them lest we ruin their value. But they don't. They're worthless. They're worse than worthless. They're of negative value. It would be far better to slow down and verify that what we think we know is actually true, because in the end that would actually both faster and a more efficient use of resources. Basically, instead of learning worse than nothing (thinking we know something but actually being wrong), we'd learn something. That's a pretty decent upgrade.