Dan Goodman
"If you want to minimize the possibility of unexpected breakthroughs, tell [scientists] they will receive no resources at all unless they spend the bulk of their time competing against each other to convince you they already know what they are going to discover." - David Graeber, The Utopia of Rules.
Mar 15, 2024 at 10:05pmWeb
Show threadPhDog 🇮🇪Mar 16, 2024

@neuralreckoning

Damn does that hit close to home. We literally spend most of our research money putting together demos for the next round of proposals...

Show threadDan GoodmanMar 16, 2024
@dogfox yeah it's brutal!
Show threadjonny (good kind)Mar 16, 2024
@neuralreckoning
I knew you would love this book
Show threadDan GoodmanMar 16, 2024
@jonny get used to seeing a lot of it being quoted by me in your timeline. 😉
Show threadMarcos DioneMar 16, 2024
@jonny @neuralreckoning I would say anything Graeber is great. So sad he passed away not so long ago.
Show threadAntonio Páez 🇲🇽🇨🇦Mar 16, 2024

@neuralreckoning @djvanness

In Canada, NSERC’s “Discovery Grants” would be more appropriately called “Keep Doing What You’ve Been Doing From The Beginning Or We Will Not Give You Money”

Show threadSpencer LaVere SmithMar 16, 2024
@neuralreckoning I love this. I also welcome ideas about better strategies for distributing limited resources to scientists. More shared resources would be a start.
Show threadMartin DreslerMar 17, 2024

@sls @neuralreckoning

Here's a suggestion:

https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10.1111/ejn.15818

Show threadSimon TournierMar 18, 2024

@neuralreckoning This minimization looks like a part of a complete "technology system" as defined by Ellul's book https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Technological_Society

It's a paradoxical position: a tool (e.g., proposals) is first designed as a mean to make a situation more efficient, then this tool becomes a complete system that transforms "itself" as inefficient.

The question is thus: how to design a tool that avoids the paradox? Maybe Illich's book sketches ideas https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tools_for_Conviviality

The Technological Society - Wikipedia

Show threadDan GoodmanMar 18, 2024
@zimoun oh interesting. I loved Ellul on propaganda, should read those.