Ulric Lyons,
Maybe things have changed, but University and other publicly funded libraries used to purchase research materials – papers, books, and so on. This meant that the taxpayer paid over and over, because they funded the researchers in the first place, then had to pay for the results to be published, and again to be able to read the results.
With the enormous growth in the research industry, everybody wants a share of the pie, or more properly wants a place at the trough big enough for their snout. Data supposedly becomes valuable, even if you didn’t originate it. Intellectual property becomes precious, even though nobody is prepared to pay for it. A fiercely protective dog in the manger attitude develops, where the researcher steadfastly refuses to allow access to data they may well have purloined along the way, on the basis that it is extremely valuable, or they are concerned that it may be re tortured to the detriment of the holder.
It is likely that the vast majority of so called research is useless, pointless, and undertaken solely to satisfy various egos. Institutions apparently value their scientific stature by the amount of money they spend on research. Donors no doubt bask in the warm glow of sums being spent on politically correct research, without any thought of checking to see whether the output was worthwhile.
Peer review is probably useless. New ideas, by definition, have not been thought of previously. Who is competent to review the fresh thoughts of the towering intellect? What if that intellect gets one new thing right, but another new thing wrong? Look at some of the rubbish published, and subsequently retracted. Then look at some Nobel Prize winners (Michael Mann excluded, of course), who were derided by their peers for their supposed lunatic ideas.
History shows that on occasion, breakthrough work is overlooked, or forgotten, for decades or even centuries. Gregor Mendel springs to mind. Throwing ever increasing amounts of money at the research industry doesn’t appear to help to generate progress. Luck, serendipity, and human observation and synthesis of things plainly obvious to all, cannot be purchased or legislated for. Gravity existed for everyone – not just for Newton.
Newton’s Laws of Motion work quite well without knowledge of Newton, but we can do lots of things much better, because of his insights.
I have seen no research to indicate that intelligence of researchers can be increased by payment of large grants, or that the application of money guarantees innovation. It would seem that almost the contrary applies, as vested interest in maintaining the status quo tends to suppress the expression of new, and possibly contrary, ideas.
Unfortunately, I had the solutions to all this written down in Mike Flynn’s Little Book of Answers, which I seem to have misplaced. Maybe it’s next to the Unobtanium. I’ll look tomorrow.
Live well and prosper,
Mike Flynn.
