They point to the past decade’s massive investments in cognitive neuroscience as a potential bubble
Fashions in research funding, reward structures in universities and streamlining of scientific agendas undermine traditional academic norms and may result in science bubbles. Research from the University of Copenhagen, which has just been published in the journal Philosophy and Technology, shows how the mechanisms that set off the financial crisis might be replicating in the field of science.
“In finance, the first condition for a bubble occurs when too much liquidity is concentrated on too few assets. The second is the presence of speculators. In science, similarly, if too much research funding is focused on too few research topics, and all researchers speculate in the same fashionable scientific templates to attract funding, a potential science bubble may be forming,” explains professor of Formal Philosophy Vincent F. Hendricks from University of Copenhagen.
In the article “Science Bubbles” just published in Philosophy and Technology, professor Vincent F. Hendricks and postdoc David Budtz Pedersen trace the mechanisms that can result in science bubbles. They point to the past decade’s massive investments in cognitive neuroscience as a potential bubble – culminating with President Obama’s recent endorsement of the one billion dollar Brain Activity Map Project and the European Commission’s 500 million euro Human Brain Project.
“These investments have been preceded by a dramatic rise in fields that attach ‘neuro’ to some human behaviour or trait with promises that the techniques of neuroscience will explain it – and into game-changing explanations of the human mind,” Budtz Pedersen says and adds that studies have shown that peer reviewers and lay citizens are more likely to find explanations of e.g. psychological phenomena more convincing when they contain neuroscientific information, even when it is not relevant to the explanation.
Incentive structures pull researchers in the same direction
Budtz Pedersen and Hendricks show how the ‘breakthroughs’ and’ turning points’ promised by many neuroscience projects – when combined with the fact that recent studies indicate a number of neuroscience publications seem to lack the statistical power to back their findings – have the potential to become a fully-fledged science bubble. In other words: the value of the neuroscientific promises and the investments made in them may turn out to bear no relation to the actual value of the scientific results.
A central cause of this is, according to Budtz Pedersen and Hendricks, the institutional design and incentive structures within science funding and research management, where traditional scientific incentives such as academic capital and reputation are being replaced by monetary incentives and competition.
“Numerous international studies of research management document how many Western universities have set up financial incentives and reward systems to encourage researchers to publish in high-impact journals on popular topics that generate research funding. This means that researchers often will have very little interest in spending time on problems that break away from mainstream or do not lead to publishable results, and they will tend to they dress their research claims up in ways that appeal to policy makers and external evaluators,” Professor Hendricks points out.
Scientific lemmings
The Latest Google Headlines on:
World Wide Web
[google_news title=”” keyword=”World Wide Web” num_posts=”10″ blurb_length=”0″ show_thumb=”left”]
The Latest Bing News on:
World Wide Web
- Raghouse Re-Clothes the World With Used Clothingon May 9, 2024 at 1:15 am
With recent years showing an increase in thrifting popularity, the used clothing industry is now outperforming today's retailers, and there is no secret why. Individuals ready to let their ...
- Imperva Report Claims That 50% Of The World Wide Web Is Now Botson May 7, 2024 at 4:00 am
Automation has been a part of the Internet since long before the appearance of the World Wide Web and the first web browsers, but it’s become a significantly larger part of total traffic the ...
- World Wide Web of Inequality: New Study Reveals the Most and Least Affordable Countries for Mobile and Broadband Dataon May 6, 2024 at 3:00 pm
From Italy's affordable rates to Africa's challenges, disparities in broadband costs persist, affecting accessibility and economic development.
- Unlocking the World Wide Web: Surfshark’s Journey to Secure and Accessible Interneton April 29, 2024 at 10:32 pm
In today’s digital age, where online privacy and accessibility are becoming increasingly important, virtual private networks (VPNs) have emerged as essential tools. Among the sea of VPN providers, ...
- Do you love to read but the world wide web has turned your brain into fluff? First Dog on the Moon is here to helpon April 26, 2024 at 12:19 am
Why not become a smug reader of actual books once more? Use these handy hints Sign up here to get an email whenever First Dog cartoons are published Get all your needs met at the First Dog shop if ...
- World Wide Web of Spiderson April 15, 2024 at 5:00 pm
The Church publishes the Monitor because it sees good journalism as vital to progress in the world. Since 1908, we’ve aimed “to injure no man, but to bless all mankind,” as our founder ...
- Looking back at the chip that changed how we accessed the World Wide Web, 30 years onon March 31, 2024 at 9:05 am
It's a far cry from the buttery smooth connections we have grown used to today – but indeed our our first interfacing with the World Wide Web was through a dial-up connection that boasted ...
- The Internet gives rise to the World Wide Webon November 27, 2023 at 12:32 pm
Over the next year or two, the proposal was circulated and revised, resulting in an initial program being developed that was dubbed the World Wide Web. At least one expert has called the Web a ...
- What is the world wide web?on September 2, 2014 at 5:20 pm
Many people think that the internet and the world wide web are the same thing. While they are closely linked, they are very different things. PRESENTER: Often when you visit a website, the website ...
- The World Wide Web turns 25: Key milestones in internet historyon March 12, 2014 at 8:03 pm
Tim Berners-Lee put forward a proposal for the concept that would become the world wide web we now use every day. Steve Parsons/PA Archive Trying to sum up the global impact of the internet is almost ...
The Latest Google Headlines on:
Contract for the Web
[google_news title=”” keyword=”Contract for the Web” num_posts=”10″ blurb_length=”0″ show_thumb=”left”]
The Latest Bing News on:
Contract for the Web
- Ablakwa shares more documents of sole-sourced contracts to ‘The Bawumia Brothers’on May 13, 2024 at 8:50 am
The Member of Parliament (MP) for North Tongu, Samuel Okudzeto Ablakwa, has shared documents of more single-sourced road contracts offered to Resources Access Limited, a company allegedly owned by the ...
- DCMA Unveils Contract Administration Management System for Report Deliveryon May 9, 2024 at 4:02 pm
The Contractor Effectiveness Capability and Chief Digital and Artificial Intelligence Office made up the CAMS team that developed the new tool for on-time delivery report in collaboration with ...
- AGS Enters Into Definitive Agreement To Be Acquired By Brightstar Capital Partners for Approximately $1.1 Billionon May 9, 2024 at 7:29 am
PlayAGS, Incorporated (NYSE: AGS) (“AGS” or the “Company”), a global gaming supplier of high-performing slot, table, and interactive products, today announced that it has signed a definitive agreement ...
- BC Institute for Scientific Research awarded $5.3M contracton May 3, 2024 at 5:01 pm
The United States Air Force has awarded a $5.3 million contract to Boston College’s Institute for Scientific Research to study the chemistry and physics of the space environment, according to ISR ...
- Hennepin Co. contract with D.C. lawyers for Londregan prosecution could cost up to $1Mon May 3, 2024 at 2:42 pm
The Hennepin County Attorney's office has entered into a contract with a Washington D.C.-based law firm amid an internal shakeup to prosecute Ryan Londregan, who shot and killed Ricky Cobb II on an ...
- Intrepid Secures $446M Army Contract for Enterprise Business System Supporton May 1, 2024 at 2:46 am
Intrepid has received a potential five-year, $445.8 million contract from the U.S. Army to provide support services for the General Fund Enterprise Business System.
- Nexon Signs Global Publishing Agreement for Project Ton April 30, 2024 at 3:46 pm
NEXON announced that its subsidiary, Nexon Korea Corporation, signed a global publishing agreement with GRAYGAMES Inc. to launch a new MMORPG, Project T for PC and mobile. Developed by GRAYGAMES, ...
- Nexon Signs Global Publishing Agreement For Project T, The MMORPG Based On Korean Web Novel Overgearedon April 30, 2024 at 11:52 am
Nexon announced a global publishing deal with developer Graygames for Project T, a new MMORPG based on the Korean web novel and webtoon Overgeared. For those unfamiliar, Overgeared focuses on the ...
- AI Safety for Smart Contracts Is AI Safety for the Worldon April 23, 2024 at 10:04 am
Web3 and blockchain technology go far beyond Bitcoin and NFTs. As businesses become more aware of Web3’s possibilities, one feature will play an important role: smart contracts. Smart contracts ...
- Carbon Contracts for Difference: The Netherlandson February 12, 2023 at 8:25 am
Contracts for Difference (CfDs) and Carbon Contracts for Difference (CCfDs) are being explored in several countries as policy instruments to support the adoption of low-carbon solutions.