The mathematics of science’s broken reward system
Science has a lot going wrong with it.<p>Here are some I can list: P-values, the h-index (article discusses), the funding crunches and (US specific) the cyclic nature of NIH funding, the massively skewed incentives of publish or perish, the entire idea of trying to assign value to discoveries (article discusses), the 2-body problem of family life and science (at least the Germans expect you to have no life and are clear on that), the work-life non-balance, the relatively very poor pay, the hyper-competition and sabotage (in some fields, labs, or universities), the total ignorance of doctors&#x2F;politicians that take your work and apply it in appalling ways, the entire racket of scientific publishing, etc.<p>As always, we should point out to newcomers to this discussion of one of the <i>most read scientific paper EVER</i> by John P. Ioannidis &quot;Why Most Published Research Findings Are False&quot; [0]. If you don&#x27;t have access and don&#x27;t want to use  Sci-Hub or ICanHazPDF, here is a youtube of John discussing his work [1]. You can use the google to really jump into a rabbit hole here. Essentially, flip a coin, heads the paper is right, tails the paper is wrong, it really is that bad these days.<p>Ok, so lets just scrap the whole thing then, right?<p>Here is why not:<p><a href="https:&#x2F;&#x2F;www.youtube.com&#x2F;watch?v=_Px5sZyxFYc" rel="nofollow">https:&#x2F;&#x2F;www.youtube.com&#x2F;watch?v=_Px5sZyxFYc</a><p><a href="https:&#x2F;&#x2F;www.youtube.com&#x2F;watch?v=XcPuRaSEq1I" rel="nofollow">https:&#x2F;&#x2F;www.youtube.com&#x2F;watch?v=XcPuRaSEq1I</a><p><a href="https:&#x2F;&#x2F;www.youtube.com&#x2F;watch?v=5EL_bLOK8_A" rel="nofollow">https:&#x2F;&#x2F;www.youtube.com&#x2F;watch?v=5EL_bLOK8_A</a><p><a href="https:&#x2F;&#x2F;www.youtube.com&#x2F;watch?v=qXWYSdijCGU" rel="nofollow">https:&#x2F;&#x2F;www.youtube.com&#x2F;watch?v=qXWYSdijCGU</a><p><a href="https:&#x2F;&#x2F;www.youtube.com&#x2F;watch?v=uBh2LxTW0s0" rel="nofollow">https:&#x2F;&#x2F;www.youtube.com&#x2F;watch?v=uBh2LxTW0s0</a>  (a good showing of why science is right and helps folks)<p><a href="https:&#x2F;&#x2F;www.youtube.com&#x2F;watch?v=gs0JQRT6TpY" rel="nofollow">https:&#x2F;&#x2F;www.youtube.com&#x2F;watch?v=gs0JQRT6TpY</a><p>So, yeah, science is a mess right now. But if we scientists don&#x27;t step up and make it <i>not</i> a mess, those scummy money-grubbing scammer dirtbags and their ilk are more than happy to take up the slack. These fucking asshats are going to <i>kill</i> people like you poor uninformed cousins and their kids and take all their money because they think homeopathy is right and the moon landing was faked.<p>So, you young scientist that looks at this pile of garbage that is modern academia, do not despair! Fight the good fight! Yes, you may end up shirtless and ridiculed by the older scientists. But you <i>have to</i> do what you think is right because the rest of this world is depending upon you! Even for that tiny little bullcrap paper you are getting out just to graduate, that matters too. Be in the mud, be in the arena, fight for truth!<p>[0]<a href="http:&#x2F;&#x2F;journals.plos.org&#x2F;plosmedicine&#x2F;article?id=10.1371&#x2F;journal.pmed.0020124" rel="nofollow">http:&#x2F;&#x2F;journals.plos.org&#x2F;plosmedicine&#x2F;article?id=10.1371&#x2F;jou...</a><p>[1]<a href="https:&#x2F;&#x2F;www.youtube.com&#x2F;watch?v=KOZAV9AvIQE" rel="nofollow">https:&#x2F;&#x2F;www.youtube.com&#x2F;watch?v=KOZAV9AvIQE</a>