Researchers, Rituals and the 'Fiefdom of Science' -- Views from the Labs
Where does a $12 billion California research program fit in the hierarchy?
Brandon Ogbunu has a lot to say about talking about science and its importance, including in this video.
“Science is a little like a circus, and much more like a fiefdom, where rituals, power, and hierarchy dictate the way things are done,”
“And like fiefdoms, science has an aversion to risk, a lack of creativity, an inability to experiment.”
So says one scientist, Brandon Ogbunu, associate professor of ecology and evolutionary biology at Yale University and professor at the Santa Fe Institute. He made his comments in what was described as a “lively debate” by Jeffrey Mervis, a writer for the journal Science.
The debate last Tuesday centered on the question “Is the scientific enterprise too risk-averse?” In at least one multibillion-dollar way, California voters partially answered the question 21 years ago. That was when they created the California Institute for Regenerative Medicine (CIRM) via a ballot initiative.
