Heesen, Remco (2019) The Credit Incentive to Be a Maverick. Studies in History and Philosophy of Science Part A, 76. pp. 5-12. ISSN 00393681
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Abstract
There is a commonly made distinction between two types of scientists: risk-taking, trailblazing mavericks and detail-oriented followers. A number of recent papers have discussed the question what a desirable mixture of mavericks and followers looks like. Answering this question is most useful if a scientific community can be steered toward such a desirable mixture. One attractive route is through credit incentives: manipulating rewards so that reward-seeking scientists are likely to form the desired mixture of their own accord. Here I argue that (even in theory) this idea is less straightforward than it may seem. Interpreting mavericks as scientists who prioritize rewards over speed and risk, I show in a deliberatively simple model that there is a fixed mixture which is not particularly likely to be desirable and which credit incentives cannot alter. I consider a way around this result, but this has some major drawbacks. I conclude that credit incentives are not as promising a way to create a desirable mixture of mavericks and followers as one might have thought.
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Item Type: | Published Article or Volume | ||||||
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Keywords: | Philosophy of science; Mavericks; Social epistemology; Formal epistemology; Credit economy | ||||||
Subjects: | General Issues > Decision Theory General Issues > Science Education General Issues > Science and Policy General Issues > Social Epistemology of Science |
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Depositing User: | Remco Heesen | ||||||
Date Deposited: | 24 Jan 2020 01:24 | ||||||
Last Modified: | 09 Aug 2023 14:13 | ||||||
Item ID: | 16846 | ||||||
Journal or Publication Title: | Studies in History and Philosophy of Science Part A | ||||||
Official URL: | http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.shpsa.2018.11.007 | ||||||
DOI or Unique Handle: | 10.1016/j.shpsa.2018.11.007 | ||||||
Subjects: | General Issues > Decision Theory General Issues > Science Education General Issues > Science and Policy General Issues > Social Epistemology of Science |
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Date: | August 2019 | ||||||
Page Range: | pp. 5-12 | ||||||
Volume: | 76 | ||||||
ISSN: | 00393681 | ||||||
URI: | https://philsci-archive.pitt.edu/id/eprint/16846 |
Available Versions of this Item
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The Credit Incentive to Be a Maverick. (deposited 26 Sep 2018 15:35)
- The Credit Incentive to Be a Maverick. (deposited 24 Jan 2020 01:24) [Currently Displayed]
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