Gary Marcus

E.O. Wilson, in "Consilience," points out that modern science is transdisciplinary science. Wanting (and needing) to be transdisciplinary kept me from getting a Ph.D., as researchers must narrowcast to a single subject area and a few related areas.https://twitter.com/GaryMarcus/status/1200791300330545154 …

@amyalkon the academy owes you an apology, and you are quite right in your analysis. incentives (eg grant funding mechanisms and departmental politics) push academics towards narrowness, and science suffers. and often loses smart people who don't fit in silos.

Thanks -- I get less respect for my work (as an autodidact, reading and studying every day) than if I had "credentials." I wish people would judge the work, but I did realize that this would be a cost of not going through the system. Appreciate that you & E.O. Wilson realize this

Even when one has credentials (e.g., I was a tenured full prof at NYU with publications in Science and Nature), people try to dismiss your work if it's not in their field or their journal. The will to stay in silos and not be bothered with alternative ideas is immense.

It's so crazy. A researcher told me a big part of the problem is the way academics don't get credit and advancement if they publish in the "wrong" journals -- journals not in their field. A lack of transdisciplinariness is particularly harmful in medical research.

yes, i have seen it firsthand. it's part of why I retired very early from the academy. terrible for medical research, terrible for science in general.

I would love to see a movement to change this in the way @Lester_Domes & @vamrhein are doing in the stats arena.