"The Mudslide Hypothesis of Science" - OSCON
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The document discusses the "mudslide hypothesis" which suggests that traditions persist not due to excellence but because of resistance to change from influential people and the difficulties of transition. It argues that outdated research practices waste time and resources, and that while research is changing, discovery is still suboptimal due to reliance on old systems not designed for modern mediums. It calls for rethinking approaches to research to maximize reuse, allow for network effects, and redefine performance metrics to better support current research workflows.
"The Mudslide Hypothesis of Science" - OSCON
- 1. the mudslide hypothesis of science kaitlin thaney @kaythaney ; @digitalsci OSCON
- 4. promising advances...
- 5. more often the reality.
- 7. data,
- 8. ability to reproduce experiments,
- 10. <my story>
- 12. “ traditions last not because they are excellent, but because influential people are averse to change and because of the sheer burdens of transition to a better state“ Cass Sunstein
- 13. wasted ... $$$ time resource
- 15. what we know, is research.
- 16. research is changing (as is the research workflow) text text text
- 17. discovery is still sub-optimal.
- 18. still the starting point
- 19. specific DBs no better (in this case, likely worse)
- 21. our mediums are evolving. (our systems are still playing catch up)
- 22. mix of digital and analog mediums CC-BY-2.0 - Plaxco Lab - http://www.flickr.com/photos/34857812@N04/
- 23. the non-digital
- 25. ordering + processing the non-digital
- 28. we’re facing a perception issue.
- 30. locked in old mechanisms.
- 31. we need to rethink our approach.
- 32. maximise (re-)use. design decisions are key. allow for network effects.
- 33. it’s time we redefined performance for research.
- 34. www.digital-science.com kaitlin@digital-science.com @kaythaney