> The lay public thinks "peer reviewed" means that others have tried it and validated the results. What it really tends to mean is that a peer looked at the procedures and results and that it passes the "sniff test" and generally doesn't have any glaring errors.
> The more subtle problem is that in some circles, it isn't even that. Since fewer and fewer people want to be the person who damaged someone else's work and/or career, it's a blanket pass.
From my experience in the biomedical review process, I would characterize the process as brutal, at least for top venues and federal grants.
> We're drifting away from scientific study and critical thinking to "reasonable" approaches and not upsetting doctrine and/or your superiors. That looks less and less like science and more like religion.
I mostly agree that there is friction with established doctrine/superiors, but hasn't this always been there? It seems hard to find a major scientific discovery that didn't have some established concept (and proponents) to push against.
Conveniently enough, that topic was discussed here a while back:
> They show that the premature deaths of elite scientists affect the dynamics of scientific discovery. Following such deaths, scientists who were not collaborators with the deceased stars become more visible, and they advance novel ideas through increased publications within the field of the deceased star.
From my experience in the biomedical review process, I would characterize the process as brutal, at least for top venues and federal grants.
> We're drifting away from scientific study and critical thinking to "reasonable" approaches and not upsetting doctrine and/or your superiors. That looks less and less like science and more like religion.
I mostly agree that there is friction with established doctrine/superiors, but hasn't this always been there? It seems hard to find a major scientific discovery that didn't have some established concept (and proponents) to push against.