Hossenfelder on Stagnation: Science is in Trouble and It Worries Me [Video]

Show notes:

Innovation is slowing, research productivity is declining, scientific work is becoming more [less] disruptive. In this video I summarize what we know about the problem and what possible causes have been proposed. I also explain why this matters so much to me.

00:00 Intro00:33 Numbers [1]06:33 Causes10:32 Speculations [2]16:25 Bullshit Research22:06 Epilogue

I’ve given a fair amount of attention to this topic under the label, stagnation. I’ve also written a working paper: Stagnation and Beyond: Economic growth and the cost of knowledge in a complex world, July 25, 2019.

[1] Here she opens by citing results from Bloom et al. Are Ideas Getting Harder to Find? (2017), and other more recent papers. 

[2] Mentions Fast Grants, with clips showing Patrick Collison and Tyler Cowen.