[RcouF1uZ4gsC]

I see it as a symptom of our culture where benefits flow uphill and blame flows downhill.

When writing papers and presenting at conferences, the PI was all about how he was an integral part of the research and if you asked why he was presenting instead of the post-doc he would have talked about his responsibilities to supervise and guide.

Once the fraud came out, he is just a poor victim who can’t be expected to know the post-doc wasn’t even using the equipment and was making up data completely.

[light_hue_1]

This is how every enterprise works.

The CEO gives the talk about the awesome product because they set the roadmap.

Benefits flow uphill, blame flows downhill is literally how any hierarchical organization works.

Now, you might want to say that science shouldn't be hierarchical, but we don't have any flat organizations like this that involve the kinds of mentoring and training required to build new scientists.

[RcouF1uZ4gsC]

Not in every hierarchical organization.

For example, a ship’s captain takes ultimate responsibility for any collision or sinking, whether or not they were actually steering the ship. There was a tradition of the captain being the last one to leave a sinking ship.

Many cultures had a tradition of executing commanders that suffered defeat.

I think our culture is an anomaly where blame does not flow uphill as well.