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by npk 6066 days ago
> "Long Jumps" is a myth imho.

You are 100% on point.

The parent's poster's point on conformity is well taken. Still, "independent" researchers are viewed with suspicion because research is hard. As psranga points out, to make a long jump a researcher has to stay on top of the incremental steps. Unfortunately, for 99.9% of people, to do this they must be fluent with the literature and much more importantly talk with other researchers. No one works in a vacuum (and don't bother bringing up counter examples like einstein or newton).

Conformity is a big problem. It might arise when too many PhDs are hustling for a small pie. I'm not sure.

1 comments

Conformity is a big problem.

What was the big heresy for one generation changes into "what you have to say to get tenure" in another.