Metascience 101 - EP2: “Is Science Slowing Down?”

IN THIS EPISODE: OpenPhil CEO Alexander Berger interviews economist Matt Clancy and Stripe co-founder Patrick Collison to talk about whether science itself is slowing down, one of the key motivating concerns in metascience. They look at the challenges of measuring scientific progress, the reasons why progress might be slowing down, and what we might be able to do about it. 

“Metascience 101” is a nine-episode set of interviews that doubles as a crash course in the debates, issues, and ideas driving the modern metascience movement. We investigate why building a genuine “science of science” matters, and how research in metascience is translating into real-world policy changes. 

Chapters

(00:00:00) Introductions

(00:01:25) Per-capita slowing in science

(00:05:03) Measuring breakthroughs via inputs

(00:09:20) Measuring breakthroughs via outputs

(00:12:53) Books and sources

(00:14:57) Predictions from these models

(00:21:35) After the low hanging fruit era

(00:31:30) How much is institutional?

(00:45:17) Solutions to these problems

(01:01:03) Over- and underrated

(01:07:37) Other creative endeavors

(01:11:05) Audience comments