https://hackerpaper.kaipfister.de/p/2306.13816/Collected HN comments and submissions linking this paper.enMon, 02 Nov 2026 11:16:22 GMThttps://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=36557136urn:hackerpapers:mention:2306.13816:36557136Sun, 02 Jul 2023 01:08:54 GMT<p>Somewhat related, Kevin Gross and Carl T Bergstrom just put up this preprint on risk aversion in science: https://arxiv.org/abs/2306.13816 &gt; incentives to motivate effort clash with incentives to motivate risk-taking, because a failed project may be evidence of a risky undertaking but could also be the result of simple sloth. As a result, the incentives needed to encourage effort actively discourage risk-taking. Scientists respond by working on safe projects that generate evidence of effort but that don&#x27;t move science forward as rapidly as riskier projects would.</p><p><a href="https://hackerpaper.kaipfister.de/p/2306.13816/">Paper and discussion history</a>. A mention is not an endorsement.</p>physics.soc-ph