Do Experts Hold Science Back?

Scientists hold back science and mathematicians hold back math. Experts construct systems to pace the frontier and to gatekeep the work so only experts determine progress in the field.

Eric Weinstein has been saying as much for a long time. Sabine Hossenfelder published a video yesterday about how experts were wrong. One scientist at one of the big energy labs building a giant super collider said super collider systems are giant welfare systems for scientists. Scientists focus on writing grants to get money to keep themselves employed even if the work is not productive and does not deliver a new product to the world.

David Friedberg calls it a shining-the-light moment for AI. Deeply specialized experts hold gated knowledge and a view that has to be trusted, and that trust gives only them the ability to determine the frontier.