3 ms·

It’s like saying that a scientist doesn’t need to know how to write, and they should just pair up with ghostwriters/copywriters. Many professions have tool/ski

It’s like saying that a scientist doesn’t need to know how to write, and they should just pair up with ghostwriters/copywriters. Many professions have tool/skill requirements that are not related to that profession on a strict sense, but are still necessary to do the job properly. When I learned engineering we were taught how to draw diagrams by hand and write in a technical font. Computer code, for many science fields, is like diagrams but for theories.

esafak 3y ago
It depends on what you consider a core skill. One has to specialize; that means leaving secondary tasks to others.
- madsbuch 3y ago
  This is only true for systems where comparative advantage applies. Academia is not one of these places (as they explicitly don't want to be a part of the economy, which I understand).
9dev 3y ago
> It’s like saying that a scientist doesn’t need to know how to write, and they should just pair up with ghostwriters/copywriters. And I'd say that illustrates my point even better! A scientist needs to know how to write a paper, but that doesn’t make them a great author. When they aim to write a book, they should get help from a professional publisher. Both tasks require writing text, but a book is very different from a paper and requires heaps of additional training and knowledge that scientists usually don’t need to have.
- madsbuch 3y ago
  > but that doesn’t make them a great author This is also widely considered a huge issue in academia. The dissemination is so bad that a lot of great research is never read by others. Academia is not a business. They barely can sustain themselves, therefore, they need to do things themselves. It is though to be a physicist. Mostly because you, besides being a great physicist, also need to be a good programmer and a good author.

3 ms·

It’s like saying that a scientist doesn’t need to know how to write, and they should just pair up with ghostwriters/copywriters. Many professions have tool/ski

by kolinko 3y ago

esafak 3y ago
It depends on what you consider a core skill. One has to specialize; that means leaving secondary tasks to others.
- madsbuch 3y ago
  This is only true for systems where comparative advantage applies. Academia is not one of these places (as they explicitly don't want to be a part of the economy, which I understand).
9dev 3y ago
> It’s like saying that a scientist doesn’t need to know how to write, and they should just pair up with ghostwriters/copywriters. And I'd say that illustrates my point even better! A scientist needs to know how to write a paper, but that doesn’t make them a great author. When they aim to write a book, they should get help from a professional publisher. Both tasks require writing text, but a book is very different from a paper and requires heaps of additional training and knowledge that scientists usually don’t need to have.
- madsbuch 3y ago
  > but that doesn’t make them a great author This is also widely considered a huge issue in academia. The dissemination is so bad that a lot of great research is never read by others. Academia is not a business. They barely can sustain themselves, therefore, they need to do things themselves. It is though to be a physicist. Mostly because you, besides being a great physicist, also need to be a good programmer and a good author.