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Einstein, Darwin, Linneaus. All science as a hobby. I don't think we should discount that people will in fact do it as a hobby if they can and make huge contrib

• mike_hearn 2y ago
  Einstein spent almost all of his life in academia living off research grants. His miracle year took place at the end of his PhD and he was recruited as a full time professor just a few years later. Yes, he did science as a hobby until that point, but he very much wanted to do it full time and jumped at the chance when he got it. Still, if you want scientific research to be done either as a hobby or a corporate job, that's A-OK. The incentives would be much better aligned. There would certainly be much less of it though, as many fields aren't amenable to hobbyist work at all (anything involving far away travel, full time work or that requires expensive equipment).
  • boxed 2y ago
    > There would certainly be much less of it though I doubt that very much. And making such a statement without any evidence seems... unscientific :P