I see the same kind of lockstep thinking in many of the clients I work for - the adherence to an idea when demonstrably better methods are available.
Gifties need to understand human individual and group dynamics in order to protect themselves. Just like one would not want to walk around at dark in certain areas, there are certain cultures one does not walk around in with your brain hanging out, either.
Have you ever read
The Trouble with Physics (Lee Smolin)? It's really two books in one. Most of the book is a great discussion about the current state of theoretical physics (TP). He discusses the dominance of string theory and the near-exclusion of other approaches in TP. He argues that progress in TP is being retarded by an unwillingness to allow different approaches.
The last 4-5 chapters are all about sociology and how it contributes to the problems described in the first part of the book. He also touches on the fact that these problems plague many other fields.
One of his major points is that
intelligent, creative people face huge obstacles because:
1. Young researchers are pushed to follow the programs of senior researchers and are discouraged from pursuing their own ideas;
2. If you want to get an academic job in TP, see point number 1 for the correct course of action;
3. If you want to get a grant in TP, see point number 1 for the correct course of action;
4. If you want to get tenure in TP, see point number 1 for the correct course of action.
He talks about herd behavior and how it's having a serious negative impact on progress in his field. Simply put: individuals complain about the state of things in the field, but everyone seems to be powerless in the face of the group.
One of his key points is that there are two kinds of scientist: the one who has creative, new ideas (a
seer), and the one who's less creative but more technically adept and can work through the details of the new ideas and push them forward (the
master craftsman). He argues that both types are needed but only the latter ones are tolerated now (well, in 2007 when the book was published).
Seems OT, but I think the hostility to the gifted forum on MDC might be related to this idea. I also think that people are mostly only allowed to be different if their differentness is more-or-less the same as everyone else's, if you see what I mean.
Val
