Eric Weinstein

Peer Review and Grant Funding Have Made Scientific Dissent Too Costly

Eric Weinstein argues that grant funding, peer review and university hierarchies make dissent professionally irrational by tying publication, jobs, funding and legitimacy to prevailing views. He proposes that government fund exceptional scientists over long periods rather than narrowly defined projects, even when their work is unpopular or likely to fail. But his alternative depends on discretionary judgments by formidable scientists, without resolving who selects them or how their choices are held accountable. He warns that China and AI could exploit neglected ideas if US institutions continue to treat them as professionally hazardous.