Lab meeting: Disruptive science

Resources for lab meeting (1/13):

• Nature paper: Papers and patents are becoming less disruptive over time
  • Nature summary: ‘Disruptive’ science has declined — and no one knows why
  • Forbes summary: Where Are All the Scientific Breakthroughs?
• Kuhn’s Structure of Scientific Revolutions
  • see the “Phases” section about Kuhn’s phases of paradigm change

Discussion questions:

1. What paradigm shifts have occurred in the fields of ecology and plant science? Have any occurred recently?
2. Conversely, have you observed new research in the field becoming less disruptive over time? If so, do you agree with the authors’ suggestion that this can be attributed to researchers focusing on “narrower slices of previous work”? (142)
3. What is your perception of the paper’s measure of disruptiveness (CD5)? What might be some strengths and weaknesses of this approach?
4. Do the popular media pieces effectively communicate the paper’s findings to a general audience? What angles do they take in their explainers, and why?
5. Though papers have become less disruptive on average, the quantity of disruptive papers has remained largely consistent. Do you agree with the paper’s proposal of a carrying capacity for highly disruptive papers?
6. Is a decline in disruptiveness exclusively a bad thing? Consider Kuhn’s ideas on “paradigms.”