You might believe that there are network effects, or that the “best” people are only willing to come along if there’s a sufficiently large intellectual scene. (Not saying either is likely, just illustrating that the implied underlying model is not a tautology).
I predict the opposite effect—average intellectual scene quality is a much bigger draw than total number of people (MATS is already large). I expect a larger program is actively detrimental for drawing top people
I’m thinking less of total number of people and more like probability of having specific collaborators work in your exact area or are otherwise useful to have around.
You might believe that there are network effects, or that the “best” people are only willing to come along if there’s a sufficiently large intellectual scene. (Not saying either is likely, just illustrating that the implied underlying model is not a tautology).
I predict the opposite effect—average intellectual scene quality is a much bigger draw than total number of people (MATS is already large). I expect a larger program is actively detrimental for drawing top people
I’m thinking less of total number of people and more like probability of having specific collaborators work in your exact area or are otherwise useful to have around.
Ah, fair. Yes, I agree that’s a plausible factor, especially for nicher areas
Yeah, I think those are not implausible, but very unlikely.