The degree to which public presentation is likely to strengthen your feedback loops seems to depend quite a lot on the state of the field that you are investigating. In highly functional fields like those found in modern physics, it seems quite likely to be helpful. In less functional fields or those with fewer relevant researchers, this seems less helpful.
To my mind, one strong consideration in favor of publicly presenting your research if you’re working in a less functional field is that even if you’re right, causing future researchers to build on your work is extremely difficult. Indeed, promising research avenues that are presented publicly die all the time (e.g., muscle reading or phlogiston c.f. Chang in Is Water H2O?). Presenting your research publicly is the best way to engage with other researchers and ensure that, if you do succeed, a research tradition can be built on top of your work.
The degree to which public presentation is likely to strengthen your feedback loops seems to depend quite a lot on the state of the field that you are investigating. In highly functional fields like those found in modern physics, it seems quite likely to be helpful. In less functional fields or those with fewer relevant researchers, this seems less helpful.
To my mind, one strong consideration in favor of publicly presenting your research if you’re working in a less functional field is that even if you’re right, causing future researchers to build on your work is extremely difficult. Indeed, promising research avenues that are presented publicly die all the time (e.g., muscle reading or phlogiston c.f. Chang in Is Water H2O?). Presenting your research publicly is the best way to engage with other researchers and ensure that, if you do succeed, a research tradition can be built on top of your work.