I think I am a lot more on board with promoting idea pluralism (I realise I should have said this in my original comment, I was focusing there on what I found more controversial or difficult to think about well). I think science generally would go faster if funders took more risks on heterodox ideas (particularly given most research projects have far larger upside risks than downside risks, so ‘hits-based’ funding could work well). That’s a good point re things being cheaper to run in poorer countries, so more cost-effective all else equal.
I can’t imagine the applicants are any less good
At one level, yes intelligence and creativity are ~evenly distributed worldwide. But I think this gets to my earlier point about educational and other opportunities currently being very unequally distributed, so I think it would be the case (unfortunately) that applicants with access to loads of opportunities to develop their thinking and writing and research skills, disproportionately in the rich world, will be better able to contribute straight away. I think there could also be a strong case to run such fellowships elsewhere with fellows who have had fewer opportunities and are currently less capable, as this is more additional, but this seems like a notably different theory of change.
So I think you are pointing to something real here, although even then I don’t think it actually constitutes a great defence of the status quo of ERS. If we are to get people with preexisting experience in the disciplines we want, as most disciplines are far from equal, and if you are straying into an interdisciplinary soace like this job security and lack of mentorship may mean being more senior is very benefiical, we are likely to not get the sorts of demographic diversity we may want. However, ERS at present also rarely included and reaches out to people with deep expertise in these fields as well, so in some ways it feels we get the worst of both worlds; we bring in relatively young and inexperienced people and yet churn out people who broadly think very similarly and have the ability to influence very similar spaces . Sure, I’m not saying juggling all this is easy, nor that it will be perfect, but this status quo seems really suboptimal
I think I am a lot more on board with promoting idea pluralism (I realise I should have said this in my original comment, I was focusing there on what I found more controversial or difficult to think about well). I think science generally would go faster if funders took more risks on heterodox ideas (particularly given most research projects have far larger upside risks than downside risks, so ‘hits-based’ funding could work well). That’s a good point re things being cheaper to run in poorer countries, so more cost-effective all else equal.
At one level, yes intelligence and creativity are ~evenly distributed worldwide. But I think this gets to my earlier point about educational and other opportunities currently being very unequally distributed, so I think it would be the case (unfortunately) that applicants with access to loads of opportunities to develop their thinking and writing and research skills, disproportionately in the rich world, will be better able to contribute straight away. I think there could also be a strong case to run such fellowships elsewhere with fellows who have had fewer opportunities and are currently less capable, as this is more additional, but this seems like a notably different theory of change.
So I think you are pointing to something real here, although even then I don’t think it actually constitutes a great defence of the status quo of ERS. If we are to get people with preexisting experience in the disciplines we want, as most disciplines are far from equal, and if you are straying into an interdisciplinary soace like this job security and lack of mentorship may mean being more senior is very benefiical, we are likely to not get the sorts of demographic diversity we may want. However, ERS at present also rarely included and reaches out to people with deep expertise in these fields as well, so in some ways it feels we get the worst of both worlds; we bring in relatively young and inexperienced people and yet churn out people who broadly think very similarly and have the ability to influence very similar spaces . Sure, I’m not saying juggling all this is easy, nor that it will be perfect, but this status quo seems really suboptimal