Comment by rhubarbtree
12 days ago
It is entirely their fault. If no one agrees to do performative research, the problem will be solved.
The problem is some people prefer an academic lifestyle in exchange for doing performative research.
Yes there are other actors eg politicians demanding performative productivity, but mostly it’s the inmates running the asylum.
Academia is one failed western institution amongst many, and those failures are ultimately directed by the actions of the individuals that comprise those institutions.
> It is entirely their fault. If no one agrees to do performative research, the problem will be solved.
Right, and the prisoner's "dilemma" isn't a real thing; everyone knows it's their own fault for not just all picking the decision that gives them all the best outcome. Every individual within a network effect is obviously responsible for the outcomes the entire system produces.
Everyone is responsible for their own actions, yes.
They're not responsible for the situations that end up encouraging certain actions though, and they shouldn't be blamed for not being able to solve the collective action problem[1]. I'd argue that the only blame that's fair to place on them in situations like this is from direct results of their individual actions, not the propagation of incentives that are beyond their power to change regardless of their own individual decisions.
If you're willing to blame someone for not acting against their own individual interest, doesn't it make more sense for it to be the people who are going out of their way to reward others for acting in that way?
[1]: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Collective_action_problem
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It's not necessarily performative research just because a pop science author wrote a catchy, exaggerated headline about it
This is a fallacy: "If no one agrees to do performative research, the problem will be solved."
It is like saying, if everyone stops subscribing to OnlyFans or liking spicy pics on Instagram, it will go away.
There will always be sycophants willing to do "performative research" or ... other things.
"Performative research" sounds far more NSFW than it has any right to in the context you've placed it.
If everyone stops subscribing to OnlyFans, why will OnlyFans exist?
Why would I want to stop liking spicy pictures though :P
So long as funding is granted to do performative research, it will continue to exist.
But it’s granted by the same people that perform performative research.
Academia is beyond broken.
The bad drove out the good.