In the world of research, we now have to be able to say in advance what we are going to find, and no one will fund a project unless it looks like having a chance of turning up a ‘positive’ finding, which in reality means that it must be something pretty close to what we already know. We are not prepared to trust; we feel we must micro-control. The aim is to increase efficiency by avoiding what are conceptualised as waste or error, but it assures only one thing: mediocrity. Sadly many of those doing the most interesting work in any field are increasingly having to do so outside the mainstream.
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