However, I think my point still stands: I think someone who can do conceptual+empirical work will probably have more impact doing that than not thinking about the conceptual side and just working really hard on conceptual work.
(I assume that the last “conceptual” should be “empirical”.)
I agree that not thinking about the conceptual side is bad. But that’s standard for science. Like, top scientists in almost any domain aren’t just thinking about their day-to-day empirical research, they have broader opinions about the field as a whole, and more speculative and philosophical ideas, and so on. The difference is whether they treat those ideas as outputs in their own right, versus as inputs that feed into some empirical or theoretical output. Most scientists do the latter; when people in alignment talk about “conceptual work” my impression is that they’re typically thinking about the former.
(I assume that the last “conceptual” should be “empirical”.)
I agree that not thinking about the conceptual side is bad. But that’s standard for science. Like, top scientists in almost any domain aren’t just thinking about their day-to-day empirical research, they have broader opinions about the field as a whole, and more speculative and philosophical ideas, and so on. The difference is whether they treat those ideas as outputs in their own right, versus as inputs that feed into some empirical or theoretical output. Most scientists do the latter; when people in alignment talk about “conceptual work” my impression is that they’re typically thinking about the former.