They may or may not be instrumental in achieving the original goal, but they’re not the goal and certainly not the envisioned process. That’s regardless of whether the original process was ever realistic.
In particular the process toward “having a whole community and field at your back” is about 95% politics, not research, and requires a very different mindset and skill set than actually doing research.
Is “politics” here the mind-killer, or does it just mean getting to know people and participating in the research community? Because unless you’re going to be a hermit and produce jewels that the world will spontaneously beat a path to your door for, the latter is an integral part of not just a career, but of a life.
I’m referring to political skills. While many of these are also generally useful in life, many (often the same ones) are primarily of value for negotiating moral mazes in ways that are detrimental to interpersonal relationships and sometimes even society in general.
It is often true that the latter skills are an integral part of life, but that doesn’t make them any less distasteful to someone who wants to make the world a better place in some way.
They may or may not be instrumental in achieving the original goal, but they’re not the goal and certainly not the envisioned process. That’s regardless of whether the original process was ever realistic.
In particular the process toward “having a whole community and field at your back” is about 95% politics, not research, and requires a very different mindset and skill set than actually doing research.
Is “politics” here the mind-killer, or does it just mean getting to know people and participating in the research community? Because unless you’re going to be a hermit and produce jewels that the world will spontaneously beat a path to your door for, the latter is an integral part of not just a career, but of a life.
I’m referring to political skills. While many of these are also generally useful in life, many (often the same ones) are primarily of value for negotiating moral mazes in ways that are detrimental to interpersonal relationships and sometimes even society in general.
It is often true that the latter skills are an integral part of life, but that doesn’t make them any less distasteful to someone who wants to make the world a better place in some way.