Because it is written. Which makes it good for communicating complex ideas. The tradition behind it also lends it an air of legitimacy. Researchers who don’t already have a working relationship with each other will take each other’s letters more seriously.
Upvoted for the good point about communication. Not sure I agree with the legitimacy part (what is p(Crackpot | Snail Mail) compared to p(Crackpot | Email)? I would guess higher).
Heh you are probably right. It just seemed strange to me how researchers cannot just communicate with each other as long as they have the same research interests. My first thought was that it might have been something to do with status games, where outsiders are not allowed. I suppose some exchanges require rapid and frequent feedback. But then, like you mentioned, wouldn’t Skype do?
I’m not sure what the general case looks like, but the professors who I have worked with (who all have the characteristic that they do applied-ish research at a top research university) are both constantly barraged by more e-mails than they can possibly respond to. I suspect that as a result they limit communication to sources that they know will be fruitful.
Other professors in more theoretical fields (like pure math) don’t seem to have this problem, so I’m not sure why they don’t do what you suggest (although some of them do). And I am not sure that all professors run into the same problem as I have described, even in applied fields.
Why use snail mail when you can use skype? My lab director uses it regularly to talk to other researchers.
Because it is written. Which makes it good for communicating complex ideas. The tradition behind it also lends it an air of legitimacy. Researchers who don’t already have a working relationship with each other will take each other’s letters more seriously.
Upvoted for the good point about communication. Not sure I agree with the legitimacy part (what is p(Crackpot | Snail Mail) compared to p(Crackpot | Email)? I would guess higher).
What I’m now wondering is, how does using email vs. snail mail affect the probability of using green ink, or its email equivalent...
Heh you are probably right. It just seemed strange to me how researchers cannot just communicate with each other as long as they have the same research interests. My first thought was that it might have been something to do with status games, where outsiders are not allowed. I suppose some exchanges require rapid and frequent feedback. But then, like you mentioned, wouldn’t Skype do?
I’m not sure what the general case looks like, but the professors who I have worked with (who all have the characteristic that they do applied-ish research at a top research university) are both constantly barraged by more e-mails than they can possibly respond to. I suspect that as a result they limit communication to sources that they know will be fruitful.
Other professors in more theoretical fields (like pure math) don’t seem to have this problem, so I’m not sure why they don’t do what you suggest (although some of them do). And I am not sure that all professors run into the same problem as I have described, even in applied fields.