One point of confusion that I think is running through your comments (and this is my fault for not being clear enough) is how I am conceiving of “mind”. In my conception, a mind is the genetics and all of the environment/past experiences but also the current context of the mind. So for example, yes you would still have the same mind in one sense whether you were doing science in a university or were just an independent scientist, but in another sense no because the thoughts you are willing and able to think would be different because you are facing very different constraints/incentives. Hope this helps.
In my conception, a mind is the genetics and all of the environment/past experiences but also the current context of the mind.
Hum, okay. But thinking about the equivalent classes of such minds would be more relevant, no? Like if two different combinations leads to basically thinking the same ideas, we would want to mix them. Then the crux of this debate would be whether almost all modern scientists where in the same equivalence class, and if science could benefit from the inclusion of more equivalence classes.
So for example, yes you would still have the same mind in one sense whether you were doing science in a university or were just an independent scientist, but in another sense no because the thoughts you are willing and able to think would be different because you are facing very different constraints/incentives.
If this hypothetical scientist was able to actually get a job in a university, I would expect next to no difference between the two. First because it’s still a job, but also just because science is not a random personal exploration, it’s a shared endeavor. And so you care about communities or specific people finding your work interesting and/or important. That’s the most relevant incentive IMO, and I don’t see how it changes between these two settings.
One point of confusion that I think is running through your comments (and this is my fault for not being clear enough) is how I am conceiving of “mind”. In my conception, a mind is the genetics and all of the environment/past experiences but also the current context of the mind. So for example, yes you would still have the same mind in one sense whether you were doing science in a university or were just an independent scientist, but in another sense no because the thoughts you are willing and able to think would be different because you are facing very different constraints/incentives. Hope this helps.
Hum, okay. But thinking about the equivalent classes of such minds would be more relevant, no? Like if two different combinations leads to basically thinking the same ideas, we would want to mix them. Then the crux of this debate would be whether almost all modern scientists where in the same equivalence class, and if science could benefit from the inclusion of more equivalence classes.
If this hypothetical scientist was able to actually get a job in a university, I would expect next to no difference between the two. First because it’s still a job, but also just because science is not a random personal exploration, it’s a shared endeavor. And so you care about communities or specific people finding your work interesting and/or important. That’s the most relevant incentive IMO, and I don’t see how it changes between these two settings.