I think one thing that’s missing here is that you’re making a first-order linear approximation of “research” as just continually improving in some direction. I would instead propose a quadratic model where there is some maximal mode of activity in the world, but this mode can face certain obstacles that people can remove. Research progress is what happens when there’s an interface for removing obstacles that people are gradually developing familiarity with (for instance because it’s a newly developed interface).
Different people have different speeds by which they reach the equillibrium, but generally those who have an advantage would also exhibit an explosion of skills and production as they use their superior understanding of the interface.
I think one thing that’s missing here is that you’re making a first-order linear approximation of “research” as just continually improving in some direction. I would instead propose a quadratic model where there is some maximal mode of activity in the world, but this mode can face certain obstacles that people can remove. Research progress is what happens when there’s an interface for removing obstacles that people are gradually developing familiarity with (for instance because it’s a newly developed interface).
Different people have different speeds by which they reach the equillibrium, but generally those who have an advantage would also exhibit an explosion of skills and production as they use their superior understanding of the interface.