Total Internal Reflection @TIR_scienceblog@qoto.org

New posting! This one is about #research #funding, and whether the collective - and not the individual - should be the unit of selection. Some fond memories of my #LMB days while writing this Big thx for all favouriting/boosts/replies
https://totalinternalreflectionblog.com/2025/05/22/the-unit-of-selection/

@JACoates @steveroyle Hi both, thanks for commenting and sorry for the slow response (for some reason I don't get notifications from Mastodon). There was a very interesting comment on the blog site that I think cuts to the heart of this issue: that many people go into the public sector (which includes academia, of course) with a sense of service. They see themselves as performing a duty/service to society (I certainly did - I have always been acutely aware and proud of the societal role of academia), and to then be compelled to leave is obviously very traumatic because it implies that that service was not of value. That's a nonsense of course, but it's the kind of worry that comes at you in the night. Other reasons apply too of course, but the selflessness and its devaluation is, I suspect, an important psychological factor in the issues that I and many others (like Jonny!) continue to have.

New posting! "Deprogramming academia", a riff on why I'm still feeling guilt about walking away from #academia, and why that might be. Hope you like it! #Alt-Ac
https://totalinternalreflectionblog.com/2025/04/17/deprogramming-academia/