Free Essays: Destructive Competition Exposed in Cantors Dilemma :: Cantors Dilemma Essays

Destructive emulation Exposed in choirmasters Dilemma   Competition is often useful as a means of motivation. However, in the scientific world, competition has the potential to cause many scientists to forget their main role in research. The main goal of scientific research is to develop experience that will better society. When scientists work together to help each some other(prenominal) reach a common goal, science is working as it should. However, with so much competition to be the best scientist, make the or so money, and maybe win the Nobel Prize, it is difficult for scientists to share ideas. Many scientists are very secretive. Carl Djerassi, a world famous scientist, describes this competition in his fictional novel, Cantors Dilemma. In his novel, he demonstrates the secrecy that competition encourages when two scientists, Cantor and Stafford, complete an important experiment. Cantor does not want to publish the full experimental details in good order away. He explains, No, Id like to string this out a bit. Just a preliminary communication first, without the experimental details, so that nobody can get on the bandwagon right away. Scientists are very concerned with the idea that another scientist may get hold of their work and claim it as his or her own. In Cantors Dilemma, Cantor decides to which journal he will send his disseminated multiple sclerosis based on his prior knowledge of referees. Referees review the experiment and break it along to other scientists for verification of the results. He did not want an American referee to leak the news. Therefore, he sent the manuscript to London where an American referee would not have the opportunity to see the article. Many scientists win other peoples ideas as their own. Surprisingly, this often happens unintentionally. Djerassi describes fall in requests in Cantors Dilemma. When a grant request is sent in, most of the people on the review game tabular array are the scientists competition. Since they are dealing with ideas and not completed work, the review board has the opportunity to steal ideas. Cantor describes that, Members of the review board cant help but retrieve what they read, and after a while, say a few months or in time weeks later, they forget where they first saw it and gradually they think its their own idea. For this reason, most scientists do not give many details when they are applying for a grant. Competition also can influence a scientist into producing fraudulent results.