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Diversity, rationality, and the division of cognitive labor

Research output: Chapter in Book/Report/Conference proceedingChapterpeer-review

14 Scopus citations

Abstract

Existing models of the division of cognitive labor in science assume that scientists have a particular problem they want to solve and can choose between different approaches to solving the problem. In this essay I invert the approach, supposing that scientists have fixed skills and seek problems to solve. This allows for a better explanation of increasing rates of cooperation in science, as well as flows of scientists between fields of inquiry. By increasing the realism of the model, we gain additional insight into the social structure of science and gain the ability to ask new questions about the optimal division of labor.

Original languageEnglish
Title of host publicationScientific Collaboration and Collective Knowledge
Subtitle of host publicationNew Essays
PublisherOxford University Press
Pages78-92
Number of pages15
ISBN (Electronic)9780190680534
ISBN (Print)9780190680558
DOIs
StatePublished - Jan 1 2017

Keywords

  • And the Division of Cognitive Labor
  • Division of cognitive labor
  • Formal model
  • Rationality
  • Scientific collaboration
  • Scientific expertise
  • Scientific skill
  • Social structure of science Diversity

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