In this episode, Patrick McKenzie (patio11) is joined by Ben Reinhardt, founder of Speculative Technologies, to examine how science gets funded in the United States and why the current system leaves much to be desired. They dissect the outdated taxonomy of basic, applied, and development research, categories encoded into law that fail to capture how actual breakthrough science happens.
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Sponsors: GiveWell & Framer

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Links:

Speculative Technologies: https://spec.tech

Ben Reinhardt's website: https://benjaminreinhardt.com

Bits About Money: https://www.bitsaboutmoney.com/

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Timestamps:

(00:00) Intro

(00:26) Understanding focused research organizations (FROs)

(01:52) The evolution of science funding

(03:59) Taxonomy of research: basic, applied, and development

(06:14) Challenges in science funding and research

(08:12) The role of process knowledge in research

(18:52) The bureaucracy of tech transfer offices

(20:00) Sponsors: GiveWell & Framer
(22:33) Critique of tech transfer offices

(25:20) The burden of bureaucracy on researchers

(44:34) Emerging solutions and optimism in research

(46:58) Wrap

The economics of discovery, with Ben Reinhardt

Complex Systems with Patrick McKenzie (patio11)

The economics of discovery, with Ben Reinhardt