Is the Scientific Enterprise Too Risk-Averse?

For generations, science has advanced through a tension between caution and ambition. On one hand, the scientific method depends on skepticism, replication, and evidence. On the other hand, history’s greatest discoveries often began as improbable ideas pursued by researchers willing to solve the world’s biggest problems. Modern science has given us the ability to edit our genes, life-saving vaccines, and a glimpse at the origins of the universe. But is the system that produced these breakthroughs holding itself back?

Critics argue that the pressure to publish — and the incentive structures around citation, peer review, and career advancement — rewards safe, incremental work over bold thinking and big swings, with competition for funding reinforcing those same tendencies. Yet others see a system still capable of paradigm-shifting discoveries — one where large, worldwide collaborations and long-term thinking motivate scientists to pursue grand, ambitious ideas. They argue that careful review and rigorous standards are not barriers to innovation, but the very conditions that make reliable breakthroughs possible.

With this background, we debate the question: Is the Scientific Enterprise Too Risk-Averse?

This debate was produced in partnership with the Stavros Niarchos Foundation (SNF) Agora Institute at Johns Hopkins University, as part of The Hopkins Forum series.

Arguing Yes:

Tyler Cowen, Author of "The Great Stagnation"; Economics Professor at George Mason University; Founder of Emergent Ventures; Host of "Conversations with Tyler" podcast

Brandon Ogbunu, Computational Biologist; Associate Professor of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology at Yale University; Professor at the Santa Fe Institute

Arguing No:

Kate Biberdorf (“Kate the Chemist”), Professor for the Public Understanding of Science and the Department of Chemistry & Biochemistry at the University of Notre Dame; Science Entertainer

The Honorable Sethuraman Panchanathan, 15th Director of the National Science Foundation; University Professor of Technology and Innovation and Foundation Chair at Arizona State University

Emmy award-winning journalist John Donvan moderates

#science #risk #averse

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