The Nine Circles of Scientific Hell

From blog post to publication in a peer-reviewed academic journal! Blogger Neuroskeptic became the first blogger to publish a paper under a blogging pseudonym ... and best of all, it's a paper we can all understand!

Here's The Nine Circles of Scientific Hell (an apropos publication, given the rise in scientific misconduct:

First Circle: Limbo
The uppermost circle is not a place of punishment so much as regret. Those who have committed no scientific sins per se, but who have turned a blind eye to them, or encouraged sinners through the awarding of grants, spend eternity on top of this barren mountain, watching the carnage below and reflecting on how they are partially responsible…

Second Circle: Overselling
This circle is reserved for those who exaggerated the importance of their work in order to get grants or write better papers. Sinners are trapped in a huge pit, up to their necks in horrible sludge. Each sinner is provided with the single rung of a ladder, labeled “The Way Out—Scientists Crack Problem of Second Circle of Hell.”

Third Circle: Post-Hoc Storytelling
Sinners condemned to this circle must constantly dodge the attacks of demons armed with bows and arrows, firing more or less at random. Every time someone is hit in some part of their body, a demon proceeds to explain at length that it was aiming for that exact spot all along.

Read the rest over at Perspectives on Psychological Science or at Neuroskeptic - via Metafilter


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