Abstract
In this paper I attempt to make a case for anarchy in research against the current practice of picking winners in universities at advanced levels of education and research. By considering a paradigmatic example of freedom in speculative intellectual activities leading to unintended consequences of enormous benefit to mankind, I try to substantiate a case for this. The example I consider is the way issues in the foundations of mathematics paved the way for what came to be known as the it revolution. It is a counter-factual narrative and may - hopefully, will - provide an antidote to the current orthodoxy's regimented non-vision of "picking winners", ex ante, without any historical substantiation.
| Original language | English |
|---|---|
| Pages (from-to) | 51-55 |
| Number of pages | 5 |
| Journal | Economic and Political Weekly |
| Volume | 45 |
| Issue number | 14 |
| Publication status | Published - 3 Apr 2010 |
| Externally published | Yes |