How can we accelerate progress in scientific research and in the “world of atoms?”

Subsidized research backed by government money worked pretty well in the past, but now it seems to have lost its power and all the endeavors relying upon this system become stagnant.

Now we need to excavate some features from the past, in which some rich aristocratic kids (out of boredome) studied what they wanted to study and said what they wanted to say and stayed as maverick, without the fear of defunding/deplatforming, because they already had financial independence with respect to their livelihood and (to some extent) research projects and were “self-tenured.”

We can call this ideal as “Sovereign Scientist,” a slight adaptation from the “Sovereign Individual.” S/he is financially independent and has freedom of speech, so that he can study and say whatever he wants to. I expect them to be able to conduct more audacious and rigorous research project, enabling acceleration in scientific progress.

What will enable the rise of the sovereign scientists? I think the crypto economy can usher us into the era of sovereign scientists.

First of all, you can fund your own research from the crypto world, not from the NIH, NSF, etc. Especially if you try to pursue an adventurous but worthwhile project, it will be more easier to get funding from the crypto than the government. You can build your own cash flow for your livelihood and your research and build your own publishing channel, apart from the government and the legacy publication systems and power dynamics in the community. It makes you financially independent and more censorship-resistant (from either government, mobs or fellow scientists), because you can fear less about possible retaliation/censorship on the grant process or on the publication process.

Also, we can make all the dead capitals in the scientific communities “alive” by designing a better incentive systems with tokenomics. Efforts in trying to reproduce previous publications, labor in reviewing processes and your reputation in the specific research community, etc. … they all should be made alive and more explicit, so that they can leverage on these capitals.

Tokenized reputation

Dead capitals animated--every unpaid services should be explicitly rewarded

Incentive alignment toward reproducibility and honest critics over politics

Scoop-resistance on the shared ledger

Place for Pseudonymous researchers

Sovereign scientists and geniuses enabled by AI & Robotics assistance