[slavetologic]

This is also why undergrad education has lost signal, diligent but unremarkable people are being selected for. It's a major problem in society. Luckily, capitalism punishes misallocation of capital fo incompetent people.

The absent minded professor stereotype is dying, but those are the exact types that revolutionize fields.

[rscho]

> Luckily, capitalism punishes misallocation of capital fo incompetent people.

This is absolutely not what is happening, but perhaps this was irony? We are granting money to very competent people. They are true experts in their fields and have studied for years. And all this knowledge allows them to expertly optimize their trajectory in today's academic system much better than if they were simply innovative scientists. People who revolutionize science are not only 'competent' or the 'best experts'. First and foremost, they're inventive and quite often very lucky. Qualities we don't know how to select for.