Research as Exploration

Check out this talk that asks the question 'What would it take to create a moonshot factory?' It's given by Michael Crow of Arizona State University as part of the new initiative We Solve for X, "a forum to encourage and amplify technology-based moonshot thinking and teamwork."

 

Video link 

I think there are a lot of interesting things in there, but one thought caught my attention.  Crow talks about research as exploration, and the university as a place "dedicated not to publications or patents or profits but directly to the idea of radical thinking, radical problem solving, and driving radical levels of positive impact."

This reminded me of my post on wanting 'publish or perish' to go away.  I think this is one of the biggest reasons I felt (and still feel) that way, though I'm not sure if I articulated it sufficiently.  What Crow is trying to turn ASU into excites me.