Misdirected Science#

A phenomenon in contemporary science in which scientists engage in projects derived from a scientific idea or hypothesis that goes untested or unchallenged. The interestingness or usefulness of the projects themselves is entirely contingent on the validity of the idea from which they were derived.

Often the original idea is interesting but unlikely, and has attracted significant attention among non-scientists, resulting in an abundant amount of funding being made available for research in the area.

If the original idea is subsequently confirmed to be false, then the entire edifice constructed around it will collapse, possibly contributing to skepticism being directed towards science itself.

Reference#

Blog post on misdirected science