确切地说，这里记录的是Stigler谈知识的增长。

与许多给外行人看的普及读物所描述的知识的戏剧性颠覆不同，很多时候，知识只是渐进式增长。在Stigler看来，学术发现不仅是个别关键的突破，也是个漫长的过程。在这个过程中，有优势的理论最终胜出。科学史上描述的那种天才灵感迸发而取得突破其实是很罕见的特例，尤其是在近现代。“Scientific discoveries are usually the product of dazens upon dozens of tentative explorations, with almost as many blind alleys followed too long. The rare idea that grows into a hypothesis, even more rarely overcomes the difficulties and contradictions it soon encounters. An Archimedes who suddenly has a marvelous idea and shouts ‘Eureka!’ is the hero of the rarest of events. I have spent all of my professional life in the company of first-class scholars but only once have I encountered something like the sudden Archimedian revelation—as an abserver. (p. 73)”新知识的不完善性，使得有创意的学者往往表现出片面性，“…every porposed innovation is first produced in a highly imperfect form, and only gradually will the larger imperfections be removed. …the sponsors of the new theory or program exaggerate its merite and just as consistently exaggerate the deficiencies in the provious knowledge they are seeking to displace. (p. 215)”

在Stigler看来，所谓创造性，往往只是换个角度看问题。“Creativity often, and perhaps usually, consists of looking at familiar things or ideas in a new way. (p. 79)”因此，科学史上有大量重复发现的例子，特别是在过去信息流通不畅的年代。“Because scientific discoveries ofter arise when a familiar phenomenon is looked at differently, it is not surprising that many scientific theories have been discovered independently by several people. (p. 81)”

很多情况下，学术研究不过是给现有知识大厦添砖加瓦。这种情形，熟悉科学史是必要的，能够有某种启示。“It is almost inconceivable that any modern idea or theory has not had even partial anticipations. History is full of intelligent, creative, curious minds that have grappled with most real problems and many imaginary ones. A modern scholar will be one of a number of able people who is engaged in the cooperative study of a particular area or subject matter, and small pieces of new knowledge (both theoretical and empirical) are frequently added to the common pool of knowledge. The inherited pool of knowledge will be the indispensable foundation on which the next discoveries will be made. This does not imply that the new discoveries are inevitable; every science has had perilds of either stagnation or slow and unexciting progress. (p. 83)”

另一方面，现有知识永远是有局限的、不完善的，甚至是错误的。“So modesty and respect for received knowledge would be most dubious assets for a scientific innovator. …one cannot communicate effectively with other people unless one uses the language to which they are accustomed. (p. 216)”而错误的理论其实也很不容易被驳倒。“Once an idea is widely accepted, it is guaranteed a measure of fimmortality. Its decline in popularity is more often due to changing interests than to contrary evidence, no matter how powerful that evidence may be. (p. 112)”最好的办法是遗忘，“Neglect is the highway to oblivion. (p. 216)” 这其实就是科学史上的所谓Plank定律，英雄所见略同！

斯蒂格勒谈大学—读Memoirs of an Unregulated Economist札记

斯蒂格勒谈学者—读Memoirs of an Unregulated Economist札记

斯蒂格勒谈专家—读Memoirs of an Unregulated Economist札记