“For the person who reads and evaluates the arguments, the question is: what would count as evidence about whether the author wrote the conclusion down first or at the end of his analysis? It is noteworthy that most media, such as newspapers or academic journals, appear to do little to communicate such evidence. So either this is hard evidence to obtain, or few readers are interested in it.”
I don’t think it’s either. Consider the many blog postings and informal essays—often on academic topics—which begin or otherwise include a narrative along the lines of ‘so I was working on X and I ran into an interesting problem/a strange thought popped up, and I began looking into it...’ They’re interesting (at least to me), and common.
So I think the reason we don’t see it is that A) it looks biased if your Op-ed on, say, the latest bailout goes ‘So I was watching Fox News and I heard what those tax-and-spend liberals were planning this time...’, so that’s incentive to avoid many origin stories; and B) it’s seen as too personal and informal. Academic papers are supposed to be dry, timeless, and rigorous. It would be seen as in bad taste if Newton’s Principia had opened with an anecdote about a summer day out in the orchard.
I don’t think it’s either. Consider the many blog postings and informal essays—often on academic topics—which begin or otherwise include a narrative along the lines of ‘so I was working on X and I ran into an interesting problem/a strange thought popped up, and I began looking into it...’ They’re interesting (at least to me), and common.
So I think the reason we don’t see it is that A) it looks biased if your Op-ed on, say, the latest bailout goes ‘So I was watching Fox News and I heard what those tax-and-spend liberals were planning this time...’, so that’s incentive to avoid many origin stories; and B) it’s seen as too personal and informal. Academic papers are supposed to be dry, timeless, and rigorous. It would be seen as in bad taste if Newton’s Principia had opened with an anecdote about a summer day out in the orchard.