I agree, but I’m not sure if it’s really linked to the division between problem solvers and theory builders. Because you can have very long feedback loops in problem solving—think Wiles and Fermat’s last theorem. That being said, I think the advantage of the problem solvers is that they tend to attack problems that are recognized as important, and thus the only uncertainty is in whether they can actually solve it. Whereas deconfusion or theory building is only “recognized” at the end, when the theory is done and it works and it captures something interesting.
I agree, but I’m not sure if it’s really linked to the division between problem solvers and theory builders. Because you can have very long feedback loops in problem solving—think Wiles and Fermat’s last theorem. That being said, I think the advantage of the problem solvers is that they tend to attack problems that are recognized as important, and thus the only uncertainty is in whether they can actually solve it. Whereas deconfusion or theory building is only “recognized” at the end, when the theory is done and it works and it captures something interesting.