> the entire foundation of science is replication. So why do we have a system that...
Because science is just like a software company that has outgrown "DIY QA": even as the problem becomes increasingly clear, nobody on the ground wants to be the one to split off an "adversarial" QA team because it will make their immediate circumstances significantly worse, even though it's what the company needs.
I wouldn't extrapolate all the way to death, though. If there are enough high-profile fraud busts that funding agencies start to feel political heat, they will suddenly become willing to fund QA. Until that point, I agree that nothing will happen and the problem will get steadily worse until it does.
I think I would say short term rewards heavily outweigh long term rewards. This is even true when long term rewards are much higher and even if the time to reward is not much longer than the short version. Time is important, but I think greatly over valued.
Because science is just like a software company that has outgrown "DIY QA": even as the problem becomes increasingly clear, nobody on the ground wants to be the one to split off an "adversarial" QA team because it will make their immediate circumstances significantly worse, even though it's what the company needs.
I wouldn't extrapolate all the way to death, though. If there are enough high-profile fraud busts that funding agencies start to feel political heat, they will suddenly become willing to fund QA. Until that point, I agree that nothing will happen and the problem will get steadily worse until it does.