On Struggle and Competition in Scientific Fields

What is the difference between struggling for achievements and competing for success? What is the effect of competitions on a scientific field? What are the specific implications on TOC? In this opinionated essay, I address these questions and related issues, while rooting the discussion in an appropriate theoretical framework. On the style of this essay. This opinionated essay refers to the sociology of scientific fields, and specifically to the current state of the Theory of Computation (TOC). It offers little novelty (if any at all) with respect to the sociology of science, and is directed to TOC readers. These facts beg the question of style of exposition. On the one hand, it seems more adequate to use a sociological style (which fits the actual contents of the essay), but on the other hand it seems better to use a style that is more familiar to the intended TOC reader. I faced the same dilemma when writing a previous essay of a similar nature (see Note 43), and my previous choice to stay away from the familiar TOC style seems to have caused some misunderstanding. In taking the opposite choice here (especially in Section 2.1), I hope to generate less misunderstanding (and maybe also less disagreement). Regarding my footnotes. This essay contains even more footnote text than my typical technical papers (which are often criticized for that feature). All these footnotes can be skipped in reading. They typically provide either further justification (or clarification) for the main text or a wider perspective.