Thread by @swardley

X : How do you make money from maps?
Me : Personally? I don't. I have a content life working in research. I use maps in my research, I teach members of the LEF to map and I have always shared the technique under CC by SA.

X : But couldn't you make more money by ...
Me : Some of us are driven by money, some of us are driven by other things ... in my case happiness which I partially achieve through contentment. My interest in maps is that I use them. I'm delighted others find them useful ...

.. it's by others using maps, developing them, finding new ways to map that the field will progress. My key interest is making sure this is kept as open as possible and shared in the community. I also want to learn.

X : But if you built a company around maps then ...
Me : ... I would have a commercial interest and bias in maps being right. Today, I don't. I'm always looking for the better way of mapping. If I find a better way, I can throw the past away without all the baggage and inertia.

... I am long in the tooth. I'm used to seeing companies and researchers hang on to methods & frameworks that clearly don't work because of inertia, past success and commercial relationships. It's not possible to research when you have such commercial relationships ...

... it's bad enough in academia where reputations and success in past theories create inertia to them being challenged and overturned. Add wealth, careers and company fortunes into the mix then inertia skyrockets. It doesn't mix well.

X : What if someone finds a better way of mapping?
Me : Then good. It'll be something I can learn. All I can do with today's form of mapping is to set the bar as high as I can and to challenge others to find that better way ... and to keep it open, to let others challenge it.

... look, I watched the genetics field become dominated by the sequence because of commercial interests in sequencing machines. It has taken decades for epigenetic concepts to flourish again, taking us back to where we were in the late 1980s.

... scientific research and commerce don't always mix well. Publicised claims of scientific methods in commercial organisations can often be a front for hiding other bias and interests. It's the same with projects that declare their name as Open this or that, it's often not.

X : Are you saying commerce and research never mix?
Me : No. I'm saying they don't mix well. You need a strong mindset to overcome inertia created by commercial interests. A key aspect of research is willingness to throw models away, not easy if your livelihood depends upon it.

X : Do you have examples?
Me : Seriously? I'm sure you can use Google to search for some. Let's pick an easy one - Theranos.