Why does the scientific world reward novelty at all costs—and what does that obsession do to the reliability of research? In a recent interview with TU/e, our member Krist Vaesen discusses his new book ‘Neomania: How Our Obsession With Innovation is Failing Science, and How to Restore Trust’. Drawing from personal experience and broader systemic problems, he argues that the relentless push for “new” ideas fragments research, fuels burnout, and weakens the foundations of scientific knowledge.
In Neomania, Vaesen explores how reward structures, publication norms, and funding mechanisms prioritize originality over confirmation, replication, and continuity. He highlights how this imbalance contributes to issues such as low reproducibility and innovation fatigue, while also offering concrete ways forward. His proposals include valuing replication, supporting coordinated research programs, and strengthening open science practices so that transparency leads not just to access, but to genuine reuse and cumulative knowledge-building.
The book is both analytical and hopeful, calling for a scientific ecosystem where innovation serves progress rather than overshadowing it. Neomania is published through a diamond open access model and is openly available here: https://doi.org/10.11647/OBP.0507.