Twilight of the Wanderings. Phenomenology of Contemporary Research

Abstract

Never in history there have been so many papers, articles and books. But just as they increase, they seem to be less and less relevant. The paper inquiries into the deeply changed world of research, describing it as pulverised, measurable, neoliberal, surfable, iterative and, possibly, original. But in a growing tension between the increasing number of writings and their decreasing efficacy, what emerges from a broad survey among worldwide references is a whole system only aimed at evolving the already-known, and that severely discourages originality. This is why OFF TOPIC was born: to be the possible (last?) place where a wandering researcher could, always again, take refuge.