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IRBs are one of the most wasteful and hurtful institutions in the developing world today. In order to prevent a few possible ethical lapses, they smother hundreds of good potential research.

See Scott Alexander's works on IRB review.




> In order to prevent a few possible ethical lapses, they smother hundreds of good potential research.

Doesn't that describe all safety and security measures? Airport security wastes millions of hours in order to prevent a few possible problems.

> ethical lapses

That's quite a euphemism for death and bodily injury. I'm sure you wouldn't mind it yourself.

There is plenty of evidence of what happens without IRBs - just look what happened before IRBs.


Do yourself a favor and read this link: https://slatestarcodex.com/2017/08/29/my-irb-nightmare/

And yes, airport security is also a colossal waste


IRBs dont prevent ethical lapses; they reduce the liability of the contractee/grantee.




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