Six Dialogues on Science: Volume I – On the Sign, Uncertainty, Magnitude, and the Machine

On the Sign, Uncertainty, Magnitude, and the Machine Six Dialogues on Science, Volume I This first volume examines structural transformations within contemporary systems of scientific evaluation. Written in dialogical form, it analyzes four interrelated shifts: the substitution of substance by measurable sign; the domestication of uncertainty through prediction and risk mitigation; the expansion of scale and complexity in collaborative and funding structures; and the increasing sufficiency of simulated form within machine-mediated processes. Rather than proposing immediate reform, the dialogues seek to expose underlying conceptual dynamics. They argue that structural drift does not begin with artificial intelligence but precedes it: when signs become ends, uncertainty is minimized, magnitude obscures unity, and form is rewarded independently of understanding, the conditions for machine-sufficient evaluation are already established. The volume is complemented by a non-dialogical analytical treatment of the same problem:Müller (2026), When Excellence Stops Producing Knowledge (arXiv:2602.07039).