
Lessons for a Young Scientist - dnetesn
http://nautil.us/issue/79/catalysts/lessons-for-a-young-scientist
======
grabbalacious
_> And another thing: Only geniuses (or cranks) head straight for the grandest
and most fundamental problems. You should multiply the importance of the
problem by the probability that you’ll solve it and maximize that product._

A note here: when it comes to discovery, _motivation_ is vastly more important
than competence and every disciplined effort will lead to greater
understanding or a serendipitous result of some kind.

On the other hand, nobody can know the probability that he'll solve a problem.

Yet important problems _can_ be reliably identified. What I'm trying to point
out is that there's nothing wrong with going after the big ones.

 _> But I’m hopeful this log-jam will be temporary, and that new opportunities
are opening up for aspiring scientists._

To put this in context he has also stated he thinks that civilisation has only
a 50% chance of surviving this century. Another reason for tackling big
problems IMO.

[https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/185583.Our_Final_Hour](https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/185583.Our_Final_Hour)

~~~
SamPatt
>he has also stated he thinks that civilisation has only a 50% chance of
surviving this century.

I can't understand this line of thinking.

Human civilization has been around for ~10,000 years, and in the past two
centuries nearly every metric related to human well-being has improved (see
The Rational Optimist or Enlightenment Now).

And this isn't coming at the expense of the natural world, which is better
protected as the world gets more technologically advanced and wealthier (More
From Less by Andrew McAfee and numerous other sources).

Why would all of this reverse so rapidly in the next 80 years?

~~~
zabzonk
> Human civilization has been around for ~10,000 years

There have been many civilisations in that time period, almost all of which
have vanished. Why should this one be different?

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codekilla
I’ve worked a little bit in an idea to enable more citizen science:
[https://www.eonias.org/](https://www.eonias.org/)

Anyone with research ideas or an idea for a grant proposal please reach out.

~~~
halfeatenpie
Have you guys coordinated with some of the other agencies out there? I'm a big
fan and supporter of the Thriving Earth Exchange and part of their goals is to
help with citizen science as well as education.

~~~
codekilla
I hadn't heard of TEE, thanks for the link. We have not yet had the
opportunity to collaborate with other agencies (outside of interactions with
gov institutions), but are eager to do so.

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glitchc
Gosh, how perjorative this article is!

This quote makes me cringe: "The great ecologist E.O. Wilson avers that to be
effective in some scientific fields it’s actually best not to be too bright."

Certainly there's merit in exercising a certain degree of rigour, much of
scientific work can be boring, but yeesh, "not too bright" sums up the old
boys' club right there doesn't it? If you can't be judged on merit, what will
you be judged on, eh?

And then there's this doozy: "Only geniuses (or cranks) head straight for the
grandest and most fundamental problems."

Completely ignoring the fact that understanding that a particular problem is
the grandest in the field requires a modicum of understanding of the field
itself. And should we condemn someone to make their life's calling no bolder
than coming up with a better lamp-post or cataloguing all the insects in the
garden?

Finally, a nugget of truth in this travesty: "Fifty years ago, my generation
benefited from the fact that the science profession was still growing
exponentially, riding on the expansion of higher education. Then, the young
outnumbered the old; moreover, it was normal (and generally mandatory) to
retire by one’s mid-60s."

Emphasis [mine] on _mandatory_. Let's bring that back. Speaking of which,
Martin, why haven't you retired yet??

I would love to tear this article apart, quote by quote. But, as a practicing
scientist, I, quite frankly, lack the bandwidth.

~~~
Gatsky
I have found all articles like this written by senior established scientists
can be summarised as “Looks like things aren’t as good as they used to be.
Anecdote about old scientists 1, 2, 3. Science is important. The end.” They
never say anything about actual scientists born after 1975. This is the very
definition of pontification.

~~~
buzzkillington
Because it's so depressing.

When I was at my old physics lab I did a back of the envelope calculation for
how much I was getting paid an hour given the work they expected me to do.

It was less than I would have made flipping burgers.

That was the end of my scientific career.

>I have known more people whose lives have been ruined by getting a Ph.D. in
physics than by drugs.

[http://katz.fastmail.us/scientist.html](http://katz.fastmail.us/scientist.html)

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B1FF_PSUVM
_[...] Once, when Eddington presented his ideas in a lecture in Holland, a
young scientist in the audience asked his older colleague,

“Do all old physicists go off on crazy tangents when they get old?”

No, the older scientist answered, “A genius like Eddington may perhaps go nuts
but a fellow like you just gets dumber and dumber.” [...]_

------
j7ake
Nice article, I wonder if there are good examples of significant basic
research being done by outsiders as hobbyists and amateurs ?

I imagine in mathematics this would be possible, but increasingly less likely
as the research becomes more capital intensive

~~~
btrettel
[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Independent_scientist#Notable_...](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Independent_scientist#Notable_independent_scientists)

In my own field, fluid dynamics, Robert Kraichnan is very well respected and
spent the majority of his career working as an independent scientist. As you
suggested, math is cheap, so Kraichnan was a theorist.

This seems to be the largest online forum for independent scientists:
[https://forum.igdore.org/](https://forum.igdore.org/)

------
mrr54
>And another thing: Only geniuses (or cranks) head straight for the grandest
and most fundamental problems. You should multiply the importance of the
problem by the probability that you’ll solve it and maximize that product.

This echoes something Terry Tao said:[0]

>There is a particularly dangerous occupational hazard in this subject: one
can become focused, to the exclusion of other mathematical activity (and in
extreme cases, on non-mathematical activity also), on a single really
difficult problem in a field (or on some grand unifying theory) before one is
really ready (both in terms of mathematical preparation, and also in terms of
one’s career) to devote so much of one’s research time to such a project.

The "don't be too bright" advice matches what something Terry's said as
well:[1]

>Does one have to be a genius to do mathematics?

>The answer is an emphatic _NO_. In order to make good and useful
contributions to mathematics, one does need to work hard, learn one’s field
well, learn other fields and tools, ask questions, talk to other
mathematicians, and think about the “big picture”. And yes, a reasonable
amount of intelligence, patience, and maturity is also required. But one does
_not_ need some sort of magic “genius gene” that spontaneously generates ex
nihilo deep insights, unexpected solutions to problems, or other supernatural
abilities.

Nowhere do they say that you shouldn't care about, think about, or try to
solve big important unsolved problems. The point is that there is a lot of
work out there that isn't the grand fundamental problems, that it's still
really important work, and that you probably aren't ready to tackle those
problems yet. Give them a go, but don't spend years of your early career
trying to solve the Riemann hypothesis, because that's the route to publishing
your work on vixra.

[0]: [https://terrytao.wordpress.com/career-advice/dont-
prematurel...](https://terrytao.wordpress.com/career-advice/dont-prematurely-
obsess-on-a-single-big-problem-or-big-theory/) [1]:
[https://terrytao.wordpress.com/career-advice/does-one-
have-t...](https://terrytao.wordpress.com/career-advice/does-one-have-to-be-a-
genius-to-do-maths/)

