You don’t have to be “brainy” to be a scientist
By Andrew Akbashev
You don’t have to be “brainy” to be a scientist. Some quotes from the book by Peter Medawar, a biologist and a Nobel laureate. (+ my comments)
1. “…one does not need to be terrifically brainy to be a good scientist…there is nothing in experimental science that calls for great feats of ratiocination or a preternatural gift for deductive reasoning” – There is a perception that science is for super-smart people. This is certainly not true. Many brilliant works and discoveries required persistence, basic understanding and risk taking, NOT huge smartness. A scientist should NOT know in advance what to expect in a study.
2. “As there is no knowing in advance where a research enterprise may lead and what kind of skills it will require as it unfolds, this process of ‘equipping oneself’ has no predeterminable limits and is bad psychological policy” – In other words: Stop perfecting your technical skills and learning extra skills without having a particular problem to solve. The problem should dictate the techniques and skills. Learn as you go!
3. “Too much book learning may crab and confine the imagination, and endless poring over the research of others is sometimes psychologically a research substitute, much as reading romantic fiction may be a substitute for real-life romance….The beginner must read, but intently and choosily and not too much.” – This is something that I keep repeating to others myself. The more you read, the more confined your thinking becomes. You may develop intuition and become a very knowledgable person, but then your chances of getting “out of the box” and starting risky research endeavors become smaller.
4. “Scientific collaboration is not at all like cooks elbowing each other from the pot of broth; nor is it like artists working on the same canvas, or engineers working out how to start a tunnel simultaneously from both sides of a mountain in such a way that the contractors do not miss each other in the middle and emerge independently at opposite ends.” – Collaboration is about brainstorming ideas and helping each other get outside the box and find a new solution to a problem. Collaboration is NOT about publishing more papers and improving your “academic throughput”.
5. “A scientist will normally have contractual obligations to his employer and has always a special and unconditionally binding obligation to the truth.” – Science implies commitment to seeking the truth. And NOT to multiplying the number of papers, winning lots of awards, or doing meaningless research.
6. “I cannot give any scientist of any age better advice than this: the intensity of the conviction that a hypothesis is true has no bearing of whether it is true or not.” – Essentially, if you are convinced your hypothesis is true, it does NOT mean it is true. 📍 In a nutshell: Don’t be afraid. Dive into research. Be somewhat amateurish. Brainstorm. Be risky. Seek the truth, not numbers.
