Stupidity in Science...Do you have what it takes?

As a part of our class we were asked to read the articles “The Importance of Stupidity in Scientific Research” by M.A. Schwartz and “How to Succeed in Science: A Concise Guide for Young Biomedical Scientists” by J.S. Yewdell. I will admit that I was actually quite excited about reading these articles, even if it was mostly because the titles sounded interesting. I mean, how often does an article make stupidity sound like a good thing? I thought that the length of the articles were perfect for busy college students and the information was wonderful, at least for someone who is interested in doing research as a career. I will do my best to summarize the articles and give my thoughts in less than 1000 words, so if you really want to know what I’m talking about, check out the articles.

The title “The Importance of Stupidity in Scientific Research” really drew me in. I was mostly interested in seeing how they defined stupidity because scientists and researchers are often thought of as “super smart” or “geniuses.” This article went on to describe how students often like science in high school and college (undergraduate) because they are “good” at it. In other words, they often score well on tests, which makes them feel smart. I would say that in high school I was “good” at science. I took as many science-related classes as I could and thoroughly enjoyed almost all of them. When I started taking classes at Loras, I still enjoyed them, but not as much as I had in high school because they were harder. I actually had to study in order to learn the material. I do remember telling some of my friends that my classes made me “feel stupid.” After reading this article, I’m realizing that these feelings are okay. In fact, it mentions that I will need to get used to the feeling if I’m going to pursue a career in research. There is a lot of information in the science world and we don’t have to know and understand all of it. It helps to have at least a basic understanding of a lot of different principles, but the feeling of “stupidity” that we encounter can actually be quite helpful. It can help us to ask questions, both of ourselves, our research, and of others. This sense of “stupidity” is what helps us to keep moving forward in the science world. The article is not suggesting that we don’t try to learn, but that we choose to ask questions and investigate despite knowing what we already do. It mentions the idea that in research, we cannot even be sure if we’re asking the right questions. I invite you to ponder the following passage along with me: “Productive stupidity means being ignorant by choice. Focusing on important questions puts us in the awkward position of being ignorant. One of the beautiful things about science is that it allows us to bumble along, getting it wrong time after time, and feel perfectly fine as long as we learn something each time” (Schwartz). Do you have what it takes to be “productively stupid?” I’d like to think that I have what it takes, but I think only time will tell.

I found the second article just as thought-provoking as the first. This one was entitled “How to Succeed in Science: A Concise Guide for Young Biomedical Scientists.” As I mentioned in a previous post, I would like to have a career doing medical research, so I felt as though this article was giving me advice for the future. The first section of the article describes the perks of science, graduate school (including finding a school, program, lab, and mentor), the emphasis on skills rather than just published works, what it takes to have a career in research, and a post-doctoral work. While I’m not at the point of choosing a graduate school/program or a lab, it was still useful information. Even at the undergraduate level if one is going to do research (or even if one doesn’t want to do research), I feel as though having a good mentor or advisor is extremely helpful. The article outlines a little bit of criteria for finding such a person. I think that my mentor fits the description. J Although I’ve only been doing research for a little over a semester, I can see how the things mentioned in the article, especially about the mentor will be very important in a research career. The second part of the article describes choosing a project, as well as designing, performing, and interpreting experiments. This is still valuable information, but it doesn’t seem quite as useful right now. Should I end up in a career involving research, this will be even more useful.

Although I am still trying to figure out what I would like to do in life, I think it is good for me to read things like these articles. They give me a chance to imagine myself in a research position. Many of the qualities and attitudes that were described seemed as though they were describing me and I can definitely see myself in a position where I am developing and running my own experiments. Although I know that my path won’t be easy and it will take hard work and dedication to reach my goal of being a medical researcher, but I think this article puts it best: “[I] will never have to worry about running out of things to discover.”

 

"The Importance of Stupidity in Science"

"How to Succeed in Science: A Concise Guide for Young Biomedical Scientists" (part 1)

"How to Succeed in Science: A Concise Guide for Young Biomedical Scientists" (part 2)