Research As Well As Climbing

I had seen this analogy inward a recent tweet.

How produce you lot solve a genuinely difficult problem? My undergrad math advisor said it's flake similar trying to climb a mountain. You circle as well as await for a path to the peak that no 1 else has noticed. Often the searcher alongside most fourth dimension as well as patience wins. Genius isn't what it appears from afar

— Bharath Ramsundar (@rbhar90) May 1, 2018

I offset liked this. But thence I grew uneasy as well as fifty-fifty disturbed past times it... I receive got been inward this describe organization (the enquiry describe organization ---not the climbing) for twenty years, as well as I notice that unfortunately reality is non that simple, idealistic, as well as egalitarian.

Climbing a mount is difficult as well as resources intensive

To climb a mountain, you lot demand to a greater extent than than a vision of a viable path.

Last year, I had read this mass titled "After the summit" past times Lei Wang. It gives life lessons learned from Lei's arduous journeying to climb the highest peak on all vii continents, including Mount Everest, as well as skiing to the North as well as South poles.

Here is what you lot demand to climb a tough mountain. I mean value this is nevertheless an incomplete listing but it is much to a greater extent than than "time as well as patience" as well as a "vision of a path to the peak".

1. Equipment... really expensive high-quality equipment... good tools are important
2. Funding (Just Google for "What produce you lot demand to climb everest?". The offset link says an Everest climb starts from $35K.)
3. Lots of grooming to acquire really fit
4. Lots of lessons to larn climbing technique
5. Training alongside personal coaches
6. Guidance from experts
7. A really capable team
8. A base of operations camp, where you lot pass weeks to acclimate
9. Experienced sherpas
10. Experience of having climbed similar mountains
11. Dedication, passion, perseverance
12. Managing your mental state

Here are the non thence glorious parts well-nigh climbing a mountain. You sacrifice a lot. You acquire your donkey kicked past times nature, you lot acquire your knuckles frozen. You demand to larn to walk alongside spiked boots, you lot larn to gear upwards ladder bridges to walk over broad as well as deep Crevasses. You larn to slumber out inward the cold, swallow shitty food. You larn dependent area as well as security processes. You brand discomfort your companion. You larn to tolerate misery.

None of this sounds enticing. But belike the worse business office is how ho-hum 99% of the climb is. You are at the summit solely for xv minutes. You receive got to notice a means to dearest the journey.


Just inward representative this is nevertheless unclear, what I wrote for climbing higher upwards maps to enquiry 1 to one, as well as the mapping is left as an do to the reader.

One matter that is non inward the climbing task-list is the demand for documentation. Maybe documentation is also of import for climbers---I don't know, but documentation/writing/publishing is a vital business office of research. You demand to demonstrate the path to others, thence that they tin dismiss encounter the result, follow-along, as well as hopefully fifty-fifty better on it.

MAD questions

1. Man, why am I e'er thence critical?

I mean value the climbing analogy is really a goodness 1 for research, but I grew unhappy well-nigh the emphasis on a really pocket-sized business office of the climbing: "looking for a path that nobody has noticed before". Being the cynic I am, I simply had to write this long slice well-nigh it. I mean value I receive got severe professional person deformation: I can't halt finding problems alongside things.

2. Ok, what well-nigh Math theorems?

For climbing steep cliffs inward theoretical math, is time, patience, as well as a vision of a path to the peak enough?

The theoretical math domain is less resources intensive. But to acquire an of import contribution you lot nevertheless demand years of grooming as well as years of thinking well-nigh the occupation inward your head. Maybe accept off the offset items 1 as well as ii inward my listing higher upwards as well as compensate for them alongside or thence increased endeavour inward the remaining items. It seems similar the mathematicians demand to develop as well as original a lot of mental tools indeed:
Here is the Wikipedia article on Wiles' solution of Fermat's terminal theorem.
I wrote this well-nigh analogies earlier:

It is non difficult to brand analogies, because all analogies are to or thence extent inaccurate. When Paul Graham made the analogy well-nigh hackers as well as painters, many people criticized as well as said that at that topographic point are many other hackers as well as vocation analogies. But analogies, spell inaccurate, tin dismiss also move useful. Analogies tin dismiss give you lot a novel perspective, as well as tin dismiss assist you lot interpret things from 1 domain to the other to cheque if it is possible to larn something from that.

I had given research as well as sudoku analogy before. I nevertheless mean value that is a goodness analogy. I volition move out it to someone else to analyze/criticize that one.

If you lot receive got to a greater extent than analogies, delight part them alongside me inward the comments.

4. What are or thence books/articles that got this right?

I of late wrote well-nigh the Crypto book. I mean value it reflected the ups as well as downs as well as valleys of expiry for the regain procedure well. I also liked Einstein's biography past times Walter Isaacson; it provided a goodness describe organization human relationship of Einstein's function habits as well as struggles. Although non a mass on research, the "War of Art" mass past times Steven Pressfield did a goodness undertaking describing the struggles as well as challenges of creative work. I gauge the Dip mass past times Seth Godin also has relevance.

But I desire a mass that delves to a greater extent than inward to the most ho-hum parts of this process. I had heard well-nigh (HT @tedherman) biologists spending years perfecting experiments on rats to brand certain it is properly designed as well as complimentary from uncontrolled factors (do cheque page 35, wow!). I desire to read a long mass well-nigh the ho-hum laborious parts of research.

5. Should nosotros move to a greater extent than cynical?

I said you lot demand a lot of resources to climb a novel mountain, but I left it at that. I didn't elaborate on the implications of this for the means enquiry is done.

A yoke years agone I had read the mass "Big Science: Ernest Lawrence as well as the Invention that Launched the Military-Industrial Complex". Since the 1930s, the scale of scientific endeavor has grown exponentially. Increasingly more, nosotros started to demand big teams, big equipment, as well as big funding for inventions. As the problems acquire to a greater extent than tricky as well as to a greater extent than specialized, it is inevitable that the enquiry gets to a greater extent than resources intensive.

Is it a losing battle to seek out to buy the farm along things to a greater extent than egalitarian, buy the farm along enquiry to a greater extent than democratized? Yes, enquiry is hard, but if 1 is really dedicated, function ho-hum hours, produce ho-hum function to train, larn the techniques, is it at all possible for her to climb the really tall mountains?

I mean value the respond is yes.

When nosotros notice that nosotros demand increasingly to a greater extent than expensive/specialized resources to move into an area, this is an indication that the expanse has incurred a lot of technical debt. Fortunately, at that topographic point is a grab upwards process, where the equipment becomes to a greater extent than affordable (e.g., cloud computing, crispr, 3d printers), as well as the esoteric techniques are simplified/explained as well as tooling is provided (e.g., motorcar learning).

So I am hopeful that it is possible to buy the farm along enquiry to a greater extent than democratized. It is also a duty for us to strive for this, otherwise it is an indication nosotros are incurring technical debt inward our enquiry field. Researchers are non fond of doing this sort of janitorial stuff as well as cleaning up, but that is the solely means to motion frontward inward a sustainable manner.

Another dandy equalizer is the emergence of novel problems as well as domains. This is what I had wrote earlier:

We are all every bit stupid. Our brains consist of 1.3 kg (3pounds) of gooey material. It is difficult to agree 10 variables inward our brains simultaneously. Our brains are really poor at reasoning well-nigh fifty-fifty really brusk concurrent programs (I know from first-hand sense :-). Our brains are also really susceptible to biases as well as fallacies.
The people you lot encounter as experts/geniuses are that means because they receive got been working/thinking/internalizing these topics for to a greater extent than than a decade. Those experts buy the farm baffled if you lot inquire them a inquiry a trivial flake exterior of the frame they are accustomed to.
So hither is the trick, "you tin dismiss score the playing acre past times working on novel things/technologies".

Share this post