People only see what they are prepared to see-- Ralph Waldo Emerson
“If I had an hour to solve a problem I'd spend 55 minutes thinking about the problem and 5 minutes thinking about solutions.” -- Albert Einstein
“Student: Dr. Einstein, Aren't these the same questions as last year's [physics] final exam? Dr. Einstein: Yes; But this year the answers are different.”
Have you ever noticed how when you are prepared to buy a car, suddenly, there are car commercials everywhere? I’ve noticed the same phenomena when I ask a question in science—now that I am attuned to a particular topic, I see articles and discussions everywhere. It may be that I’m becoming aware of a topic just as the rest of the scientific community is also starting to wrestle with a subject, perhaps because of a recently published experiment that shifts the paradigm and forces us to consider new possibilities. The danger in this, I guess, is the trap that one of my colleagues describes as “group think.” My colleague believes that conferences are NOT good for innovative thinking because the conference group moves toward consensus on a topic as the talks progress. The individuals in the group reach closure on a particular topic rather than keeping the questions open.
The Gestalt Theory of Closure is about how we fill in incomplete information based on the common templates we carry in our minds. The human mind wants—maybe needs—to complete open questions. In Joseph P. Hallinan’s book, “Why We Make Mistakes”, he refers to framework errors, where based on previous information, experiences, or backgrounds we assume a framework for making the decision when the particular situation is not analogous. I see the framework error all the time on the program I like to watch with my kids called “Mystery Diagnosis.” Almost all of the missed diagnoses result from physicians assuming the symptoms they are seeing are familiar, and if the patient does not improve, then the doctor’s answer is often “It’s in your head.” It makes me wonder if the computer Watson would NOT make these misdiagnoses because Watson does not need to make the framework assumptions but can sift through all possibilities.
The topics of questions, and closure, are even more important to me because they offer the only solution to the problem that I have wrestled with for a good portion of my life, which is “How can I get this person to see what I’m seeing?” The Zen masters have it right: The best way to achieve a new perspective--to achieve enlightenment—is to ponder a question that does not have an easy answer --that the framework required to answer the question lies outside the framework of a solution.
In science, the biggest discoveries can arise from pondering paradoxes. The answer to a paradox is often found by a profound shift of paradigm. In biology, I can think on many examples, from a re-casting of the Central Dogma to the acceptance of prions. Questions? Please.
Next Blog: Question Authority
The Gestalt Theory of Closure is about how we fill in incomplete information based on the common templates we carry in our minds. The human mind wants—maybe needs—to complete open questions. In Joseph P. Hallinan’s book, “Why We Make Mistakes”, he refers to framework errors, where based on previous information, experiences, or backgrounds we assume a framework for making the decision when the particular situation is not analogous. I see the framework error all the time on the program I like to watch with my kids called “Mystery Diagnosis.” Almost all of the missed diagnoses result from physicians assuming the symptoms they are seeing are familiar, and if the patient does not improve, then the doctor’s answer is often “It’s in your head.” It makes me wonder if the computer Watson would NOT make these misdiagnoses because Watson does not need to make the framework assumptions but can sift through all possibilities.
The topics of questions, and closure, are even more important to me because they offer the only solution to the problem that I have wrestled with for a good portion of my life, which is “How can I get this person to see what I’m seeing?” The Zen masters have it right: The best way to achieve a new perspective--to achieve enlightenment—is to ponder a question that does not have an easy answer --that the framework required to answer the question lies outside the framework of a solution.
In science, the biggest discoveries can arise from pondering paradoxes. The answer to a paradox is often found by a profound shift of paradigm. In biology, I can think on many examples, from a re-casting of the Central Dogma to the acceptance of prions. Questions? Please.
Next Blog: Question Authority
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