Making a scientific discovery isn’t just for Einsteins
There’s a hidden catch to reading inspirational stories about individuals.
Reading them makes you feel humans can do anything.
Reading them can also make you feel like, any human but you can do anything.
It’s a paradox hidden inside reading the stories that has to do with the details. The more details we read the more real the achievements seem. But also, the more different the person and/or experiences that lead to them seem to be from who we are.
So, after reading an upbeat story about how Albert Einstein said something cool and then discovered something amazing, you can feel both inspired and demoralized at the same time.
The reason is because these stories focus on individuals more than capacities.
That makes sense because biographies and inspirational quote sites are selling peoples’ personalities as much as their ideas.
That’s not a bad thing. It’s just not helpful when you’re trying to learn practical discovery skills.
Instead, I want you to become the Einstein in your own story. So, we need to focus on things a little differently.
Let’s talk about human capacities and discovery.
If you read widely, you will see a lot of ideas about how to do something new.
You’ll see buzz words like innovation, invention, creativity, and insight.
When it comes to a productivity framework for scientific discovery, the most helpful way to think about these concepts is to narrow in on four and recognize them as human capacities.
Capacities are the mental and physical abilities and skills we have to get things done.
So, discovery capacities are abilities, that all people have, to discover new things.
I’ve identified four discovery capacities.
What makes each discovery capacity unique is that we are motivated to apply that ability for different reasons. So, we create different results depending on which capacity we use.
On the other hand, what every discovery capacity shares is that it gives us a way to create new things in science and technology.
Here are the four discovery capacities:
1. Innovation. You apply your capacity to innovate when you are motivated to improve the way something works. Better. Faster. Stronger. That’s all about innovation.
2. Invention. When you are motivated to build something useful you use your capacity for invention. An idea brought to life is the heart of invention.
3. Insight. Being motivated to get a more accurate understanding of the real world is when you deploy your capacity for insight. Insight gets rid of being wrong, being oblivious, and being confused.
4. Scientific Discovery. If you are motivated to explain the natural world then you will use your capacity for scientific discovery. What exists? Why does it exist? How does it work? Scientific discovery is finding the answers to those questions.
Although making scientific discoveries is our focus, all the capacities have a role to play in discovery. They build on and support each other.
My first taste of thinking about discovery was reading Walter Isaacson’s biography of Albert Einstein 12 years ago. My second was reading a book by Hans Ohanian called Einstein’s Mistakes a few months later.
For a long time, I held these two images in my mind. That and the famous photo of Einstein sticking out his tongue (which you might know too).
Making discoveries, through the lens of Einstein, seemed like something only mischievous, extraordinary people do.
But then I started hearing a phrase from one of my family members (they’re not in science).
It’s called “capacity-building”.
The United Nations defines capacity-building as, “the process of developing and strengthening the skills, instincts, abilities, processes and resources…to survive, adapt, and thrive in a fast-changing world”.
I realized that to make discoveries we need exactly that.
The skills and processes to survive, adapt, and thrive in a fast-changing information world.
That’s why I call them discovery capacities. Because strengthening them is a capacity-building exercise for those who want to make scientific discoveries.
The four discovery capacities all support each other.
Sometimes you need to build a new tool (invent) to fill a knowledge gap (insight). Or you may need to improve how a system works (innovate) to create space for new knowledge to be found (scientific discovery).
Luckily, we all start out with a basic ability to do all these things.
That’s because basic human survival requires the skill to observe, adapt, build, and learn.
As we grow, and make new learning choices, we may specialize or strengthen some capacities more than others. But we never lack, or lose, those discovery capacities all together, unless we suffer a catastrophic injury.
We can also learn and develop specific techniques to improve our capacity.
But just remember, you’re always improving on a basic ability you already have. Not starting from zero. You’ve already got what it takes. But what you’ve got can get better.
Simply put, making a scientific discovery is something anyone can do, not just a group of elite science performers.
Discovering new things is a set of core human capacities we are born with.
So, own it. Grow it.
Keep your discovery capacities strong through practice.
Become your own Einstein.
Reflection Question
Building up your discovery capacity is about practice. Practicing which discovery capacity annoys you the most and why? Which one excites you the most and why?
Related Links
On The Insightful Scientist (InSci) website
Blog (The Scientist’s Log)
- Mini-series overview post
- —
- Previous mini-series post
- n/a
- Next mini-series post
- When applying the innovation mantra of doing it “better” in science stops you from getting it done
- Other mini-series posts
- When building your own tools is the way to build new science ideas
- Changing how you think of scientific insight transforms impostor syndrome into expertise
- Mega-series overview post
- Top related posts
Research (Research Spotlight)
- —
How-To’s (The Scientist’s Repertoire)
- —
Infographics (The Illustrated Scientist)
- —
Printables (Spark Points)
- —
Other blogs
Bulletproof Musician (performance psychology)
zen habits (achieving purpose)
Farnam Street (famous insights)
Around the web
- —
How to cite this post
Bernadette K. Cogswell, “Making a scientific discovery isn’t just for Einsteins”, The Insightful Scientist Blog, December 4, 2020.