Knowing the three levels of scientific discovery will end your fear of failure
Just imagine you make a scientific discovery.
Really stop and feel that for a moment.
Imagine the person closest to you is talking to you right after the public announcement that confirms your discovery.
Are they smiling at you and are you smiling back? Is your heart racing happily?
Would you laugh, feel excited, have a burst of energy?
There’s a good reason why we hope to make a discovery when we start doing science. A reason beyond the endorphins and adrenaline hit, the recognition and praise.
Scientific discoveries change the world.
We intuitively know that scientific discovery is more high impact than regular science.
Making something that matters is a desire we all share.
But in science the fear of failure can keep us from trying to have that impact, to make that discovery.
Thinking about discovery as levels that we can accumulate one at a time can take the energy out of that fear and put it back into the motivation to try.
Let’s talk about those levels, which I call discovery impact classes as part of my scientific discovery framework.
Scientific impact lies on a continuum from low to high determined by how many essential qualities a discovery captures.
A quick recap if you haven’t read the post on those qualities (check it out): what makes a scientific discovery different from regular research is that the new finding has a radical, universal, or novel quality, or some combination. Radical means it shifts our perspective. Universal means it extends our knowledge from a smaller area to a bigger one. Novel means it’s never been discovered before.
Impact classes for scientific discovery are based on the number of qualities a new finding possesses.
The more discovery qualities a science finding has, the higher, broader, and longer its impact.
I’ve identified three discovery impact classes:
Minor class discoveries possess only one of the three vital discovery qualities. So, they are radical, or universal, or novel, but not some combination. These are the easiest class of discoveries to pursue and they are just a small step up from regular research.
Major class discoveries possess at least two essential discovery qualities. For example, a major class discovery might find something new and shift our perspective about the world (be novel and radical). This discovery class can really change things, but it’s harder to achieve them.
Legacy class discoveries must have all three discovery qualities. These split the world into “before” and “after”. They bring radical, universal, and novel understanding to the table. These are the hardest class of discovery to make.
Science spans from regular research to legacy class discoveries on an incremental spectrum defined by the discovery essential qualities.
This spectrum idea is powerful because it means we can start out further down but accumulate toward a big result over time.
Think of making a discovery like building a house. You are building the support beam structure. If you need to place a nail, you can try to whack it hard and hope it goes in without getting destroyed (or smashing your finger).
Or you can tap tap tap the nail with a hammer over time. Each hit drives the nail further in toward your goal and every nail that holds make the structure more secure.
Starting with regular research and then leveling up by tap tapping at minor class discoveries, then major, then legacy is a solid way to approach your discovery goals. And you’re less likely to get hurt or break something in the process. The more hits and nails you get in the stronger your house of knowledge gets.
Understanding the classes and that discovery is on a spectrum means everything you do drives toward discovery and discovery has no end point.
We fear failure because we think of discovery as a fixed, unobtainable, high-performing and out-of-reach goal.
I call this the “Einstein or bust” mindset. We get stuck thinking that if it’s not a legacy class discovery it doesn’t count. Why try?
But the minute you get involved in science you are automatically on the discovery spectrum. And there is more than one level of discovery, each with its own meaningful impact.
It’s not possible to “fall off” or “fail out” of a spectrum.
But you can always start small and build up from where you are to make your first discovery and then bigger and bigger discoveries.
Simply put, knowing the three levels of scientific discovery will end your fear of failure because no matter where you are on the spectrum of discovery now you can build toward higher levels one small doable step at a time.
Reflection Question
If you got a phone call tomorrow saying you were being awarded the world’s biggest prize for having made a scientific discovery, what would you do that night to celebrate?
Related Links
On The Insightful Scientist (InSci) website
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How to cite this post
Bernadette K. Cogswell, “Knowing the three levels of scientific discovery will end your fear of failure”, The Insightful Scientist Blog, May 21, 2021.
[Page feature photo: Photo by Anne Nygård on Unsplash.]