I find that people have a very thick illusion of understanding when it comes to academic work. It is very difficult to understand that everyday progress in say,

I find that people have a very thick illusion of understanding when it comes to academic work. It is very difficult to understand that everyday progress in say, developmental neurobiology, happens largely by dint of professionals working 45-50 hour weeks. It's hard work, it requires a great deal of training, intelligence, and diligence. It doesn't require genius, as much as it requires hard work and a little good fortune. The illusion of understanding leads us to boil down knowledge creation to "aha" moments, when it is in reality a long slog of reading, managing a lab, reviewing articles, doing lab work, writing, teaching, debugging stats or code, thinking, shopping for lab equipment, etc. all of which are messy human tasks that actually constitute advancing knowledge.