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There's something like this as well in academia or at least science: because only successful studies get published (the file drawer problem), it's easy for some
by etbebl 2y ago
There's something like this as well in academia or at least science: because only successful studies get published (the file drawer problem), it's easy for someone who's read a lot of papers but not gotten their hands dirty yet to think that a technique is much easier and less failure prone than it actually is. Of course it's necessary to try new things and every so often they succeed, but if there are 50 papers on some system and none of them have been able to answer a question that seems obviously important, there's probably a reason why. I realized this too late and am now dealing with the consequences as a senior grad student.
- ramenbytes 2y agoSoon-to-be grad student here. Could you expand a bit? Is there anything you recommend doing ahead of time to weed out some of these tarpits, or is the already mentioned heuristic the best we've got so far?
- etbebl 2y agoI think the best way is to seek out the advice of people familiar with what you're trying to do and learn from their past mistakes/take their thoughts on what is a good it bad idea very seriously. My main problem was that I was branching out into techniques that neither my advisor nor any of his collaborators was familiar with. I underestimated the importance of talking to and learning directly from the people who know how to do it. Later I tried to make contact with some of those people, but had limited success because they are protective of their time and expertise (though if you're lucky you might find someone who's unusually generous).
- ramenbytes 2y agoSolid, actionable advice. Thank you, and good luck!