Sometimes your intuition is wrong, and you can follow the wrong path for a very long time because the reality doesn't fit your intuition (the history of science

Sometimes your intuition is wrong, and you can follow the wrong path for a very long time because the reality doesn't fit your intuition (the history of science is littered with examples). But yes, the scientific method is: make a hypothesis, collect data, test your hypothesis, revise, do it again.