Why it’s crucial that young scientists are taught the value of being wrong

[HuckleB]

https://theconversation.com/why-its-crucial-that-young-scientists-are-taught-the-value-of-being-wrong-54839

"Albert Einstein is the most famous scientist of all time. From Calgary to Cape Town the image of the wild-haired, contemplative lone genius holed up in a messy office, changing the universe, has evolved into the archetype of how society sees scientists. More than that, it has shaped the social perception of the whole scientific endeavour.

True science, we are led to believe from a very young age, is never wrong. True scientists – the Galileos, Newtons and Curies – stare into the abyss and return with deep truths about the universe we inhabit. Anything less and, well, you might as well throw in the towel. And so scientists spend their careers desperately trying to be right in every classroom, seminar and paper.

But this is not how science works. It’s not even how science is supposed to work.

The scientific method is built on four cornerstones: observation, hypothesis, experiment and the revision of the hypothesis based on the results of the experiment. The last is just a fancy way of saying “admitting that you were wrong."

..."


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A good piece that should be shared widely, IMO.

[HuckleB]

1. And not just scientists. All of us.

We live in an age where people do not want to be wrong, so they will go to extreme lengths to find and justify bad beliefs. This happens everywhere, even at DU, all too often. We can do better. It's progressive to be able to look at all the evidence, to look at new evidence, to acknowledge where our knowledge wasn't up to par. It is reactionary and conservative to do the opposite.

[Mister Ed]

2. "No amount of experimentation can ever prove me right;

a single experiment can prove me wrong."

- Albert Einstein

[HuckleB]

3. Indeed. Of course, he knows that it had to be repeated, too!

[Brother Buzz]

6. The experimenter extraordinar, Thomas Edison, had a practial approach

"I have not failed. I've just found 10000 ways that won't work." - Thomas A. Edison

[HuckleB]

9. +1,000 ...000

[True Earthling]

4. Confirmation bias...

Human nature's blind spot...because being wrong is painful and avoiding pain is a survival advantage. We are all guilty of this...less so for those whose beliefs are constructed based on scientific analysis and high standards of proof...

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Confirmation_bias

Confirmation bias, also called confirmatory bias or myside bias, is the tendency to search for, interpret, favor, and recall information in a way that confirms one's beliefs or hypotheses, while giving disproportionately less consideration to alternative possibilities.[Note 1][1] It is a type of cognitive bias and a systematic error of inductive reasoning. People display this bias when they gather or remember information selectively, or when they interpret it in a biased way. The effect is stronger for emotionally charged issues and for deeply entrenched beliefs. People also tend to interpret ambiguous evidence as supporting their existing position.

A series of experiments in the 1960s suggested that people are biased toward confirming their existing beliefs. Later work re-interpreted these results as a tendency to test ideas in a one-sided way, focusing on one possibility and ignoring alternatives. In certain situations, this tendency can bias people's conclusions. Explanations for the observed biases include wishful thinking and the limited human capacity to process information. Another explanation is that people show confirmation bias because they are weighing up the costs of being wrong, rather than investigating in a neutral, scientific way.

Confirmation biases contribute to overconfidence in personal beliefs and can maintain or strengthen beliefs in the face of contrary evidence. Poor decisions due to these biases have been found in political and organizational contexts.[2][3][Note 2]

[bhikkhu]

5. Being wrong only means that you learn something new

...which isn't necessarily painful. And I kind of feel sorry for anyone who finds it painful, though I do know what that is like (having been a normal arrogant youth at one time).

[HuckleB]

7. Indeed.

It's powerful stuff.

[greymattermom]

8. I'm a scientist

and I learned long ago to admit being wrong, and I'm wrong about something every day. It's best to figure out something is wrong before you invest years in it. These days, we do "pilot" experiments for that. It's like testing the water before you jump in.