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Slimming down my browser again.

Myth #4: Scientists follow the scientific method as it was taught in high school: Observation, Question, Research, Hypothesis, Experiment, Conclusion Truth: In reality, the way scientists work is more like: Fiddle Around, Find Something Weird, Retest It, It Doesn’t Happen a Second Time, Get Distracted Trying to Make It Happen Again, Go to Chipotle, Recall the Original Purpose of Your Research, Start Over, Apply for Funding for a Better Instrument, Publish Some Interim Fluff, Learn That Someone Has Scooped You, Take Your Lab in a New Direction, Apply for Funding for the New Direction, Collaborate With an Icelandic Poet, Eat Chipotle With an Icelandic Poet, Co-Write Scientifically Accurate Ode to Walrus, Get Interested in Something Unrelated, Apply for Funding for Something Unrelated, Notice That 20 Years Have Passed.

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  1. I really love that the myth debunked is how we work as artists as well! You really hardly have to change a word. I just documented something about my own process and how it has followed a very similar research vein since I started 10 or 12 years ago, but has arced and spun off different tangents that were also very enlightening and rewarding. The typical representation of great artists as “inspired” is bunk really — you just get to work and, by doing so, make things happen.

    PS: I love your tab-closing posts. They are tab-openers for me!

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