By Faiz I. Anuar
A professor of mine forwarded this interesting essay about 'stupidity' and its importance in scientific research and process. Published in April 2008, in the Journal of Cell Science, I found the article very insightful and guess I should share it with y'all.
Being a Ph.D student myself, i often wonder and couldn't agree more with the author saying that students are generally shielded from the difficulty of undertaking research until he or she admits into graduate school. Indeed, i think that the reality of any social sciences or scientific researches can be made clear if modern classes including lab were less 'cook book and more research-based.
The author also argues that it is very important for scientist/researcher to like the feeling of being stupid - either not knowing things because no one knows them and they wait to be discovered; or not knowing certain things because one's talents are different. My two cents is that exams must push the student to the very boundary of ignorance.
What are your thoughts?
