5.2 Scientific Optimism

We introduce what may be called the "gas pedal of scientific progress"—a can-do spirit as a psychological trick to help one stick to a problem long enough to solve it. We motivate students with a relentless sense of optimism about their own ability to solve difficult problems, as well as demonstrate the practical importance of iterative progress.

The Lesson in Context

This lesson teaches students that one's optimistic and persistent attitude towards scientific problem solving is just as important as understanding the philosophical underpinnings of the scientific method. Throughout the semester, we teach students how science or human reasoning can go awry, and it is important to balance this healthy skepticism with the optimism that iterative progress is still possible in problems big and small. Students will experience this hands-on in an activity in which they have to solve various puzzles that build upon each other.

Relation to Other Lessons

Earlier Lessons

1.2 Shared Reality and Modeling

Knowing that our perception and measurement of external reality are inevitably imperfect, it is still possible to collectively make iterative progress towards improving our understanding of the shared reality.

3.2 Calibration of Credence Levels

Scientific predictions are inevitably imprecise, but the precision (and accuracy) can be numerically estimated (credence level) and iteratively improved over time.
Persistance and a "can-do" attitude in problem solving can be developed by harboring a growth mindset and recognizing the value of iterative progress.

Later Lessons

8.1 Orders of Understanding

Understanding a complex system fully can seem intractable. Often, a first step in understanding is to make a first-order description of the system. One can then make incremental improvements by tackling second- or third-order effects.

10.1 Confirmation Bias

One often mistakes scientific progress as a series of correct ideas confirmed by experiments. In reality, experiments are often designed to falsify a given idea, and only a small number of ideas survive. The rejection of ideas by experimentation is itself a form of incremental scientific progress, rather than failure.

Takeaways

After this lesson, students should

Appreciate how the "can-do" spirit of inquiry (and inventive experimental techniques) counter-balances the difficulties of discovery/innovation.
Appreciate that iterative work on a problem is the norm in science and the most productive approach (and in some cases the only way of being productive), even when it looks like it's not getting anywhere. Persisting on difficult problems will eventually pay off with interesting insights.
Recognize that an optimistic view of the tractability of a problem and/or one's ability to solve it eventually can in itself affect one's actual capacity to solve the problem.
Feel optimistic about the possibility of "enlarging the pie" in societal problems, rather than resorting to playing a "zero-sum game."

Scientific Optimism

The can-do attitude of problem solving that pushes one to persist in working iteratively on a problem.

Scientific optimism does not refer to the belief that science is always right, or that it can solve all the world's problems, or that one is inherently intellectually superior to others.

Iterative Progress

The practice of checking how an idea/solution/policy is playing out, and adjusting it in light of new evidence, often repeatedly or in frequent small steps.

Meno

"I do not insist that my argument is right in all respects, but I would contend as far as I can, in both word and deed, that we will be better people, braver and less idle, if we believe one must search for the things one does not know, rather than if we believe it is not possible to find out what we do not know and that we must not search for it."

- Plato, in the voice of Socrates

Cosmic Distance Ladder

Over time cosmologists have been able to measure distances to farther and farther objects. Several centuries ago the best that could be done was having approximate distances to the moon and other planets. But, by gradually building on each others techniques, we now know the distances of the farthest objects in the observable universe. They can start by using parallax to get estimates based on how the relative locations of stars shift in the night sky as the Earth rotates around the sun. Then, by comparing the luminosity of ever brighter (and rarer) objects of consistent known brightness, astronomers have been able to create a series of standard candles that make up a "cosmic distance ladder" reaching all the way to the edges of the known universe. Astronomers have now developed several independent cosmic distance ladders. But, the classic one begins with using nearer and farther Cepheid variables then eventually type 1A supernova to measure the most distant objects.

Poincaré Conjecture

After proving the longstanding Poincaré Conjecture and being offered the prestigious Fields Medal, Grigori Perelman rejected the prize, stating that his work merely built upon his predecessor Richard Hamilton's. Even though it is the final triumph that is publicised and celebrated, it is the countless hours of incremental work that lays the foundation for that triumph.

Katalin Kariko

The daughter of a butcher in Hungary, decided she wanted to be a scientist even though she'd never met one. She spent her entire career studying mRNA, convinced it could be used to make vaccines. As grant after grant was rejected, and the University of Pennsylvania rejected her tenure, Dr. Kariko nevertheless persisted in her project. Recently, in her 60s, she and her colleagues made the breakthrough that led to the mRNA vaccine for Covid-19. Scientists are now hopeful that this breakthrough may lead to other vaccines for a wide variety of major diseases, including malaria, cancer, and AIDS. (Info)

Many people have tried to solve this problem of increasing illiteracy and failed, so we shouldn't throw more good money after bad — some problems are just intractable.

Even tiny improvements can be quite substantial in changing people's lives. Additionally, even though progress may be slow or invisible (only in certain communities, etc.), its cumulative effect can be enormous.

Scientists have been trying to figure out what dark matter is for decades, and we still basically have no idea. We'll probably never know, so it's not worth working on.

We may not know exactly what dark matter is. But, scientists have managed to substantially expand the list of things it isn't. This is still progress and could ultimately give us real insight about the nature of dark matter.

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