The importance of stupidity in scientific research

Martin A. Schwartz Journal of cell science 121, 1771 doi:10:1242/jcs.033340 This article talked about how the author had a friend who dropped out of the phD program because she was tried of feeling stupid everyday.. The author hwas very surprised by this because he thought she was very bright. the he goes on to talk how how he ran into problems during his project and the faculty member didn't know how to help. This eventually lead him to realize that nobody knew the answers to the questions we asked and that is why we do research. in order to determine the question that may have a huge impact on healthcare people in the world.Then goes on talk about how there two major flaws in Phd programs. One is that students don't really understand how hard it is to do good research. I really agree with this. Because every scince course I have every taken everything always works out perfectly, which is not the case in a real laboratory setting. It may take months to get a technique to work. These are not things people tell you. Secondly he thinks that students are taught how to be productively stupid.meaning that we have to realize that we don't know everything. This lack in knowledge is what drives us to continue our research. He also talks about how hard it is to get funding. -MD