The Importance of Stupidity in Science

[Reverse Transcriptase]

http://jcs.biologists.org/cgi/content/full/121/11/1771
Discussimo!

[echoplex]

"The more comfortable we become with being stupid, the deeper we will wade into the unknown and the more likely we are to make big discoveries."

I like this quote. I think alot of this is about letting go of our obsession with our ego. It's a vanity of sorts that much of society is too concerned with impressing others to be willingly humbled by how much they don't know. It's kind of the reason we have that reflex that makes us say "I knew that!" when we really didn't. We want others to think we're smart, instead of just being smart, which actually involves knowing just how stupid you are.:)

[Reverse Transcriptase]

I sent my dad the article, he replied: "Nice article. Hope you are feeling stupid." ><

[chocolate]

I LOVE this article!! I can really relate to the author. Being a grad student is so humbling, and every day I feel like I am a big phony and don't know anything. But the payoff is that there's always that fun part of starting something new and learning more and more and more! It's so much fun I don't know how I'd get along being smart. I accepted long ago that I wasn't smart, and I don't have a problem with it.

Two practical advantages of being stupid:

1. It's important sometimes to approach a problem naively: in this way you can see things other may have missed because they were too smart to try what you did.

2. Everyone around you is smarter than you so you can always learn from others.

[Red Mage]

I didn't read it because it's too long and wordy. However, I can tell you how important stupidity is without reading it. Pretty important.

[Ermine]

that reminds me...

[Trayal]

While I think I can appreciate what this article is going for...

stu⋅pid
adj.
lacking or marked by lack of intellectual acuity

...it would make a lot more sense, to me at least, if the word "stupid" was exchanged for:

ig⋅no⋅rant
adj.
1. lacking in knowledge or training; unlearned
2. uninformed; unaware

To me, stupidity is a attitude or frame of mind, not what one knows; simple intellectual laziness which results in willful ignorance. Conversely, being smart is realizing and understanding your limitations, which then opens the door for acquiring knowledge.

Or, did I miss the point completely? :)

[polarmonk]

If they mean ignorant, then yes, I agree.
There's something quite satisfying about knowing that you're ignorant. It makes you more open minded, perhaps. It also stops you from making assumptions. Intelligence/Stupidity is almost impossible to gauge, because it's based on human perception, which is definitely flawed.

[Tyria]

The more we know the more we realize and appreciate what we don't know. No matter how talented we are in our field, there exists at least one field in which we totally suck. It's a good thing everyone isn't the same :)