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More often than not, I find myself in research planning conversations…where the underlying science is not what’s causing concern. It’s not the technicalities or the fundamentals, not the feasibility or the focus of the experiment. Instead, many a researcher I’ve help mentor battles with whether or not to conduct an experiment…in case it fails.

It reminded me of a captivating quote I’ve since added to the Preface of my book. There is no way to better summarize the situation than to read the quote as if spoken by the frightened researcher:

“I am enchanted by the prospect and haunted by the reality of scientific research.”
Jonathan M. Miller (physician, director, author)

When all’s accounted for - consumables, time, personnel support, equipment - there remains scenarios aplenty in which people convince themselves that an experiment is hypothetically hopeless. Their crystal ball assumes experimental failure and conflates it with a reality that hasn’t yet come to pass. More than that, the underappreciated value of tinkering and serendipity play little part in the procrastination or paralysis. What might be discovered by accident? What might a mishap in set-up unveil? When is prediction more perilous than play?

Consider how you might help those in your care overcome the fear that haunts their action.

To learn, we must do.

If you have a question for Marc, upload an audio recording for it to be featured on a later Q&A episode!