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“Judge a man by his questions rather than his answers.” –Voltaire
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“To become a great researcher, don’t answer your questions, but question your answers. When you need to know the facts, you must inquire, not just make assumptions. Many people don’t want to ask questions because it exposes them to confront the reality of their circumstance, which may scare them. Moreover, asking questions forces them into the laborious task of thinking, which is why they fail to ask questions.” –Jun Liu
- Savage’s approach to research, via Mosteller（copy from Jun Liu’s webpage which is from Jon McAuliffe’s):
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As soon as a problem is stated, start right away to solve it. Use simple examples.
Keep starting from first principles, explaining again and again what you are trying to do.
Believe that this problem can be solved and that you will enjoy working it out.
Don’t be hampered by the original problem statement. Try other problems in its neighborhood; maybe there is a better problem than yours.
Work an hour or so on it frequently. Talk about it; explain it to people.
- You and your research – Richard Hamming
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Do not be afraid to do first-class research.
Courage to think hard about your genuinely curious questions, dare to ask the impossible questions (Shannon’s case).
Do not get the big thing right off, start with small basics and let it compound.
Great scientists tolerate ambiguity.
Take subconscious to your advantage (e.g. deeply immmerse into the problem, think of it in the sleep)
Ask “What are the important problems in my field?”; keep a list of 10-20 important problems and look for an attack.
Learn to sell your work
“Great thoughts time”: Devote some small time of one day in a week ONLY to think and understand the bigger problems in the field, what’s important, what’s not.
Drive + commitment > talent