✳flâneur — a map of the web's best reading

Quick thoughts on research

michaelnotebook.com · 3,615 words · saved by 11 readers

A colleague asked me for a short list of heuristics or principles for doing good creative research work. Here's three hours of stream-of-consciousness thinking in response, lightly revised -- I was surprised by the strength of my feeling! It would ideally be heavily revised and improved, but it seemed better to release an imperfect set of notes than to await a hypothetical improved version. Context: informed by my work in theoretical physics, computer science, tools for thought, and metascience; the latter two are very much proto-fields. Caveat emptor: it feels like bragging to be putting such thoughts to screen, especially since I'm so often frustrated by the progress (or lack thereof) in my work! But I also believe creative research is something we researchers are all in together, and that we'd all be better off if everyone shared their thoughts on how to do it, what we find works for us, what doesn't, where we get frustrated, and so on. So I'd love to see other documents like this!

Quick thoughts on research life notes A colleague asked me for a short list of heuristics or principles for doing good creative research work. Here's three hours of stream-of-consciousness thinking in response, lightly revised -- I was surprised by the strength of my feeling! It would ideally be heavily revised and improved, but it seemed better to release an imperfect set of notes than to await a hypothetical improved version. Context: informed by my work in theoretical physics, computer science, tools for thought, and metascience; the latter two are very much proto-fields. Caveat emptor: it

Explore this link on the map →

saved by

related reading