...or perish.

[greatblondelf]

Hey everyone, looks like my paper:

Characteristics of multiprocessing MCNP5 on small Personal Computer clusters, is going to be puublished in the next issue of the Journal of Instrumentation (JINST) - http://jinst.sissa.it/jinst/help/helpLoader.jsp?pgType=about ( Read more... )

Comments

[guenievre]

Endurance is an underrated element in genius, I believe. I'm remembering a recent conversation that contrasted the "American dream" with the Japanese work ethic. The way I understand it, the American dream assigns a great deal of importance to the "big break": some showy, impressive feat of brilliance with immediate payoffs. Conversely, the Japanese philosophy seems more interested in changing the small, more mundane components of life, and reaching goals through time. I hadn't realized just how much I carried the American perspective within my own approach to life, but I think that such a view isn't conducive to scientific discovery. Or, as despair.com so eloquently put it, "Genius is 1% inspiration and 99% perspiration, which is why engineers sometimes smell really bad. (physicists, fortunately, seem disposed to direct a bit of that effort toward showering).

Regarding the parapsychology experiments you mentioned: I'm most definitely interested in working through ideas. You're talking to someone who's fairly starved for this sort of discussion; I'd love to play with ideas, although you'll probably find mine considerably less developed than yours. I know enough about parapsychology to converse intelligently (I hope), but I've had little opportunity to seriously consider the sorts of methodologies you might be applying. However, I'd be delighted to offer what I can, so please let me know when you're disposed to discuss things, and we shall talk.

[greatblondelf]

Honestly, I hadn't considered that aspect of the "american dream" so completely before. Perhaps foolishly, I had thought the "dream" revolved around a strong work ethic, and the gradual accumulation of resources and strength, because of an ever-increasing set of skills and abilities. Now that I think about it, I realize that that's closer to my image of what "everyone should want," than what they actually do. That aside, there is a great deal of failure (or, as I like to think of it, "becoming familiar with what is wrong") involved in science, to the point that many strong students who are mostly used to doing homework problems (and doing them correctly) end up an emotional shambles when dealing with all the myriad wrong turns that can be made in the process of actual investigation. Even so, the necessary endurance does pay some major dividends, in the end. So often, in the course of learning, people who "need to always be right" end up becoming people who "quit as soon as they're wrong." Although this sounds totally counter-intuitive to the public's view of them, some of teh most humble people I've ever met (in terms of actually letting their opinion be changed when they are wrong) are scientists. Generally, they really like "having the right answer," a lot more than "being thought of as right today."

Sounds like a plan. Are you around at all this weekend?

[guenievre]

I think there exist Americans with the philosophy you described, but there aren't nearly as many of them as you or I might hope. ]

To my mind, research seems to primarily involve finding out what doesn't work, and combining the process of elimination with flashes of intuition in order to discover something cool (actually, you have to do that to discover things that aren't so cool, too; where's the justice?). People who need to always be right don't last long, from what I've seen: they either find a smaller pond, or muddy up their own corner of the lake so you can't tell up from sideways. They miss the point of it all, really. That said, I tend to err on the other side, by assuming I'm always wrong, and they trying to find out why... which is less humility than pessimism. I'm getting better about believing my own mind, though, which is proving helpful in the lab, if nowhere else (what a surprise). But I've definitely encountered some of the humble types, and they've bolstered my faith in the potential of science; they're also great fun to work with.

This weekend: I'm leaving tomorrow for my choir's tour, and I'll be catching the 3:00 ferry back from Victoria. I'm not sure how long it'll take to return to Seattle from there, but I'm guessing early evening at best, so Saturday is probably out entirely. However, I'm free all day Sunday; would that work? Oh, and since I won't have computer access during the trip, my phone is the best (make that only) way to reach me from tomorrow on. Anyway, let me know...

[greatblondelf]

Okay, that's fine, as I have a tabletop vampire chronicle to run on saturday night, myself. I'll be sure to call you on Sunday, and see if you're in. :)

I agree with you about the pessimism issue, although I've hardly ever found a really good scientist that didn't, on some level, feel mentally inadequate. I've learned to attribute it to the elusive quality of knowledge soon to be uncovered - always just out of the mind's reach, but tantalizingly close. So we keep telling ourselves, "If I just had a bit more mental horsepower..." Honestly, some of teh smartest people I've ever known (or even heard about) have been convinced that their minds weren't worth much, which I honestly think is kinda sad.....

[guenievre]

Vampires? *perks up*

I should be in all day Sunday, so I'll talk to you then. :)

I think that's what distinguishes the better scientists; they're aware of the the moments when they have no idea why their experiment isn't working, and they're willing to say so. I'm fortunate to be working under such a person, and I find it makes a world of difference when nobody's afraid to suggest or admit that they were wrong. Because then, we can start being productive and trying to figure out why we were wrong, and we end up being more sure of ourselves when we finally think we do know what's going on.

[greatblondelf]

Ya know, now that I look at all the players in my world, I realize that the dancing, piano-playing Toreador primogen of Seattle was called Jennifer...a good friend of our Toreador Irene, who's played by Misty (my sister) in the chronicle. Little does she know that that alliance has opened a path of leverage for another of her NPC "allies" to force her to let slip a crucial bit of information, on which many lives and the fate of both cities will hinge....

Of course, the really delicious part is that, when she does it, she'll think she's acting in everyone's best interests...and so will the one who took the information...

Anyway, I think I've woven a pretty good story so far. Ever play?