What we think we know
It is known to us, humans, that the world's dynamics and processes stem from a long-lasting connection between all its players: the oceans, the atmosphere, the earthlings. However, we still have a lot to discover... Today, I want to focus on awareness of our tininess.
Even though scientific research greatly depends on external funding (but more on that in another post), any good scientist will not give up of making good science.
Silhouettes from Phylopic.
No matter how big our scientific project is, we have to acknowledge that what we know is just a speck in the whole world. In statistics, there are key concepts that help us make adequate decisions and consequently infer informative conclusions. So here are a few of them in simple words.
Population - This is the system we want to know, the whole.
Sample - This is the part of the population we get to know and must, therefore, be representative of the whole.
Inference - The conclusion made from assessing the sample and to be drawn on the population.
These key concepts set the scene for any scientist curious enough to explore the world. Even though we have now access to a multitude of fancy equipment, state-of-the-art methodology and the world wide web, we know nothing! What we know is still way too far from what we want to know, which is everything.
A good scientist will not see limitations to his/her curiosity. However, a good scientist will take into account the limitation of his/her resources and make sure that the sample is representative of the population, so that it helps him/her draw conclusions about the population.
I am not trying to say that a single scientist could possibly know everything, but we definitely try, and try, and try... No matter how thoughtless our questions may sound, if there is doubt, there is room for research, and that is the foundation for any good scientific mindset.
Humbleness and courage are thus my words of the day. We know nothing of what we want to know, but that should not make us afraid to try.
Tchauzinho, fellow readers!
