Scientific thinking requires irrationality of intuition

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Science is based on coherent reasoning, while intuition follows a more incoherent path. But scientific research might not be successful if scientists don’t listen to their gut instincts every now and then.

Science, by definition, is based on logic, reasoning, and rigor. But we’ve all heard of Archimedes’ famous Eureka! The moment when, while bathing, he suddenly understood what was known as the principle of Archimedes. This anecdote may or may not be true, but it illustrates the catalyzing role intuition can play in scientific research.

Intuition is not logical and does not always manifest itself clearly. It’s that lightbulb moment that the data suddenly makes sense.

In the EPFL laboratory of Bruno Lemaitre, Professor of Immunology and Head of the Global Health Institute at EPFL, scientists are studying the genes of Drosophila flies in order to better understand their immune response and gain insights into the immune system of mammals. The scientists work very methodically and still leave room for intuition. “Our research is similar to a police investigation,” says Lemaitre. “We test different hypotheses, and when they turn out to be wrong, we use our imagination to come up with other ideas. Then our intuition helps us sort through the different ideas and see if any of them could explain what we were observing. Finally, we carry out analyzes to check whether our new hypotheses make sense. “

Research decisions based on intuition

In the end, it is the scientists themselves and their complex human nature who keep science alive and driving it forward. “Like any other activity, research is based on impressions and feelings,” says Lemaitre. “If we only performed logical tasks like a computer, we wouldn’t make new discoveries.”

We use intuition to discover and logic to prove.

How exactly does intuition play into the research process? Frédéric Blanc, an EPFL professor and particle physicist, believes he guides many of the decisions made by scientists. “For example, if we want to build a particle detector, we read the literature and use the experience of other physicists to help us make a selection,” he says. “But we rely on intuition to choose which type of model to test first. And when it comes to choosing the size and geometry of the detector, our intuition helps us to make the inevitable compromises and decide which parameters have priority over others. “

Blanc is currently studying particle interaction as part of CERN’s Large Hadron Collider Beauty (LHCb) experiment, which is generating dozens of terabytes of data. “As researchers, we need to have a feel for which analytical method is best for our data,” he says. Keep your fingers crossed that the team at CERN picked the right one, because the type of B meson decay they are interested in only occurs once in a billion times.

Intuition also influences the direction scientists take their research. This was shown in a Study by the Laboratory for Molecular Simulation (LSMO) at EPFL. This laboratory specializes in metal-organic frameworks (MOFs), which are porous chemical “sponges” made of metal ions and organic compounds that are used to absorb certain gases. However, the synthesis and simulation of new MOFs is a tedious process that could require millions of experiments to create just one MOF. Since scientists don’t have that much time, they have to make certain decisions beforehand about which experiments to conduct. To study how scientists make these decisions, the LSMO team used a high-powered robotic synthesizer to reconstruct the process of developing the MOF called HKUST-1. The robot put together all sorts of failed or partially successful experiments to make an HKUST-1 molecule. The team found that even if the robot processed about 30 reactions a day, it would still take nearly 27 million years to go through all possible combinations of reactions. This shows the benefits scientists get from using their intuition and that of their colleagues to guide their research.

Collective intuition

According to Lemaitre, scientific discoveries often result from combining the intuition of several experts. “If there is a group of people working together in a lab who are all excited about a particular topic, there’s a good chance that something will come out of it,” he says. Because they will talk about it all the time and new ideas will arise from these discussions. “In that case, a new discovery could be the culmination of the group’s collective intelligence,” says Lemaitre. His colleague Blanc also points out the water cooler effect. These are “the casual discussions where people spontaneously chat about their work without necessarily expecting it to lead anywhere,” he says. “That’s usually the case when breakthroughs happen. It’s a kind of collective intuitive development. “

Teaching and promoting intuition

Fortunately, intuition isn’t just a gift you’re born with. It is even taught at EPFL. Donna Testerman, a researcher and professor in mathematics, tells her students that it is important to cultivate their intuition. “Many students think math is a rigid subject where you just repeat what others have discovered before you. What they don’t know is that new discoveries are being made all the time in mathematics, just like in any other field, ”she says. “If you think you’re into something, of course you want to prove it. And in trying to prove it, you may run into an obstacle that will lead you to come up with counterexamples. And at the end of the process you have found something new. “

Likewise, Blanc encourages his students to be humble about their intuition. “At first students say things like, ‘I think this is how it works,’ but then I point out that what they are saying is just an assumption. If you’re right, great. If not, you have to ask yourself why you were wrong. ”Intuition can thus also be the starting point for thinking broadly about a problem. And to develop intuition means to feel your way step by step to the solution.

Students must be humble about their intuition. If you are wrong about something, ask yourself why, get back on the right track and keep practicing.

There is another approach that Blanc takes with his students – a fairly pragmatic one for a professor in an abstract subject like particle physics. He encourages them to visualize the concepts they are studying. “For example, if you try to imagine a particle detector and the particles that are traversing it – the curve they are following, their trajectory, and so on – and you can picture all of this in your head, that will help you understand the physics behind it To understand your experiment. “To better understand its results and, above all, to guide your intuition.”

Lemaitre often gets on a tangent in his lectures when he tells his students what life is like as a scientist and what goes on in a research laboratory. “Some students love it while others ask me to stick with the topic,” he says. He believes this is another way to develop students’ intuition, built on the experience, the knowledge they acquire and how they see the world around them

Do Eureka moments really happen or is it just marketing?

Lemaitre and Blanc agree that there are indeed moments when the light bulb goes on and you suddenly understand something without really knowing why. “It’s like jumping a logical gap,” says Lemaitre. “And there is no turning back. Everything takes on a different meaning, and once you understand how a system works, everything fits together

So intuition is clearly one of the core elements of scientific research. The process, however, is a little more complicated than if an apple falls on its head and suddenly grasps gravity.

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