TOPIC: ISSUE87 - "In any field of inquiry, the beginner is more likely than the expert to make important discoveries."
WORDS: 325 TIME: 0:45:00 DATE: 2007-7-28
Is the beginner more likely than the expert to make important discoveries in any field of inquiry? With the abundant knowledge and experiences, expert seems to be more likely to make significant achievements. However, without the confinement of old systems of theories, the beginner with the will to bring about new ideas and to challenge the authority has more opportunities to make important discoveries.
Admittedly, erudite person with knowledge long-term accumulated, after widely studying other view, approaches, theories and skills in the academic world, tend to have distinct and sound insight about certain academic issues. They are able to organize all the knowledge mastered easily for the problems they want to solve. Many scientists achieved their fruition in later life. Schrodinger, for example, the founder of the famous Schrodinger's Equation which is the basic equation of the quantum theory, made his most achievement in his later forties. Without the deep understanding of the wave function and well mastering mathematics achieved in his early life, he can not succeed. In the area of literal, the successes of William Shakespeare's plays were partially attribute to the diplomatic use of delicate words and his huge vocabulary accumulated in his early life.
However, the old systematic theories also confine the thought of researchers and make them not dare to destroy any corner of the old theoretic building. They will become hesitating to any new ideas and stubborn to the old systematic theories. Einstein, for instance, made his most important achievement - relativity theory - in his twenties. He successfully defeated the old defenders about the relationship between time and space. But, when he became old, he objected to the Bore's theory that energy of atom is discrete because he became conservative.
In sum, both beginner and expert, if they master the knowledge well, have the sense of critical thinking and dare to challenge the authorities - even sometimes the authorities are themselves, they are likely to make important discoveries.