"...Cajal notes that a contemplator will master the finest artistic techniques 'without ever feeling the slightest temptation to apply them to a new problem, or to the solution of a hotly contested issue.'" The armchair philosopher, armchair artist, armchair neuroscientist.
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Perhaps Santiago Ramón y Cajal is even referring to the armchair (or meditation cushion) contemplative. This sort of "contemplator," however, ideally brings this aesthetic appreciation with them beyond the cushion and puts their art, their discoveries, into practice.
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Then comes Ramón y Cajal's critique of the bookworm.

pic.twitter.com/p7ADK0tSzX
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The issue that Santiago Ramón y Cajal takes with this scholarly type is also his impracticality. Whether contemplative or intellectual, practical application is key. Spiritual matters are best put into practice for their liberating effects, not merely studied theoretically.pic.twitter.com/6RuIK3gR0x
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"No one would deny the fact that he who knows and acts is the one who counts, not he who knows and falls asleep." Santiago Ramón y Cajal
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"Tackle small problems first, so that if success smiles and strength increases one may then undertake the great feats of investigation." Santiago Ramón y Cajal
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Like the others lacking in practicality, the instrument addicts fetishize the sparkling allure of technology to the neglect of implementation. "They are as fascinated by the gleam of metal as the lark is with its own reflection in a mirror." Santiago Ramón y Cajalpic.twitter.com/RCr3N6HlIJ
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Meanwhile, the misfit is one whose talents are mismatched to their environment. "Instead of being abnormal, misfits are simply unfortunate individuals who have had work unsuited to their natural aptitudes imposed on them by adverse circumstances." Santiago Ramón y Cajal
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Myopic theorists afflicted with confirmation bias "live in the clouds…As soon as they happen to notice a slight, half-hidden analogy between two phenomena…they dance for joy and genuinely believe that they are the most admirable of reformers," writes Santiago Ramón y Cajal.
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"Hypotheses come and go but data remain. Theories desert us, while data defend us…In the eternal shifting of things, only they will save us from the ravages of time and from the forgetfulness or injustice of men." Santiago Ramón y Cajal
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As for the megalomaniacs, "their eagerness is rendered sterile by a fatal flaw...always submerged in feverish activity, always revising, hatching the great embryonic work," they miss their chance as others stride ahead to crack the code, writes Santiago Ramón y Cajal.pic.twitter.com/7VWyNwlGQq
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