michael_nielsen

This makes me wonder what is the intellectual equivalent of "Where there's muck there's brass"? Deep truths overlooked because of their superficial unpalatability.

if an intellectual aesthetic is conditioned by epiphanies and other endorphin rushes then we'll filter out what appears to be unrewarding -- that's a pretty strong motivator. if i had been motivated to write "confessions of an epiphany addict" i could have posted a link.

Lost in Math by @skdh is a great read about this problem in physics if you haven't read it yet.

I find a strong attraction to fields I have a naive understanding of and I enjoy the excitement of reconciling that new information with what has been tested/accepted as true. But real joy is rooting out inconsistent models.

This has an exploitation/exploration feel to it. What may be intellectually un-aesthetic initially may become aesthetic after one 'breaks through to the other side' of understanding/appreciation. Or it may not. Hence the tradeoff.

We often subconsciously substitute an related, easier query (how aesthetically pleasing) for a hard one (how valuable is this knowledge)...