michael_nielsen

Looking forward to the book. Just want to point out that the topic of my thread is field finding (not field founding nor problem finding).

Can I add into the mix of things you weren't discussing 'moment choosing'. That is, tackling a problem at the moment when it goes from being impossible to merely difficult. Been really important for me, entirely through luck of course rather than design.

Wow, yes! I’ve been lucky that way too. Some people are in the right place at the right time over and over, in which case it’s probably not luck. Sydney Brenner is my favorite example of that.

People also get over confident. Thinking the first time wasn't luck (or rather misinterpreting their success). Thinking about it, it might be a meta-skill. Problem selection/formulation combined with receptivity to identifying/abstracting newly possible approaches

Yes! And, conversely, feeling for when your field is running out of momentum and it’s time to look for something else that may be opening out

Is that the inverse of the same thing? Realising that the pool of significant problems is drying up and the available tools don't generalise to other/broader/bigger problems? (I trained in chemistry. This may not be coincidental...)

Heh. I simply quit my tenured job to work on open science; it was much easier than convincing my institution to support that work. "Enormous institutional reforms" may be an understatement.