I reckon that for all the use it has been to science about four-fifths of my time has been wasted, and I believe this to be the common lot of people who are not merely playing follow-my-leader in research.
Up voted, although I think ‘wasted’ is a bit harsh. I would call lost time to unsuccessful research a necessary cost. If we all knew exactly which problems to study and which approaches to use it wouldn’t be research, it would be divination.
I read the quote not as saying that four-fifths of his time had no value at all but that so-called ‘wasted’ time is a necessary part of the research process and actually does have value.
— Peter Medawar
Up voted, although I think ‘wasted’ is a bit harsh. I would call lost time to unsuccessful research a necessary cost. If we all knew exactly which problems to study and which approaches to use it wouldn’t be research, it would be divination.
I read the quote not as saying that four-fifths of his time had no value at all but that so-called ‘wasted’ time is a necessary part of the research process and actually does have value.
As seen elsewhere in this thread, Nietzsche disagrees.