Before doing any project or entering any field, you need to catch up on existing intellectual discussion on the subject.
My current take on this topic is to follow this scheme: 1) dedicate some time to think about the problem on your own, without searching the literature 2) look in the literature, compare with your own thoughts 3) get feedback from a human in the field 4) repeat
Do you think (1) makes sense, or is your position extreme enough to reject (1) altogether, or spend only a very short time on it, say < 1 hour?
IMO trying the problem yourself before researching it makes you appreciate what other people have already done even more. It’s pretty easy to fall victim to hindsight bias if you haven’t experienced the difficulty of actually getting anywhere.
My current take on this topic is to follow this scheme:
1) dedicate some time to think about the problem on your own, without searching the literature
2) look in the literature, compare with your own thoughts
3) get feedback from a human in the field
4) repeat
Do you think (1) makes sense, or is your position extreme enough to reject (1) altogether, or spend only a very short time on it, say < 1 hour?
IMO trying the problem yourself before researching it makes you appreciate what other people have already done even more. It’s pretty easy to fall victim to hindsight bias if you haven’t experienced the difficulty of actually getting anywhere.