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Meditation
I came across this wonderful interview with Bruce Lee on the balance of instinct and control. It resonates deeply with me given my line of work. Hence, I shall explain the artistic aspect of research and leave the scientific component to existing literature. Especially in blockchain, a young field with less structure but more rapid changes compared to some other fields, the role of instinct and hence the art of research plays a crucial role in obtaining the optimum result.
Bruce Lee’s View
Eastern martial arts combine "philosophy and art with sports"; "the three are facets of the same thing." To Bruce Lee, "martial art means honestly expressing oneself" with a harmonious combination of "natural instinct and control." If it's all instinct, then one becomes unscientific, but if it's all control, then one becomes a mechanical man. With style, coming from practice and hence "a crystallization and a process of continuing growth," one can honestly express oneself, akin to water, leaning into one's instinct, being formless and shapeless, ultimately flowing downstream. The notion of water is also a core concept in Taoism, the softest, yielding yet overcoming the hard and the rigid.
“Water is fluid, soft, and yielding. But water will wear away rock, which is rigid and cannot yield. As a rule, whatever is fluid, soft, and yielding will overcome whatever is rigid and hard. This is another paradox: what is soft is strong.” — Lao Tzu
The Art of Research
Contrary to the common belief that research is purely scientific, there is plenty of art that comes with it as well. From my own experience and conversations with many researchers, the shared sentiment is that the best research usually comes from strong intuition in an open playground, and eventually, the logical structure/framework will reveal itself. To put it simply, when identified or given a certain subject, researchers start the process by intuitively questioning "what is it," "what does it do or the role it plays," "how does it work," and draw any rough associations with related concepts, ultimately to imagine the construct of this thing. Driven by strong curiosity, they then set out to gather and study any information/concepts that relate to the topic. After gathering enough materials, playtime begins! The researcher becomes a child at this stage, just as a toddler tries to sort out a pile of Lego pieces and creates a structure, or a modern sculptor putting the materials together according to their imagination; they too glue this information together according to their own conjure. And here we are, looking at a mental framework that describes the subject as truthfully as it can be.
Research as a Form of Self Expression
In relation to Lee's notion of art, research, in a certain sense, is a form of self-expression for the author, as it is their perception of the subject and an attempt to describe and create upon the scattered materials presented, not to mention the intuitive process akin to art making, and hence, the style, on how the framework is being discovered and the presentation of the result itself. Even if several researchers come to the same conclusion on the same topic, the creative process they individually adopt and the presentation of the result will also be different, with a strong personal imprint.
Style in Research
As Lee suggested that style comes from continuity and persistence, to develop the style in one's highly creative research process in obtaining the optimum result, one would take substantial practice, to crystallize certain processes and thinking that require consciousness into subconsciousness, to automate, and hence it becomes an instinct. At this point, the researcher enters a state of flow, or the none-self state as Buddhism refers to, where the author becomes a vehicle from which the ideas flow through. Effortlessness, just like water, passing through the cracks between the rocks and ultimately reaching the ocean. I have observed this myself that whenever I hit a blocker, something seemingly insurmountable, I meditate, observing my thoughts and do not intervene. As I am a visual thinker, I see the lines and shapes moving and finding their place in the roughly forming structure, and eventually, they become part of the whole, something elegant and logically concise, while I feel the sense of warmth rushing through my body. Whenever I feel like this, I know I am onto something wonderful :)
Perhaps research itself is a form of art and meditation, in which the creation comes from an intuition pointing towards a plausible direction and logic as a tool, something my philosophy professor taught me in college. I am curious if you, my dear reader, have experienced this wonderful journey. If so, please do leave a comment below, and I would love to learn more ❤️