Ben Lehner on how to start your own scientific field | The Night Science Podcast - Ep 9

Episode Overview

• Guest Ben Lehner discusses his unconventional path into biology and how a broad, unstructured education at Cambridge fostered his scientific creativity.
• The conversation explores a "question-driven" research philosophy, emphasizing the value of reading old scientific papers to find fundamental questions that can be revisited with modern technology.
• A central theme is the distinction between "night science" (the creative, idea-generating phase) and "day science" (the rigorous, hypothesis-testing phase).
• The podcast highlights the importance of intellectual honesty, the willingness to disprove one's own ideas, and embracing serendipity and mistakes as key drivers of discovery.

Key Concepts

• Night Science vs. Day Science: The podcast contrasts the creative, speculative, and idea-generating phase of research ("night science") with the logical, rigorous, and hypothesis-testing phase ("day science"), noting that the most effective scientists excel at both.
• Question-Driven Philosophy: Research should be guided by fundamental questions rather than being driven by a specific hypothesis or dataset. The goal is to find the simplest system to answer a big question.
• Antidisciplinary Science: The most innovative and creative work often happens in the undefined spaces between established scientific fields, effectively creating new disciplines.
• Falsification and Detachment: A crucial part of the scientific process is actively trying to disprove your own ideas. Becoming too attached to a hypothesis is a major pitfall that can lead to careerism and hinder the search for truth.
• The Power of Serendipity: Many significant discoveries arise not from a linear plan but from mistakes, unexpected results, and the willingness to pivot a project in a completely new direction.

Quotes

• At 6:57 - "I think our science is question-driven. So not hypothesis-driven and not data-driven." - Ben Lehner summarizing the core philosophy of his research lab, which prioritizes the question first and then finds the best system to answer it.
• At 9:08 - "I especially read old papers, because I think... the really good questions were often asked a long time ago, and some of them have been forgotten about." - Explaining his strategy for finding fresh inspiration by revisiting foundational questions from the history of science.
• At 11:52 - "...the field doesn't exist. They're creating a new field that will then become a field." - Describing his concept of "antidisciplinary science," where the most creative work is done by those who operate outside of well-defined disciplines.
• At 19:23 - "'What's the fastest way we could find out that this is completely wrong?' as an idea. I think that's the critical thing." - The speaker explaining the mindset required to move from a creative idea to rigorous "day science."
• At 19:40 - "Ideas are cheap. You have to be able to have many ideas and for most of them to be wrong." - On the importance of not getting emotionally invested in a single hypothesis and being willing to discard failing ideas quickly.

Takeaways

• The scientific process is not linear; embrace both the creative, messy "night science" of generating ideas and the rigorous "day science" of testing them.
• To find impactful research problems, look to fundamental questions posed in older scientific literature that can now be addressed with new technology.
• Maintain intellectual honesty by actively trying to falsify your own hypotheses and avoiding emotional attachment to any single idea.
• Be open to unexpected results and mistakes, as they often lead to the most fruitful and unplanned discoveries.