Foxes and hedgehogs in science?
The fox/hedgehog distinction is used to describe 2 different ways people think. The gist goes back to ancient greece and the idea that the hedgehog knows one big thing whereas the fox knows many littler things.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Hedgehog_and_the_Fox
For scientists, it's sometimes described as how distributed the topics are that you work on (eg mile deep, inch wide versus mile wide, inch deep):
https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s13437-022-00287-x
A slightly different way to think about it is more along what some call simplifiers vs complexifiers.
When individuals are forecasting elections, pundits (hedgehogs) tend to focus on one big idea and they are less good at forecasting than individuals who take a lot of data in and work to reconcile conflicts (foxes):
https://press.princeton.edu/books/hardcover/9780691178288/expert-political-judgment
Similarly, much of this biography about Barbara McClintock can paraphrased with the notion that she was a fox who saw details that would not fit with what the hedgehogs were saying and that led her to some big discoveries about jumping genes:
https://us.macmillan.com/books/9780805074581/afeelingfortheorganism10thaniversaryedition
At the same time, hedgehogs play an important role by keeping their eyes on the forest and connecting the dots together.
There is something powerful to the idea that there are two different but complementary ways of thinking that contribute to science. How do you think about it? Which are you?
Nicole Rust /
npub1cu…0zuw2
2023-09-27 16:02:34
Author Public Key
npub1cud99prgj4etl597aaxthxenrcjmfxl92dgj8snf9a9p8ctupfyq80zuw2Published at
2023-09-27 16:02:34Event JSON
{
"id": "276803fc10b87d9f99673e6b2a21fa51bc6c5ac34306587ee82860a192d10ce2",
"pubkey": "c71a5284689572bfd0beef4cbb9b331e25b49be5535123c2692f4a13e17c0a48",
"created_at": 1695830554,
"kind": 1,
"tags": [
[
"proxy",
"https://neuromatch.social/users/NicoleCRust/statuses/111137951195838126",
"activitypub"
]
],
"content": "Foxes and hedgehogs in science?\n\nThe fox/hedgehog distinction is used to describe 2 different ways people think. The gist goes back to ancient greece and the idea that the hedgehog knows one big thing whereas the fox knows many littler things.\nhttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Hedgehog_and_the_Fox\n\nFor scientists, it's sometimes described as how distributed the topics are that you work on (eg mile deep, inch wide versus mile wide, inch deep):\nhttps://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s13437-022-00287-x\n\nA slightly different way to think about it is more along what some call simplifiers vs complexifiers. \n\nWhen individuals are forecasting elections, pundits (hedgehogs) tend to focus on one big idea and they are less good at forecasting than individuals who take a lot of data in and work to reconcile conflicts (foxes):\nhttps://press.princeton.edu/books/hardcover/9780691178288/expert-political-judgment\n\nSimilarly, much of this biography about Barbara McClintock can paraphrased with the notion that she was a fox who saw details that would not fit with what the hedgehogs were saying and that led her to some big discoveries about jumping genes:\nhttps://us.macmillan.com/books/9780805074581/afeelingfortheorganism10thaniversaryedition\n\nAt the same time, hedgehogs play an important role by keeping their eyes on the forest and connecting the dots together.\n\nThere is something powerful to the idea that there are two different but complementary ways of thinking that contribute to science. How do you think about it? Which are you?",
"sig": "6a877224c46645c847eeebe21bc135b9284c58a952ff0110dc5d8b87c2cc35c4e41afcc2003d2587149066cf82e9fe80abd9b8db09b606316bfd59030f7d7a2b"
}