Passion & Curiosity:Aesthetic sensibility in the cultivation of

science

Rajat Mani ThomasNetherlands Institute for Neuroscience

Thursday, June 13, 2013

From Electronics to Neuroscience

via Cosmology

Jitter

Thursday, June 13, 2013

From Electronics to Neuroscience

via Cosmology

• My personal story :

Jitter

Thursday, June 13, 2013

From Electronics to Neuroscience

via Cosmology

• My personal story :

• Ingredients : Passion + Chance ( passion, curiosity ) Jitter

Thursday, June 13, 2013

Our responsibilityWe are at the very beginning of time for the human race. It is not unreasonable that we grapple with problems. But there are tens of thousands of years in the future. Our responsibility is to do what we can, learn what we can, improve the solutions, and pass them on.

Richard P. Feynman

Thursday, June 13, 2013

Have fun• A cafeteria plate that led to QED and

Nobel Prize

• Catching the wave becomes the soliton

Thursday, June 13, 2013

Have fun• A cafeteria plate that led to QED and

Nobel Prize

• Catching the wave becomes the soliton

When can this happen?

Thursday, June 13, 2013

... Not when you over optimize

Thursday, June 13, 2013

... Not when you over optimize

• Optimizing your code on first attempt - bad idea

Thursday, June 13, 2013

... Not when you over optimize

• Optimizing your code on first attempt - bad idea

• First great draft for your scientific paper - bad idea

Thursday, June 13, 2013

... Not when you over optimize

• Optimizing your code on first attempt - bad idea

• First great draft for your scientific paper - bad idea

• Achieve perfection Artificial Intelligence - bad idea

Thursday, June 13, 2013

... Not when you over optimize

• Optimizing your code on first attempt - bad idea

• First great draft for your scientific paper - bad idea

• Achieve perfection Artificial Intelligence - bad idea

Thursday, June 13, 2013

... Not when you over optimize

• Optimizing your code on first attempt - bad idea

• First great draft for your scientific paper - bad idea

• Achieve perfection Artificial Intelligence - bad idea

• Get a broad stroke out

Thursday, June 13, 2013

... Not when you over optimize

• Optimizing your code on first attempt - bad idea

• First great draft for your scientific paper - bad idea

• Achieve perfection Artificial Intelligence - bad idea

• Get a broad stroke out

Thursday, June 13, 2013

... Not when you over optimize

• Optimizing your code on first attempt - bad idea

• First great draft for your scientific paper - bad idea

• Achieve perfection Artificial Intelligence - bad idea

• Get a broad stroke out

Fodder for discussion

Thursday, June 13, 2013

Popular advice: Find your niche

• Do not ignore: Generation gap (tn)

time

Thursday, June 13, 2013

Popular advice: Find your niche

• Do not ignore: Generation gap (tn)

time

Thursday, June 13, 2013

Popular advice: Find your niche

• Do not ignore: Generation gap (tn)

time

Thursday, June 13, 2013

Popular advice: Find your niche

• Do not ignore: Generation gap (tn)

time

Thursday, June 13, 2013

Develop “translational” skills along the way

• Pattern driven concurrent softwares

• Commoditization (Transferable but competitive)

Nature uses only the longest threads to weave her patterns, so that each small piece of her fabric reveals the organization of the entire tapestry.

Richard P. Feynman

Thursday, June 13, 2013

Connections: literally

Thursday, June 13, 2013

Connections: literally

Thursday, June 13, 2013

Connections: literally

• Decision theory Vs Galaxy formation ?

• What Neuroscientists could learn from Astrophysicists?

Thursday, June 13, 2013

The joy of finding things out

Rutherford

A single observation revolutionizes Physics!

Thursday, June 13, 2013

The joy of finding things out

Rutherford

A single observation revolutionizes Physics!

Thursday, June 13, 2013

Science for a scientist

• Scientific values consist in the continual and increasing recognition of the uniformity of nature.

S. Chandreshekar (1946)

Thursday, June 13, 2013

Data driven methods

• Step 1 : Discover them patterns.

• Step II : Check for its robustness, i.e., statistics

Thursday, June 13, 2013

Data driven methods

• Step 1 : Discover them patterns.

• Step II : Check for its robustness, i.e., statistics

Why ?

Thursday, June 13, 2013

Data data data ...

• The hottest (demand-wise) job of the future: data analyst (highly transferable)

Thursday, June 13, 2013

Data data data ...

• The hottest (demand-wise) job of the future: data analyst (highly transferable)

Why ?

Thursday, June 13, 2013

Provocations

Thursday, June 13, 2013

Provocations• Stability : Anti-adventure

Thursday, June 13, 2013

Provocations• Stability : Anti-adventure

One life, live it!

Thursday, June 13, 2013

Provocations• Stability : Anti-adventure

One life, live it!

Thursday, June 13, 2013

Provocations• Stability : Anti-adventure

One life, live it!

Stay hungry, stay foolish ...

Thursday, June 13, 2013

Keyser’s example

Comfort zone

Adventure

Thursday, June 13, 2013

Let’s make life an adventure

that is Scientific Thinking

Thursday, June 13, 2013