Think like a scientist to navigate uncertainty and solve complex problems

Developing scientific habits of mind allows individuals to create new mental habits that successfully cope with uncertainty by methodically working to solve complex problems and make sound decisions.

Education should have two objects: first, to give definite knowledge — reading and writing, languages and mathematics, and so on; secondly, to create those mental habits which will enable people to acquire knowledge and form sound judgments for themselves. The first of these we may call information, the second intelligence. -Bertrand Russell

Mental Habits

A mental habit is the routine thought behavior that an individual engages (often subconsciously or compulsively) when faced with a specific circumstance. As a habit, it is formed through repetition of experiences over time. The process of habit can be described through a simple loop with three components: trigger (or reminder), routine, and reward. An event triggers a pattern of behavior that has been used previously, and the routine is rewarded by some positive result. Fundamentally, a mental habit is not defined as harmful, unless an individual engages a mental habit that is ill-suited, or damaging, to respond to the trigger.

One of the triggers that I am fascinated by is the uncertainty caused by complex problems and situations. In most cases, a situation that is uncertain automatically elicits feelings of fear which in turn cause poor decision-making and risk aversion; the opposite of what is needed to navigate ambiguous conditions.

Why do we, as humans, respond this way?

“Think and Die”

According to evolutionary psychology, our fear of uncertainty is a result of our evolutionary history. Fear and risk aversion were quite effective at keeping our ancestors alive. When our big-brained common ancestors left the trees, they became exposed to a lot more threats and fewer options for evasion. Bipedalism helped in many ways with being more agile on the ground, but we still needed to be more aware of the increase in predators and threats around us. Being constantly aware of threats means being in a constant state of fear and anxiety and thus, averting risk.

Take for example one of our ancestors walking through the tall grass in a savannah. She hears rustling in the grass about 50 yards away. What does she do? Does she think to herself, “oh, that’s probably either the wind blowing or a hungry lion... let me think about what to do...” Nope; she hightailed it out of there as soon as she heard that sound! This is a situation of what I call “think and die.” In her situation, alone in the savannah, driven by fear, averse to risk, thinking about the situation was not a good option; only flight (I mean, she wasn’t to take a chance and fight a lion, right?).

Life for modern humans is much different than the early days of our ancestors. In most situations in our lives “think and die” is not a problem, yet this mental habit still exists. We default to not thinking, to feeling fear, and immediately react or freeze when we encounter uncertainty.

Can we indeed break free from our evolutionary programming? Probably not entirely and in all situations, but we can work to develop habits of mind that will allow us to regain control of our emotions, our thinking, and ultimately our decisions.

Scientific Habits of Mind & The Nature of Science

A habit of mind is both an attribute and a pattern of intellectual behavior that one engages in response to a problem. A scientific habit of mind could be described as the results of having a deep understanding of the scientific enterprise; It is a mental habit that is specific to and developed for the purpose of effectively responding to uncertainty-based triggers.

Scientific habits of mind include, but are not limited to 1. curiosity; 2. skepticism; 3. insisting on evidence; 4. accepting ambiguity; 5. being cooperative; and 6. accepting wrong turns. These are essential qualities that scientists, problem-solvers, and in general well-rounded individuals should train themselves to employ automatically in response to uncertainty. 

These habits are derived from our current understanding of the Nature of Science. Furthermore, when understood and employed together, scientific habits of mind represent a mental model based on the philosophical tenets of the scientific enterprise.

Again, we are talking habits here… you have to train yourself to develop scientific habits of mind. This takes process must be thoughtful and involve sustained practice and commitment.

In Part 2,  I will go further in depth on the process of developing habits of mind and introduce some modern problem-solving, sense-making and project management methodologies that you can put into practice to work towards developing Scientific Habits of Mind.