Ne and science

[nightning]

I saw on TV last night on knowledge network... the show "100 greatest scientific discoveries". They have Bill Nye (the science guy) as the show host/narrator and he went through all the breakthrough discoveries in chemistry. I got to watch half an hour or so of the beginning before the channel was switched on me.

Anyways, I noticed the following pattern...
The breakthroughs in science... Much is discovered due to serendipity. Discovery of oxygen, synethesis of uric acid from inorganic compounds, the existence of electrons... All originated from the observation that something weird happened. Keen observation or insight followed by systematic testing and refinement.

I guess you can say Ne (and to some extent Ni. Discovering the structure of benzene... a dream... of a snake swallowing its tail... a ring. The benzene ring.) helps in making a breakthrough... but the follow through is all sweat and blood.

[Maverick]

I have always had the same frustration with science. I'm interested in the overall model and theory. I couldn't care less about the details. I also find it frustrating not seeing the direct application of things.

Considering the use of Ne, it depends on the level you're at. As an undergrad, it's just too much of a slow, painstaking and detailed process IMO. You hyper-specialize and work on very precise questions. You change a couple of variables at a time. Once you finally get results, you have the tedious job of writing something up that will be accepted by a journal. Then it's nitpicking and you constantly fight with reviewers over details. Boring as hell if you ask me. It is very Si, Ti and Fe. The Ne part is relatively minor compared to the rest of the job.

I think that professors get to use Ne more.They can focus on the conceptual part of things and work on several projects, supervising several grad students.

[ygolo]

For whatever reason, I tend to have some book I read a long time ago on my mind in many discussions.

I usually hold on to my book recommendations. But often, the book just seems too relevant.

The Pleasure of Finding Things Out: The Best Short Works of Richard P. Feynman

Richard Feynman was as clear an ENTP as I've read. Reading him would have you believe that science is almost all Ne (applied in a rather interesting manner).

Perhaps because he was a theorist, things are different. But he did win a Nobel Prize in Physics so I think his credentials as a scientist are sound.

[Sinister Scribe]

I'm a fairly strong INT and a student of chemistry and physics (right now, at an undergrad level). I've found that my Te has kept me going and able to take the intuitions I have about certain processes and come up with logical conclusions. I suppose it also doesn't hurt that I have a fairly strong Ni function (and my Ne isn't that weak, either) to augment the thinking.

One of my professors made a comment in class once about science that seems to stick in my head. He said that part of science was coming up with theories and part of it was finding proof to either support or negate said theories. The intuitiveness of the NT mind would be responsible for coming up with those theories, while the thinking function (especially if NTJs) would be eager to either prove or disprove the idea.

I'm pretty sure this particular professor is probably an ENTP just based on what he says in class and how his lectures are conducted... I love his teaching style (he actually reminds me of my INTJ high school science teacher in several ways), but outside the classroom our personalities tend to grind at each other the wrong way.