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Comment by JadeNB | Hacker News Reader

> As the famous saying goes, "nothing is as important as you think it is when you're thinking about it".

That seems like a very dangerous saying! As a scientist, I am biased, but I think it's also important to remember that nothing is as simple as you think it is when you're not thinking about it.

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As a (former) scientist, I should also admonish that it is generally in the professional scientist's best interest to prolong the perceived complexity of any given thing to keep the grants coming. Even if they're not influenced by an interest outside of their scope, it's a mental habit that can be hard to break.

Perhaps wisdom starts by accepting the conjunction of both the saying and your retort, which is not so far from a better-known saying, "the devil is in the details".

Scientists often think about one topic at length, and therefore tend to overestimate it's importance. This is a bias that needs to be corrected for. Thinking that a topic with which one isn't familiar is simpler than it really is is another unrelated bias.

I remember an ad on the radio from the American Podiatrist's Council or some such organization, recommending that everyone get their yearly foot exam.

Sure, it was trying to stir up business; but I think that ad mainly existed because podiatrists really did, in good faith, think everybody should get their foot examined once a year.

You just lose perspective.

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