You have probably seen the artful drawings of neurons done a century
ago by Ramon y Cajal. I saw the originals exhibited at the University of
California-Berkeley, and I learned that the sketches were done for real
research rather than “art.” More important, they were done by the man
who discovered the synapse. When I heard that Ramon y Cajal also wrote a
book of career advice, I was eager to read it!
Advice for a Young Investigator gives us a glimpse
into the culture of academic research a century ago. It’s interesting
because the author made such huge contributions to our knowledge of the
brain. He discovered that neurons transmit electricity in only one
direction. He wrote a textbook on the nervous system, based on his own
extensive lab work and sketches, that was used to train doctors for
generations. I wanted career advice from this person.
Anything written a century ago is of course rooted in old values and
beliefs. If you look for political incorrectness, you will find it (for
example, his advice on finding a wife who supports your research). But
most of his advice is curiously similar to what you would hear today:
work hard, persist through failure, and trust your own judgment.
So why does the same advice need to be repeated every generation?
Because it conflicts with our natural impulses.
Natural selection built a brain that makes careful decisions about
where to invest its energy. It doesn't like to waste effort on failed
endeavors. A lion would starve to death if it kept running after
gazelles that got away. This makes it hard to persist when we run into
setbacks.
The brain we've inherited seeks safety in numbers. A gazelle that
wandered off would soon be eaten alive. Thus our brain alarms us with a
bad feeling when we're isolated. This makes it hard to trust your
judgment when the rest of the herd walks away.
Our brain is designed to weigh risk and reward, but it defines them with neural pathways built from the risks and rewards of your past. New information has trouble getting in unless we invest our full attention. This leaves us with less energy for other things, so we often just stick to our old risk/ reward pathways.
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