☆ 問問題
假設初步觀察和收集資料的步驟已經完成,
我們只是需要思考,
那麼閱讀完資料之後,
思考方法的第一步就是「問問題」。
所謂「學問」,就是學習如何去問!
而「問問題」就是思考中重要的一環。
自然界有無窮無盡的現象,
所以喜歡思考的人一定會選擇他思考的課題,
而科學家亦要在浩瀚的自然界現象中,
選擇他想研究的方向和問題。
下面所指出的現象,不限於科學。
「問問題」
可以源於觀察 observation,
源於注意細節及不尋常的現象 anomaly;
可以源於好奇心;
可以源於社會的需要;
可以源於個人的興趣;
可以源於個人以往的經驗和技巧;
可以源於擁有的工具和儀器;
可以源於大量樣本的供應;
可以源於邏輯推理的需要;
可以源於對別人提出的問題的假設有所懷疑;
可以源於觀察到的現象和現行的理論有所衝突。
What a scientist does is compounded of
two interests : the interest of his time
and his own interest. In this his behavior
is no different from any other man’s.
The need of the age gives its shape
to scientific progress as a whole.
( Jacob Bronowski, 1956 )
從讀書和做學問的角度來說,
我們問問題可以越簡單、越淺白、越直接就越好。
如果有能力的話,問重大的問題當然勝過問細微的問題。
It can be said with complete confidence that
any scientist of any age who wants to make
important discoveries must study important problems.
Dull or piffling problems yield dull or piffling
answers. It is not enough that a problem
should be “interesting” ── almost any problem
is interesting if it is studied in sufficient depth.
……the problem must be such that
it matters what the answer is ──
whether to science generally or to mankind.
( Peter Brian Medawar )
然而問了問題之後,
依然需要再經歷觀察、收集資料和實驗的階段,
但也許是用不同的工具從不同的角度再次觀察,
收集以前忽略了或者未曾收集的資料。
最後當以不能夠避開嚴厲的批判!
How to select worthwhile problems and how to
create the tools required to achieve a solution
is something that scientists learn from
the great figures in science rather than from books.
( Hans A. Krebs )
這就是為何老師的質素這樣重要!
理想還理想,科學家其實是十分實際的,
即使涉及重要的課題,如果力有不逮,工具追不上要求,
就需要暫且放下,留待將來去解決。
Scientists see no virtue or credit in working on
a problem of outstanding interest or importance
unless there seems to be a reasonable chance of
solving it by means of available techniques and
sources of data.
Science is the art of the soluble.
( Peter Brian Medawar )