IMAGINATION 



The scientific thinker becomes accustomed to withholding judg- 

 ment and remaining in doubt when the evidence is insufficient. 

 Imagination only rarely leads one to a correct answer, and most 

 of our ideas have to be discarded. Research workers ought not 

 to be afraid of making mistakes provided they correct them in 

 good time. 



Curiosity atrophies after childhood unless it is transferred to 

 an intellectual plane. The research worker is usually a person 

 whose curiosity is turned toward seeking explanations for pheno- 

 mena that are not understood. 



Discussion is often helpful to productive thinking and informal 

 daily discussion groups in research institutes are valuable. 



Once we have contemplated a set of data, the mind tends to 

 follow the same line of thought each time and therefore unprofit- 

 able lines of thought tend to be repeated. There are two aids to 

 freeing our thought from this conditioning; to abandon the 

 problem temporarily and to discuss it with another person, prefer- 

 ably someone not familiar with our work. 



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