The Heart of an Experimenter: Why Curiosity is Your Best Tool
Even the most careful experimenters have a "blind spot": themselves. The occurs when a researcher’s own expectations or behaviors unconsciously influence the subjects of the study. Experimenter
Whether you are a scientist in a lab, a developer testing a new agent, or someone just trying to figure out why your teeth hurt, the role of the experimenter is the same: to remain open to the possibility that your first guess might be wrong. What Does It Mean to Experiment? The Heart of an Experimenter: Why Curiosity is
If you want to move beyond "tinkering" and into true experimentation, experts like those at Quantified Self suggest a simple but effective framework: What Does It Mean to Experiment
: Measure your baseline (A), implement the change (B), and then—this is the part most people skip—remove the change (A) to see if you return to the baseline. The Hidden Trap: The Experimenter Effect
You don't need a PhD or a white lab coat to be an experimenter. You just need curiosity and a willingness to be wrong. As self-experimenter A.J. Jacobs has shown through his quests to follow every rule in the Bible or become the healthiest person alive, the best insights often come from the most "ill-advised" experiments.