How to Use The Scientific Method to Solve Any Problem.. Like Investing In Cryptocurrencies!
I have not failed. I've just found 10,000 ways that won't work.
-Thomas A. Edison
I came across this quote today and had a few thoughts that I wanted to share about mindset and problem-solving.
One of the biggest failures of the education system is, ironically, the lack of importance that is placed on failure. We're raised in a society that loves to hand out 8th place trophies to everyone who participates. While getting this trophy may give Johnny a little dopamine rush, it's actually one of the biggest detriments to his potential for success in life.
No matter how you measure success, it's unavoidable that there will be roadblocks and hardships along the way. People need to get out of the mindset of trying to avoid failure and they need to get into the mindset of how to seek it out and learn from each experience.
I like to argue that science has the best method for going about almost any problem in life - The Scientific Method.
- Formulate a Hypothesis
- Collect Data
- Test your Hypothesis
- Come to a Conclusion
Whether you want to find the best diet to lose weight, start a business or even invest in a cryptocurrency, The Scientific Method can give you a place to begin searching for answers.
Here's an example to illustrate how you can apply The Scientific Method to problems that will arise in your life. For some context, imagine that you're looking to add a cryptocurrency to your investment holdings. ARK is a cryptocurrency that you've had your eye on, but you aren't sure whether or not it will be a good investment.
1). Formulate a Hypothesis:
First, you need to learn a little bit about ARK, how it works, what it does, what problem(s) it's trying to solve, etc. Once you've compiled some information on that, you create a hypothesis of how ARK could gain market share and thus, increase in value.
Example hypothesis (in this case, a prediction of a future scenario): First, here's my one-sentence explanation of what ARK aims to achieve: Ark aims to create an input interface and SmartBridge with every major cryptocurrency in which users can send ARK and interact with various blockchains to carry out specific actions all without leaving the ARK wallet.
My hypothesis is that this technology will be adopted by consumers who want/need to interact with various blockchains to carry out specific tasks like storing files on the Factom blockchain or deploying a smart contract on the Ethereum blockchain but don't want to learn how to use each blockchain natively. The usage of ARK for these reasons will cause demand for the ARK token to rise and result in a higher token value proportional to the rise in demand.
2). Collect Data:
There are a variety of ways you can collect data for any "experiment". For our example with ARK, I would go out and collect data that relates to ARK's ability to actually deliver on SmartBridge technology - is the team capable? Does ARK have a strong community backing? What have they already created and how does it measure up to the task of adoption? etc.
3). Test Your Hypothesis:
I won't go into all the nitty gritty details for the sake of keeping this example sort of concise. The main thing I did to test my hypothesis was to download the ARK desktop wallet, send ARK tokens to the wallet and perform a few tasks inside the wallet to see how easily I could use it (since ease of use is the main hurdle to adoption). It turns out that Ark's wallet is clean, relatively simple to use, and it quite honestly surpasses the majority of crypto wallets I've used previously.
Anyways, the following screenshot shows the Ark wallet after I had staked a delegate (staking a delegate turned out to be surprisingly easy within the Ark wallet!).
4). Come to a Conclusion:
There are some issues that make it relatively complicated for the average person to use Ark. Namely, buying ARK tokens and securely storing them in the Ark wallet. To buy my tokens I first had to buy Bitcoin with fiat, then I had to send Bitcoin to the Bittrex exchange, then I had to buy ARK with BTC, then I had to send ARK from Bittrex to the ARK desktop wallet.
To make this all more secure I also took the additional step to set up a Ledger Nano S to hold the private keys. For mass adoption to be practical, I believe there will need to be a way to simply set up an Ark wallet and buy ARK tokens within it for any currency (fiat included).
Disclaimer: This is not financial advice and is only for entertainment purposes.
The Scientific Method can be an effective tool for problem-solving and while it is taught in Science class, it is left out of pretty much every other subject. The education system fails to teach students that this method can be applied to their daily lives and used to solve life's most challenging problems in a systematic and valuable way.
The Book Club Initiative is a program that I created to reward community members for learning and interacting with content. This community is all about learning and sharing, so in order to learn more from each other, I’m asking a question of the day (QOTD) on every post.
Every response that answers the question/shares valuable insight will get upvoted. Upvote value is based on the quality & thoughtfulness of your answer. Thanks for your participation and I hope you guys enjoy this way of building the community and rewarding learning/thoughtfulness. If you guys have any suggestions for ways to improve this program, please let me know, as I’m always looking for ways to better reward everyone for learning! 🏆
QOTD: What problems have you identified in your life that can be better solved with The Scientific Method? Have you used the method in the past? If so, how did it work out for you?
Thank you for reading, I look forward to your responses below!
Thanks for the education on ARK and I like the step by step, logical format you used to draw your conclusions. Being able to solve problems, big or small is a useful tool in life.
Thank you for reading and for the kind words! Problem-solving is an essential skill to have when pursuing anything meaningful in life, but it is sadly not well-taught in our education system.
Whenever something is missing, the very first thing most of us do is shout instead of look for the missing object. There is a more effective way to deal with this problem–the scientific method.
Let’s say I have a problem: My wallet is missing. How could I use the scientific method to solve this problem?
AT HOME
Problem: Missing wallet
Data: I went to the market to buy some goods with my friend Mae Ann. When I reached home I noticed that my wallet was gone.
Hypothesis: My first hypothesis was: I lost it in the market while we were buying goods. The second hypothesis was: Mae Ann got my wallet. The third was: I had misplaced it in the house.
Experiments: I searched all over the house for my wallet, but I could not find it. Then I went to Mae Ann to ask If she got my wallet. She answered in the affirmative . She said she found it while she was on her way home near the market.
Conclusion: I lost my wallet in the market and Mae Ann found it and gave it back to me.
Great problem solving
It can be used to trade on cryptocurrency
But you should have some common sense to do it
Thanks for sharing! I definitely believe that fixing things and problem-solving on your own before trying to "call the guy" is a great way to expand your mindset and get better at solving a variety of problems that may present themselves in the future. Your example of finding your missing wallet is on point and is a great way of showing the method in use on a daily basis!! Thank you
my husband helped a little :)
Teamwork makes the dream work!!!
Teamwork is the key! Thanks for sharing all these examples for problem-solving, they really make the post come to life and relate to reality. Keep up the good work!
Great way to start 2018!! You challenge us to use reasoning from day one of the New Year.
"QOTD: What problems have you identified in your life that can be better solved with The Scientific Method? Have you used the method in the past? If so, how did it work out for you?"
Another question is this: "Are we using inductive, deductive or abductive reasoning when we use the scientific method?" Each case will be different. In my case I found I have a real problem. I cannot post at the time I want to post and can't save my drafts well. I used deductive reasoing to develop my hypothesis beginning with this premise to inference pattern: "Other steemians have problems with scheduling posting and saving drafts. Some steemians are good at developing applications. Therefore some steemian has developed an applications to help with scheduling posting and saving drafts."
I found my hypothesis: Some steemian has developed an applications to help with scheduling posting and saving drafts.
I collect data searching google and the posts of other Steemians. I find two websites that offer what I am looking for.
Test my hypothesis: I register and login to each site. I tested the site that used Steemconnect to login in because this was quicker than getting an email verification. I will test the other site soon.
Come to a conclusion. I found there are at least two applications developed for saving drafts and timing posting. Now I have a new hypothesis: Which site provides the most suitable features for my needs?
Very well said and also about an issue I've been dealing with. Your points about inductive, deductive and abductive reasoning are also very good. I'm now in the process of going down the rabbit hole on all 3 of these types of reasoning and expanding my own thinking even further, thanks for sharing!
Interesting content.
I agree, the Scientific Method is a sure-way to eventually come up with a solution to any problem; I think most of even use it on a daily basis without realizing... we are always formulating hypothesis and acting according to them. To me, it feels like the if-A then-B thinking is hardwired into our brains, from classical conditioning to trial and error, we gather information and take it into account when making decisions. Something important, as you say, is to acknowledge the fact that it can be -and is- used in other areas outside science.
What I'd add, if I may, is a previous Collect Data step. Like a revision-of-previous-works kinda step, something that help us start from someone else's successfully solved problem so we can adapt a more efficient solution tailored for our needs; because while we learn most out of our own mistakes, there's no point in making the same someone else did, is it?
On other note, I'm enchanted by the learning and sharing program you talk about! I hope I get to see more of it.
Nice post!
Very well said. I think the additional step of researching previous works is a great idea that many people should do before, during and after the hypothesizing stage. Thanks for sharing that idea! I'm glad you love the program! I hope to hear more of your thoughts on all the various subjects that will come up in the future! Do you have any suggestions for how the program can be improved? I would love to hear your thoughts on that as well, thanks!
Thanks for the response!
I'm actually fairly new around here so I'm not too familiarized with how everything works. I've recently joined a community in Discord and I've found it propitiates sharing and discussion of the subjects so maybe something like that...? Again, don't take me too seriously, I know nothing. I've started following you (that phrase is rather creepy), I'll try to read you frequently and if anything comes to mind I'll make sure to share it :)
I recall learning the Scientific Method in high school. It made sense then and it makes sense now!
I know a lot of people getting into crypto currency and they invest based solely on market cap and performance. They don't examine the underlying technology and value the platform the coin supports brings to the world. Not examining these things will likely bring failure to them. For example, Ethereum makes a lot of sense as a technology and will change the world. That is why it went up!
Thanks for this lesson. A great and timely reminder to follow the Scientific Method!
I totally agree, there’s an exorbitant number of “investors” who walk into the crypto world and chase FOMO and FUD and price action, technical this and technical that, but they have very little or even nonexistent knowledge of how the underlying technology works or how it can bring value to the world. These “investors” are the reason why many outsiders look at crypto like it’s a bubble - it looks similar to the dot com boom where investors are just dumping money in without knowing what they’re even supporting... thanks for reading and supporting and as always, it’s great to hear your thoughts! 🙏🏽
Further thanks to you for recommending Blocktrades for Steem Power delegation. I just purchased 2200 SP for 90 days and will get it within the next two weeks. You pointed me to the article about approx. when they would have the delegations available again so I seized the opportunity. I don't have a huge amount of crypto value yet, but I looked at all the investments I could make and I realized the greatest investment I could make is in myself and the Steemit community.
Your posts are helping me a lot!
That's awesome! I'm glad to hear you were able to get an order in!! Those delegations sold out fast... And now they've closed pre-orders again due to high demand 🙀. You won't be disappointed with your investment, it will pay off in spades! I'm glad I could help you out, if there's more I can do, don't hesitate to ask! Your support helps me out more than you know @sequentialvibe, and it's always great to see you here! ❤️
Starting a business.
Problem : what kind of business do I get into? Poultry farming
Data Collection : I collect data on other persons doing the same business in the location, availability of customers, price of raw materials such as corn, rice bran, soybean, groundnuts all for feed making.
Data analysis : do I have enough money to start and enough space as well. What impact will the business have on my life and those around me.
Conclusion : I have researched and have gathered all the factors are positive and happy to put to action.
That's a very interesting usage of the Scientific Method, thanks for sharing! Keep me updated on your progress if you actually pursue that idea, I'm curious to see how it unfolds! Thanks for the support!
QOTD: What problems have you identified in your life that can be better solved with The Scientific Method? Have you used the method in the past? If so, how did it work out for you?
I'm always embracing learning without thinking much of the outcome. So I don't measure life by failures or success but by growth. I'm always asking myself did I grow in the process? And now I'm beginning to practice enjoying the process as well. The process is now what I find bliss in.
So I guess I've been using the Scientific Method to a certain extent. That is if I'm understanding what you wrote correctly XD
You are, in fact, using the scientific method, just in your own way! Your way seems much less systematic and planned out, but just as effective. Everyone is different in how they learn and measure life, more people need to do what you have done and try out different "scientific methods" in order to find out the one that works best for themselves! Great work, and thanks for sharing your insight and experience!
Will be looking to read up more and work on understanding the scientific method more from your posts. You write some good healthy stuff to read :)
Oh and Happy new year to you @khaleelkazi
Thank you! Happy New Year to you as well! 🥂
Interesting post to problem solving. For me, I just collect data first. Then weigh the pros and cons. It also works in decision making skills. I think the aim is to have a goal and work towards that in life.
Thanks for the kind words! Everyone needs to try different methods of problem-solving to figure out which one works best for themselves. It seems that you have done that and are effective at the method you've chosen! Thanks for sharing your methods and insight! 🙏🏽
They don't teach us how to think at school. That's why dad sent me here. I know this stuff but never thought we use it in real life. I lost my glasses this morning. They were not on the book shelf I put them last night. Given that what goes up must come down I looked at the floor. Yes!! This proves gravity. I found them on the floor. Somebody must have knocked them down.
Yes, ironically, the process of thinking itself isn't really questioned or taught in most schools. I'm glad you're on Steemit and learning more about crypto and the world in general! Keep at it!
Completely right mr. khaleelkazi science is only prepared and sorted out sound judgment. We can utilize this presence of mind to take care of our every day issues
upvoted and resteemed
Thanks for the kind words! I totally agree!