Research

What does "research" mean? To many, it simply means looking things up. To me as a scientist it means trying to understand what is going on, partly by reading to see what other people have discovered, but mostly by doing experiments to check out my ideas. I am now translating this process into writing my latest book, which is about applying scientific thinking to social questions. People have done this before under various guises, and boy am I getting excited in reading what they have discovered. it's taken me back to my student days, and I am applying a method that I worked out for myself and which served me very well.
Instead of taking notes, I write out questions. Later, I give myself a little exam on those questions, and then I go back to my original reading to see whether I have remembered and understood it properly. Anything I have missed or got wrong gets noted in red beside the original answer. That way, I can't kid myself that I have understood something when I really haven't.
Later, I will try out some little social experiments to check and challenge my ideas and those of others. Should be fun!