Can you research too much?

[Gumbies R Us]

Like some things in life, something can be good in moderation. Can the same be said about researching reefing-related stuff? Can doing too much research actually cause more harm? Can it cause a reefer to develop new fears and worries? Does doing a bunch of research actually provide more positive insights or negatives? Let's discuss this!

 

[MossyFroggyLove]

Hmmm, I actually never thought of this. Now, IME, i have gotten new worries by doing research, but, IMO, the more worries the better because you will approach things at a more cautious and carefull manner.

So, i think the more research you do, the better!

Now this is just my opnion and im sure it'll be pretty interesting to hear out other's opinions too!

 

[EnterName]

No research = You will make mistakes and panic all the time when something unexpected occurs.

A little bit of research = Dunning-Kruger hits. You will be confidently wrong very often, but at least calm.

Decent research = You will change your mind constantly and start to grasp how complicated even the apparently simplest things are. Even stupid opinions can make you insecure because you might have missed something.

Deep research = You can be confident in your abilities, but know that your skills only apply to specific areas and that you are lacking knowledge in others. You will purposefully have to leave out information when helping others because explaining the details would make things far too complicated.

Pick your poison
In the end you will fit into most categories depending on the topic anyway. Accept being smart while also blissfully ignorant of the actual truth

 

[Subsea]

No research = You will make mistakes and panic all the time when something unexpected occurs.

A little bit of research = Dunning-Kruger hits. You will be confidently wrong very often, but at least calm.

Decent research = You will change your mind constantly and start to grasp how complicated even the apparently simplest things are. Even stupid opinions can make you insecure because you might have missed something.

Deep research = You can be confident in your abilities, but know that your skills only apply to specific areas and that you are lacking knowledge in others. You will purposefully have to leave out information when helping others because explaining the details would make things far too complicated.

Pick your poison
In the end you will fit into most categories depending on the topic anyway. Accept being smart while also blissfully ignorant of the actual truth

Outstanding response!

“Accept being smart while also blissfully ignorant of the actual truth ”

Spoken with the wisdom of a philosopher.

PS: I say, Humility is the “best teacher”.

 

[keagan]

IMO it's only too much research if you take the fun out of a hobby and turn it into a second job.

 

[gkprevite]

The right amount of research is important. As is knowing when you’ve done enough. Paralysis by analysis is a real thing. You can research yourself into making no decision or action at all.

 

[Jay Hemdal Verified Community Expert]

Like some things in life, something can be good in moderation. Can the same be said about researching reefing-related stuff? Can doing too much research actually cause more harm? Can it cause a reefer to develop new fears and worries? Does doing a bunch of research actually provide more positive insights or negatives? Let's discuss this!

I think it matters how you define "research". If you mean thoroughly reading the available literature, testing assumptions on your own, asking the opinions of others (here for example) and then applying the results carefully - I think that is beneficial, and never harmful.

On the other hand, if your research is just asking a LLM / AI engine, then that can be a problem. I'm also a bit negative on Facebook groups - very little "filtering" of the information given out there, and I've seen a lot of the "blind leading the blind"....

I wrote this short article on "informational resources" for home aquarists many years ago, but it still stands up (except no mention of AI in it).

https://reefs.com/magazine/media-review-information-resources-for-home-aquarists/

 

[Gumbies R Us]

No research = You will make mistakes and panic all the time when something unexpected occurs.

A little bit of research = Dunning-Kruger hits. You will be confidently wrong very often, but at least calm.

Decent research = You will change your mind constantly and start to grasp how complicated even the apparently simplest things are. Even stupid opinions can make you insecure because you might have missed something.

Deep research = You can be confident in your abilities, but know that your skills only apply to specific areas and that you are lacking knowledge in others. You will purposefully have to leave out information when helping others because explaining the details would make things far too complicated.

Pick your poison
In the end you will fit into most categories depending on the topic anyway. Accept being smart while also blissfully ignorant of the actual truth

This is a really good breakdown!

 

[Gumbies R Us]

I think it matters how you define "research". If you mean thoroughly reading the available literature, testing assumptions on your own, asking the opinions of others (here for example) and then applying the results carefully - I think that is beneficial, and never harmful.

On the other hand, if your research is just asking a LLM / AI engine, then that can be a problem. I'm also a bit negative on Facebook groups - very little "filtering" of the information given out there, and I've seen a lot of the "blind leading the blind"....

I wrote this short article on "informational resources" for home aquarists many years ago, but it still stands up (except no mention of AI in it).

https://reefs.com/magazine/media-review-information-resources-for-home-aquarists/

Jay, thanks for sharing the article! I will take some time to read this later

 

[Biokabe]

I think too much research can be a big problem. It's burned me many times.

One of the problems with researching, especially doing so as a hobbyist, is that you may lack enough knowledge and "common sense" to put what you read into context.

For example, palytoxin. It's a known risk that can legitimately put you in the hospital or worse. I've seen many a new hobbyist just absolutely refuse to get zoas because their research has told them that palytoxin is dangerous, but their lack of knowledge and experience can't put that danger into appropriate context. Simply having zoas in your tank is unlikely to be dangerous. Many of them don't even have palytoxin in their tissues. And even those that do... it's in the tissue, often not free-floating in the aquarium or available as a contact poison. You have to do some silly things, like boiling the zoas alive, in order to liberate the palytoxin and put it in a position to do you harm.

And while I can't remember the specifics, I can remember plenty of time where my research led me to think about and worry about something, and I was so worried about the edge case I had learned about that I was too afraid to take the regular large-scale action necessary.

Research is good, but it can also cause problems.

 

[BeanAnimal]

I don't disagree directly with the thoughts above, but when the information researched is full of opinion and misinformation that often only becomes evident with experience, it often does more harm than good. The forum is full of regular examples. People can't even get through a cycle because their research has them pouring daily bottles of crap into their tank on week one. Daily Prime, three or four "good bacteria" products, gotta get that N and P up and increase biodiversity before the dinos come, prevent the ugly stage, etc.. A skimmer, a fleece roller, a refugium with added aminos and fertilizer, ICP and DNA, ready to pour more stuff in to "balance" their microbiome and Redfield ratio right out of the gate.

All the result of deep "research". Now one could argue it was poor research, but was it? How would they know, with no experience, and so many loud, seemingly authoritative voices promoting so much misinformation?

 

[Reefer Matt]

Research is a good step toward experience, but not a replacement. Reading all the publications in the world is useless if their lessons aren’t applied in practice.

 

[sixty_reefer]

The more I read, the less I look for credible people and the more I look for credible evidence.

 

[Dan_P]

Like some things in life, something can be good in moderation. Can the same be said about researching reefing-related stuff? Can doing too much research actually cause more harm? Can it cause a reefer to develop new fears and worries? Does doing a bunch of research actually provide more positive insights or negatives? Let's discuss this!

Spending too much time researching reefing topics, i.e., screwed up priorities, is certainly possible. Is there such a thing as too much knowledge, understanding the universe too well, or being too certain about what is true? I think not.