Achieving a research-level understanding of most topics is like climbing a mountain. Aspiring researchers must struggle to understand vast bodies of work that came before them, learn techniques, and gain intuition. Upon reaching the top, the new researcher begins doing novel work, throwing new stones onto the top of the mountain and making it a little taller for whoever comes next.
Mathematics is a striking example of this. For centuries, countless minds have climbed the mountain range of mathematics and laid new boulders at the top. Over time, different peaks formed, built on top of particularly beautiful results. Now the peaks of mathematics are so numerous and steep that no person can climb them all. Even with a lifetime of dedicated effort, a mathematician may only enjoy some of their vistas.
The Debt
Programmers talk about technical debt: there are ways to write software that are faster in the short run but problematic in the long run. Managers talk about institutional debt: institutions can grow quickly at the cost of bad practices creeping in. Both are easy to accumulate but hard to get rid of.
Research can also have debt. It comes in several forms:
Poor Exposition
Often, there is no good explanation of important ideas and one has to struggle to understand them.
Undigested Ideas
Most ideas start off rough and hard to understand. They become radically easier as we polish them, developing the right analogies, language, and ways of thinking.
Bad Abstractions and Notation
Abstractions and notation are the user interface of research, shaping how we think and communicate. Unfortunately, we often get stuck with the first formalisms to develop even when they’re bad.
Noise
Being a researcher is like standing in the middle of a construction site. Countless papers scream for your attention and there’s no easy way to filter or summarize them.
Interpretive Labor
There’s a tradeoff between the energy put into explaining an idea and the energy needed to understand it. On one extreme, the explainer can painstakingly craft a beautiful explanation, leading their audience to understanding without even realizing it could have been difficult. On the other extreme, the explainer can do the absolute minimum and abandon their audience to struggle.
Research Distillation
Research distillation is the opposite of research debt. It can be incredibly satisfying, combining deep scientific understanding, empathy, and design to do justice to our research and lay bare beautiful insights.
Distillation is Hard
Distillation is also hard. It’s tempting to think of explaining an idea as just putting a layer of polish on it, but good explanations often involve transforming the idea. This kind of refinement of an idea can take just as much effort and deep understanding as the initial discovery.
The Ecosystem for Distillation
If you are excited to distill ideas, seek clarity, and build beautiful explanations, we are letting you down. You have something precious to contribute and we aren’t supporting you the way we should.
Conclusion
Research debt is the accumulation of missing interpretive labor. It’s extremely natural for young ideas to go through a stage of debt, like early prototypes in engineering. The problem is that we often stop at that point. Young ideas aren’t ending points for us to put in a paper and abandon. When we let things stop there the debt piles up.
FAQs
What is research debt?
Research debt is the accumulation of missing interpretive labor.
How does research debt come about?
Research debt can come about in several ways, including poor exposition, undigested ideas, bad abstractions and notation, and noise.
Is research debt unique to a particular field?
No, research debt is a widespread problem that can occur in any field.
How can we address research debt?
We can address research debt by creating an ecosystem that supports research distillation and by recognizing the importance of interpretive labor.
Why is research distillation important?
Research distillation is important because it allows researchers to combine deep scientific understanding, empathy, and design to do justice to our research and lay bare beautiful insights.
