The Art of Doing Science and Engineering: Learning to Learn

by Richard Hamming

Cramming is clearly a waste of time. You really know it is, but the behavior of most of you is a flat denial of this truth. So, as I said above, words mean little in judging a systems engineering job; it is what is produced that matters. The professors believe, as do those who are paying the bill for your education, and probably some of you also, that what is being taught will probably be very useful in your later careers, but you continue to optimize the components of the system to the detriment of the whole! Systems engineering is a hard trade to follow; it is so easy to get lost in the details! Easy to say; hard to do. This example should show you the reality of my remark that many people know the words but few can actually put them into practice when the time comes for action in the real world. Most of you cannot!

“Yes, I would like to do first-class work. If Hamming could, then why not me?”

Newton observed that if others would think as hard as he did, then they would be able to do the same things. Edison said genius was 99% perspiration and 1% inspiration. It is hard work, applied for long years, which leads to the creative act, and it is rarely just handed to you without any serious effort on your part. Yes, sometimes it just happens, and then it is pure luck. It seems to me to be folly for you to depend solely on luck for the outcome of this one life you have to lead.

Among the important properties to have is the belief you can do important things. If you do not work on important problems, how can you expect to do important work?

Confidence in yourself, then, is an essential property. Or, if you want to, you can call it “courage.” Shannon had courage. Who else but a man with almost infinite courage would ever think of averaging over all random codes and expect the average code would be good? He knew what he was doing was important and pursued it intensely. Courage, or confidence, is a property to develop in yourself. Look at your successes, and pay less attention to failures than you are usually advised to do in the expression, “Learn from your mistakes.” While playing chess Shannon would often advance his queen boldly into the fray and say, “I ain’t scared of nothing.” I learned to repeat it to myself when stuck, and at times it has enabled me to go on to a success. I deliberately copied a part of the style of a great scientist. The courage to continue is essential, since great research often has long periods with no success and many discouragements.

in a lifetime is a large number indeed. As noted before, Chapter 1, the difference between having a vision and not having a vision is almost everything, and doing excellent work provides a goal which is steady in this world of constant change.

Thus what you consider to be good working conditions may not be good for you! There are many illustrations of this point. For example, working with one’s door closed lets you get more work done per year than if you had an open door, but I have observed repeatedly that later those with the closed doors, while working just as hard as others, seem to work on slightly the wrong problems, while those who have let their door stay open get less work done but tend to work on the right problems!

When stuck, often inverting the problem and realizing the new formulation is better represents a significant step forward.

It is a poor workman who blames his tools. I have always tried to adopt the philosophy that I will do the best I can in the given circumstances, and after it is all over maybe I will try to see to it that things are better next time. This school is not perfect, but for each class I try to do as well as I can and not spend my effort trying to reform every small blemish in the system. I did change Bell Telephone Laboratories significantly, but did not spend much effort on trivial details. I let others do that if they wanted to—but I got on with the main task as I saw it. Do you want to be a reformer of the trivia of your old organization or a creator of the new organization? Pick your choice, but be clear which path you are going down.

Finally, I must address the topic of whether the effort required for excellence worth it. I believe it is—the chief gain is in the effort to change yourself, in the struggle with yourself, and it is less in the winning than you might expect. Yes, it is nice to end up where you wanted to be, but the person you are when you get there is far more important. I believe a life in which you do not try to extend yourself regularly is not worth living—but it is up to you to pick the goals you believe are worth striving for. As Socrates (469–399 bc) said, The unexamined life is not worth living.