Having embraced uncertainty and delved deeper into the research initiative, I am left questioning the effectiveness of previous efforts in Distilling the Domain. Full immersion in the research process has afforded clarity of view, making plain the breadth of the research questions, and associated body of work necessary to respond in a nuanced and insightful manner. Likewise, that the research initiative far exceeds what this budding researcher had initially envisaged to be a manageable task withing the bounds of ITC571’s time constraints.
While striving for insights into the problem domain, I unintentionally surfaced meta insights giving rise to knowledge not listed in the subject’s learning outcomes; how not to approach research. It is all too common in contemporary society for failure to be viewed through an entirely negative lens, ignoring the inherent learnings for those that adapt and progress to realise successful outcomes. Indeed, nowhere more that in academia, should the scientific process be respected. Failed experimentation is an integral element in the gaining of new knowledge, and through my initially flawed experience has emerged a deeper understanding and appreciation for what constitutes a successful approach to short-term research, and the attributes that support successful outcomes.
Reflecting upon this minor academic epiphany, this gaining of knowledge, I am reminded of the literary ways of skilled children’s authors, in their recounting tales that, at first sight, appear entertaining yet with further consideration reveal a multifaceted tapestry of deeper insight skilfully woven into a seemingly naive storyline.
One such author is Antoine De Saint-Exupéry. In his iconic 1943 work, The Little Prince, the story opens with the Little Prince recounting his recollections as a six-year-old of seeing a “magnificent picture” of a boa constrictor swallowing a small animal. This was perhaps akin to my naive imaginings of the research task, armed with intellect and resources, poised to make but a trifling snack of this Critical Nexus endeavour.
Saint-Exupéry’s Little Prince goes on, “After some work with a coloured pencil, I succeeded in making my first drawing. My Drawing Number One. It looked like this:”
“I showed my masterpiece to the grown-ups, and asked them whether the drawing frightened them. But they answered: ‘Frighten? Whys should any one be frightened by a hat?’”
Critical Nexus was indeed that hat.
“My drawing was not a picture of a hat. It was a picture of a boa constrictor digesting an elephant. But since the grown-ups were not able to understand it, I made another drawing: I drew the inside of the boa constrictor, so that the grown-ups could see it clearly. They always need to have everything explained. My Drawing Number Two looked like this:”
And so, to the aspiring ITC571 researchers that follow, this is my Drawing Number Two for you:
Be not the stricken boa constrictor, struggling to make even the slowest of progress burdened by an elephantine problem domain. Instead, may you invest much effort in defining and constraining your research question, for such early efforts shall undoubtedly save latter hardship.
More importantly, there is much to be learned from Antoine De Saint-Exupéry’s Little Prince; perhaps this should be mandatory reading for us all.
Loved it Lauren.