Methods of Learning

Translator's Note: Lessons on methodology drawn from Xie Zuoshi’s lifelong experience. They are also valuable advice for anyone who wants to study or research a subject, economics included, or who already does.

In Learning, Method Matters Most

Different subjects call for different methods of learning. Science and non-science, for example, should not be learned in the same way. More…→

Science Requires Knowing the Why

In studying science, what matters most is not knowing that something is so, but knowing why it is so. You should rather not know a thing at all than know it without knowing why. Indeed, without knowing why something is so, you cannot truly know that it is so.
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Control the Other Variables

Science always proceeds around two problems: how to untangle circular logic, and how to control the other variables. The latter is the experimental tradition begun by Galileo, the core of which is precisely the control of other variables.
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Read Books “Backwards”

Doing research is like crossing a river by feeling for the stones: you grope your way forward. Books and papers, however, are often written backwards; that is, the researcher first works out the problem and its solution through trial and error, and only then presents them according to a clear logical framework. We do not read for the sake of reading, but to strengthen our own ability to do research, and so papers must be read "backwards."
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Keep Asking “Why”

In studying science, it is not enough to know that something is so; more importantly, we must know why it is so, and this requires us to keep asking "why." We advocate a critical thinking, which itself grows out of the habit of asking "why."
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Keep Your Logic Consistent

If someone told you that logic doesn't have to be consistent, you would surely find it absurd. Logical consistency is really just the bare minimum. Yet plenty of people, including some experts and scholars, fail to meet even that.
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