[atakan_gurkan]

I would like to counter the opinions that claim that the author should use the term "ignorance" rather than "stupidity". IMHO, the inadequacy that one feels during research does not arise from not knowing the answer, it is a result of not being able to figure out how to approach the problem and reaching an answer. More than this, most of the time you do not know what the appropriate question is.

This is not ignorance, sometimes you simply cannot weave the threads of knowledge you have to reach a pattern. Of course if you have more threads, your job becomes easier; and at some low level of knowledge you will have nothing interesting to ask, but this is not the major difficulty in completing a Ph.D. thesis, at least in my experience (which is in physics/astronomy).

This is what the author is talking about, it is not "knowledge" that is lacking, at least not knowledge in the sense that something you can learn from a book. It is the quality that is mentioned in an essay by pg: http://www.paulgraham.com/wisdom.html

I would not call this problem ignorance. Even though stupidity is kinda harsh, it captures the feeling well.

[andrewcooke]

the idea that stupidity is harsh, and that we have to rename this feeling as ignorance is all part of the problem. everyone is so hung up on not being stupid. even after reading the article, it's what people care about...

you can argue all you like that the author should use another word. but what you have to get over when you're doing research is exactly that feeling. the feeling that people are trying to hide from by playing with words.

not sure i am making my point well - what i am trying to say is that the people who are complaining about the term "stupid" are not helping anyone. they're just exhibiting the same instinctive reaction that you feel in research. whatever name you give it, you feel the same.