Role of chance in scientific discoveries

"We serendipitously imaged an intensely green fluorescent false moray (family Chlopsidae) eel while studying biofluorescent coral during a 2011 expedition to Little Cayman Island in the Caribbean Sea.

Many domains, especially psychology, are concerned with the way science interacts with chance — particularly "serendipity" (accidents that, through sagacity, are transformed into opportunity).

Dunbar adds that there is a great deal of writing about the role that serendipity ("happy accidents") plays in the scientific method.

Self-doubt is complete, and so the methods shift to become more broad: The researcher begins to think of theoretical explanations for the error, sometimes seeking the help of colleagues across different domains of expertise.

The highly controlled, cautious, curious and even social aspects of the scientific method are what make it well suited for identifying persistent systematic errors (anomalies).

In contrast, the mind can be "prepared" in ways that obstruct serendipity — making new knowledge difficult or impossible to take in.

Psychologist Alan A. Baumeister describes at least one such instance: Researcher Robert Heath failed to recognize evidence of "pleasure brain circuits" (in the septal nuclei).

[4] Fugelsang and Dunbar observe scientists while they work together in labs or analyze data, but they also use experimental settings and even neuroimaging.

On the other hand, Dunbar and Fugelsang say that an ingenious experimental design (and control conditions) may not be enough for the researcher to properly appreciate when a finding is "unexpected".

The hallucinogenic effects of lysergic acid diethylamide (LSD) were discovered by Albert Hofmann, who was originally working with the substance to try and treat migraines and bleeding after childbirth.

Hofmann's description of what he experienced as a result of taking so much LSD is regarded by Royston Roberts as "one of the most frightening accounts in recorded medical history".