Philosophy scientists can use Part VII: Into the same river

Welcome to the final post in our series about aphorisms that can be useful to scientists. If you missed the introduction to this series we recommend you check it out. This week we are discussing the phrase: 

“No person walks through the same river twice, it is not the same river, they are not the same person”  

Change is an inevitable part of life. If we want to get all scientific about it, the universe as a whole moves towards a state of disorder and unpredictability (damn thermodynamics). We tend not to think of this idea in our day to day lives because it can be easily overwhelm us with a crushing existential dread. But it doesn’t have to; if we are willing to embrace change and be made stronger by it. This lies at the core of this week’s aphorism; whether it is events, your own experiences or your own perspective, things will always change. Rather than being overwhelming this can be uplifting; if you are willing to embrace the wisdom this aphorism offers.

This aphorism may be one of the oldest that we have discussed. With the previous aphorisms there was often multiple references to who originally wrote them, creating arguments about who to credit. In this case the exact opposite is true; when this phrase is searched it is only ever attributed to Greek philosopher Heraclitus. His particular branch of thought/school of philosophy believed that was ever-present and was a fundamental part of the universe, a concept which he summarised using this aphorism. There’s not much else to note concerning the origin of this aphorism other than original shortened version reads “ No man ever steps in the same river twice.” Obviously the only difference here is that the phrase usually includes “man” in place of person, but that change is one that has happened more recently, based people’s preference for less specific pronouns.

Part of the beauty of this aphorism is its simplicity and depth; it can teach you both acceptance of the chaos of life as well as push you to learn from change and become more resilient. This type of thinking can be incredibly beneficial as a scientist. So, how can this aphorism help you overcome challenging times when they inevitably occur?

Get a new perspective
If you spend too much time trying to solve a single problem it can feel like that issue infects your whole life. You’re at work thinking about it, you travel home and you’re thinking about it and once you’re actually at home you’re still thinking about it. In this situation your effort becomes counter-productive; you end up with tunnel vision and might miss and obvious solution. When this happens you need to stop, take a breath, step away from the problem and come back, hopefully with a new perspective. As we’ve mentioned multiple times problem solving is at the core of science, but some problems can’t be solved with brute force. Maybe a reaction isn’t going as planned, you’re suffering from writer’s block or you’re struggling to wrap your head around a new theory. Don’t be afraid of taking your brain away form the problem. If you feel like you’re not making progress you might just need a break, a day off, a camping trip, even just a long walk outside can be good enough to provide fresh perspective. It can be hard to drag your mind away from a difficult task but allowing your brain to think about something allows you to return with new creativity.

Learn from mistakes
We all make mistakes. It might be a little mistake, like breaking a beaker, or a big mistake, like forgetting a crucial step in an experiment. Either way our brains have a habit of dwelling on the mistakes we make; leading to a downward spiral of doubt. This thought process can be a dangerous road to start walking down; we need to make sure that we don’t start measuring ourselves by the mistakes we’ve made. Instead we need to learn from the mistakes, otherwise we will have wasted something – an opportunity to make things and ourselves better in the future. To do this we have to acknowledge whatever mistake or screw up happened, figure out why it happened and put systems in place to prevent it from happening again. Did you forget to label your samples properly and now you’ve mixed them up? Well, write a standard operating procedure which includes labelling your samples so that you and others don’t make that mistake again. Mistakes can be valuable; we just have to be willing to look at the honestly and find ways to learn from them, otherwise it truly is a waste. 

Embrace change and the unexpected
When things change you can rage against fate and wish for things to be the way they used to be or embrace it an as an opportunity to grow. Your project takes an unexpected turn, well maybe this is a chance to publish some new data or explore a new area of research? Your supervisor asks for more data to support your hypothesis and delays the plans you had for other experiments? Inconvenient, but also a chance to learn a new technique to add to your toolbox of skills. I’m not advocating blind optimise in the face of truly difficult situations, just a little more realism when it comes to the things life throws at us. Being able to embrace opportunity as things change and adapting to difficult situations is when our own individual strengths can shine. It also means that if T we encounter this type of situation again in the future we will be ready for it and it won’t catch us off guard because we’ll know how to react. The next time plans change take a breath and rather than bemoaning the situation try to see what you can get out of it and carry forward with you. Picture yourself in the future encountering this situation again and realise that not only can you accept this change but you can be made better because of it.

Out of all the aphorisms we’ve discussed this is a personal favourite of mine that I regularly try to remember both at work and in my home life. I hope you have learned something and try to apply the knowledge it provides in your life as well.  At the very least try to use this phrase to remind yourself that change is a part of life and no matter how difficult it can seem accepting that it is a crucial part of life and learning.

Series conclusion
This aphorism seems rather fitting to end on; it has a message which matches the aim of this series. No matter where it comes from, if its advice from the world of craftsmen or truly ancient wisdom which has passed down through generations, an aphorism can always teach you something new; you’re never too old to learn. If you’ve followed this series over the past seven weeks I hope you have managed to gain some insight from what we have discussed and can start applying, as either a scientist in the lab or in your daily life. Just remember that there is always more than what is on the surface, you can find deeper wisdom if you think about something critically. If you’re a scientist or just someone looking to learn and grow think a critically is how we grow better as individuals.  

Series links:
Philosophy Scientists can use: Intro

Phil. Scientists can use: Part I

Phil. Scientists can use: Part II

Phil. Scientists can use: Part III

Phil. Scientists can use: Part IV

Phil. Scientists can use: Part V

Phil. Scientists can use: Part VI

Phil. Scientists can use: Part VII + series wrap up

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