How to Research Like a Winner
Only foolish people separate consumption from creation.
The 2 are not meant to be enemies.
The 2 are meant to be friends.
Once you become a fountain of knowledge, the creation process feels effortless.
When you struggle to create something, then chances are your research game is off.
When Pixar is building an imaginative universe…
Do you know what the animators do?
They travel to locations that remind them of the universe they are trying to build.
The more they travel to different locations, the more ideas are sparked from within.
Why is Research a Big Deal?
The importance of research comes down to knowing what the hell you’re talking about.
A lot of ignorant people speak with the most conviction.
They have their facts wrong.
Or their opinion is divorced from reality.
Poor factual understanding or a silly opinion plummets credibility.
I had a cousin like this one time.
She was visiting from a different state and was hanging out with a few of my friends.
My friends and I were talking about sports.
She felt excluded.
So she began contributing.
She was like:
‘LeBron James sucks at basketball!’
I was not a LeBron fan by any means.
But I even knew that statement wasn’t accurate.
We gave her a chance to expand.
She doubled down.
‘Lebron can’t play at all! I’m surprised he’s even in the NBA.’
We looked at her like she was goofy.
She spoke with more conviction as time passed.
This is what happens when you don’t know what you’re talking about.
You seem smart to only one person:
- Yourself.
While others look at you like a fool.
Our goal of research is to reduce the likelihood of looking like a fool.
Limitations of the Mind
There’s a dark truth:
- We can only know so much.
Let’s say a journalist is doing research for 5 years on a particular royal family.
If they miss even 1 crucial detail, it can entirely switch the narrative.
The journalist doing the research for the 5 years did their due diligence.
They did the best they could.
However, by missing 1 crucial piece of information, their credibility could be at stake.
This may seem like a dark realization.
And you may be like:
‘Well, how can I eliminate the chance of missing anything?’’
That’s not possible.
We cannot fully eliminate the chance of missing something.
However, we can severely reduce the likelihood.
This is why bias is our enemy.
Granted, humans are naturally biased.
But we should work with conviction to gradually reduce the bias with more knowledge.
We shouldn’t have a dog in the fight.
Whichever side wins, wins.
Biased journalists move like they know everything.
But they are the same journalists who embarrassingly issue retractions.
Reduce your chances of ruining credibility by doing proper due diligence.
Where to Begin Researching
To research, you need a topic.
The topic will come in 2 of the following ways:
- It is assigned to you.
- It comes from within.
For the first one, there is a college professor or a boss who assigns the topic:
‘Hey Johannes, find out more about the recent bank heist.’
They gave you direction.
Now you do your research from there.
Other times, the topic will come from within.
This is a curiosity-based direction.
For most of the content on the ArmaniTalks brand, I follow my curiosities.
Curiosity has led to the 400 blogs you find on my website.
Finding Credible Sources
You have direction, next up:
- Sources.
Sources are pools of information.
And they can come in all forms of shapes and sizes.
A few types of sources include:
- Articles on the internet.
- Scientific papers.
- Credible sources in a field.
- Books.
- Yourself (depending on the topic).
We need to evaluate the sources with open-minded skepticism.
Being open-minded allows you to learn from anyone.
Being skeptical allows you to know there are tons of compromised information out there.
A lot of people lie.
And they don’t always mislead for sinister reasons.
Sometimes, they are biased or their memory of the event is fuzzy.
With open-minded skepticism, we take in information like a scientist.
It’s challenging to find credible resources.
Back in the day, if a journalist said they represented MSNBC, FOX, CNN, you may have been like:
‘These people must be credible. They represent such a large organization.’
But nowadays, they are some of the most compromised sources out there.
A lot of times, you’ll be going through the internet…
And you’ll see an article on the 68th tab of Google spitting straight facts.
Don’t let the glitz and glam of brands fool you.
Open-minded skepticism, homie.
- Learn from the world.
- But also realize a lot of people are full of shit.
Cumulative Learning
The difference between a simple system and a complex system is feedback.
A complex system gets the output and feeds it back into the input.
View researching as cumulative.
The output of one round of research is fed back as input for the second round of research.
This allows you to be more well-versed on the subject.
- Specific words make sense.
- Figures of expressions click.
- Prominent people within the field stick out.
‘How do I know when I know enough to begin publishing my piece, Armani?’
I have a very simple rule for this.
If someone asks you to explain the topic and you’re capable of asking:
‘Where do you want me to begin?!’
If you’re capable of asking that question, then chances are you know a lot about the topic.
If you are incapable of asking that question, then chances are you need to learn more.
Once you know a lot, creation feels effortless.
Consumption and creation were never meant to be enemies.
They go together like peanut butter and jelly.
If you enjoyed this article and would like to learn more about researching and writing, check out the following 2 resources:
✏️Get to the Point Book: A Beginner’s Guide to Essay Writing
✏️How to Write a Research Paper for Beginners Class on Skillshare
