--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: However, I have a stronger hunch that the…" description: "\"“However, I have a stronger hunch that the greatest part of the important biomedical research waiting to be done is in the class of basic science. Ther..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/6b7/lewis-thomas-2299_next-move_however-i-have-a-stronger-hunch-that-the_581556.png" --- # However, I have a stronger hunch that the greatest part of… ![“However, I have a stronger hunch that the greatest part of the important biomedical research waiting to be done is in the class of basic science. There is an abundance of interesting fact relating to all our major diseases, and more items of information are coming in steadily from all quarters in…” quote by Lewis Thomas](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/6b7/lewis-thomas-2299_next-move_however-i-have-a-stronger-hunch-that-the_581556.png) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/6b7/lewis-thomas-2299_next-move_however-i-have-a-stronger-hunch-that-the_581556.png) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/6b7/lewis-thomas-2299_next-move_however-i-have-a-stronger-hunch-that-the_581556.png) > ““However, I have a stronger hunch that the greatest part of the important biomedical research waiting to be done is in the class of basic science. There is an abundance of interesting fact relating to all our major diseases, and more items of information are coming in steadily from all quarters in biology. The new mass of knowledge is still formless, in complete, lacking the essential threads of connection, displaying misleading signals at every turn, riddled with blind alleys. There are fascinating ideas all over the place, irresistible experiments beyond numbering, all sorts of new ways into the maze of problems. But every next move is unpredictable, every outcome uncertain. It is a puzzling time, but a very good time. I do not know how you lay out orderly plans for this kind of activity, but I suppose you could find out by looking through the disorderly records of the past hundred years. Somehow, the atmosphere has to be set so that a disquieting sense of being wrong is the normal attitude of the investigators. It has to be taken for granted that the only way in is by riding the unencumbered human imagination, with the special rigor required for recognizing that something can be highly improbable, maybe almost impossible, and at the same time true. Locally, a good way to tell how the work is going is to listen in the corridors. If you hear the word, "Impossible!" spoken as an expletive, followed by laughter, you will know that someone's orderly research plan is coming along nicely.”” [Lewis Thomas](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lewis-thomas/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Scientific discovery is chaotic, full of blind alleys, but embracing uncertainty fuels breakthroughs. **In simple terms:** Science is messy, but uncertainty drives progress. Key Takeaway Accept disorder, pursue curiosity. Themes science uncertainty innovation Mood reflective inquisitive Type philosophical inspirational When to use this quote - lab meetings - grant proposals - academic conferences - policy planning Key Concepts research methodology creative thinking Questions to Reflect On - How can institutions nurture productive uncertainty? - What role does failure play in scientific advancement? A Different Perspective Overemphasis on certainty can stifle risk‑taking. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Research](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/research/) [Science](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/science/) [Taken for granted](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/taken-for-granted/) ## Related quotes > [I think there's a lack of understanding which is partly our fault as scientists and physicians in not communicating well enough with the public.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/laurie-glimcher/i-think-there-s-a-lack-of-understanding-which-is-partly-our-fault-as/) [Laurie Glimcher](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/laurie-glimcher/) > [We know from biology that new forms of organisms simulate their primitive form as closely as possible at first, even though obliged to exist…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wilhelm-ostwald/we-know-from-biology-that-new-forms-of-organisms-simulate-their/) [Wilhelm Ostwald](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/wilhelm-ostwald/) > [My own experience of over 60 years in biomedical research amply demonstrated that without the use of animals and of human beings, it would…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/albert-sabin/my-own-experience-of-over-60-years-in-biomedical-research-amply/) [Albert Sabin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/albert-sabin/) > [It is the responsibility of those of us involved in today's biomedical research enterprise to translate the remarkable scientific innovations we are witnessing into…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/elias-zerhouni/it-is-the-responsibility-of-those-of-us-involved-in-today-s/) Elias Zerhouni > [The business of biomedical research is mostly about failure. Few projects we commission will ultimately result in success. But every study we do contributes…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kenneth-frazier/the-business-of-biomedical-research-is-mostly-about-failure-few/) [Kenneth Frazier](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kenneth-frazier/) > [The elimination of horrible disease, the increase of the quality of lives (for humans and for animals) achieved through research using animals is so…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/carl-cohen/the-elimination-of-horrible-disease-the-increase-of-the-quality-of/) Carl Cohen > [Johns Hopkins introduced me to two defining events in my life: commitment to biomedical research and meeting my future wife, Mary.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/peter-agre/johns-hopkins-introduced-me-to-two-defining-events-in-my-life/) [Peter Agre](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/peter-agre/) > [I have no sense of direction; I never know where I am. When I back up a car, I'm more likely to hit what's…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jules-feiffer/i-have-no-sense-of-direction-i-never-know-where-i-am-when-i-back-up-a/) [Jules Feiffer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jules-feiffer/) > [“What else do you want to know?” “I didn’t know I wanted to know. But it isn’t—they aren’t things I can just ask you,”…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jessica-katoff/what-else-do-you-want-to-know-i-didn-t-know-i-wanted-to-know-but-it/) [Jessica Katoff](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jessica-katoff/) > [“He forced my lips apart and as he thrust his tongue deep, I vaguely wondered how it would feel between my legs. The power…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lorraine-loveit/he-forced-my-lips-apart-and-as-he-thrust-his-tongue-deep-i-vaguely/) Lorraine Loveit > [“Conan's next move was the obvious one suggested by logic.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/conan-s-next-move-was-the-obvious-one-suggested-by-logic/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [I like to make decisions based on things I'm interested in doing, not what seems like the next move in my quote-unquote career.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/neil-patrick-harris/i-like-to-make-decisions-based-on-things-i-m-interested-in-doing-not/) [Neil Patrick Harris](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/neil-patrick-harris/) > [“Doing a geographic” is a term alcoholics often use for acting on the impulse to start over by moving to a new town, or…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/katie-hafner/doing-a-geographic-is-a-term-alcoholics-often-use-for-acting-on-the/) [Katie Hafner](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/katie-hafner/) > [In an attempt to hinder, if not altogether halt, the next move of God, Satan has sent forth an army of faultfinding demons against…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/francis-frangipane/in-an-attempt-to-hinder-if-not-altogether-halt-the-next-move-of-god/) [Francis Frangipane](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/francis-frangipane/) > [Destroy everything. That's all well and fine, but you got to offer something in it's place. Since I always have a point and purpose…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-lydon/destroy-everything-that-s-all-well-and-fine-but-you-got-to-offer/) [John Lydon](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-lydon/) ## More by Lewis Thomas > [“We are endowed with genes which code out our reaction to beavers and otters, maybe our reaction to each other as well. We are…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lewis-thomas/we-are-endowed-with-genes-which-code-out-our-reaction-to-beavers-and/) [Lewis Thomas](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lewis-thomas/) > [We are a spectacular, splendid manifestation of life. We have language. . . . We have affection. We have genes for usefulness, and usefulness…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lewis-thomas/we-are-a-spectacular-splendid-manifestation-of-life-we-have-language/) [Lewis Thomas](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lewis-thomas/) > [“It is not a simple thing to decide where we fit, for at one time or another in our lives we manage to organize…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lewis-thomas/it-is-not-a-simple-thing-to-decide-where-we-fit-for-at-one-time-or/) [Lewis Thomas](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lewis-thomas/) > [It is in our genes to understand the universe if we can, to keep trying even if we cannot, and to be enchanted by…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lewis-thomas/it-is-in-our-genes-to-understand-the-universe-if-we-can-to-keep/) [Lewis Thomas](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lewis-thomas/) > [If an idea cannot move on its own, pushing it doesn't help; best to let it lie there.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lewis-thomas/if-an-idea-cannot-move-on-its-own-pushing-it-doesn-t-help-best-to-let/) [Lewis Thomas](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lewis-thomas/) > [Left to ourselves, mechanistic and autonomic, we hanker for friends.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lewis-thomas/left-to-ourselves-mechanistic-and-autonomic-we-hanker-for-friends/) [Lewis Thomas](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lewis-thomas/) > [I do not agree with this century's fashion of running down the human species as a failed try, a doomed sport. At our worst,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lewis-thomas/i-do-not-agree-with-this-century-s-fashion-of-running-down-the-human/) [Lewis Thomas](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lewis-thomas/) > [It would seem to me... an offense against nature, for us to come on the same scene endowed as we are with the curiosity,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lewis-thomas/it-would-seem-to-me-an-offense-against-nature-for-us-to-come-on-the/) [Lewis Thomas](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lewis-thomas/) > [The drive to be useful is encoded in our genes. But when we gather in very large numbers, as in the modern nation-state, we…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lewis-thomas/the-drive-to-be-useful-is-encoded-in-our-genes-but-when-we-gather-in/) [Lewis Thomas](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lewis-thomas/) > [I would send the complete works of Johann Sebastian Bach into outer space on the Voyager spacecraft. But that would be boasting.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lewis-thomas/i-would-send-the-complete-works-of-johann-sebastian-bach-into-outer/) [Lewis Thomas](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lewis-thomas/) > [“Nature abhors a long silence.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lewis-thomas/nature-abhors-a-long-silence/) [Lewis Thomas](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lewis-thomas/) > [“The future is too interesting and dangerous to be entrusted to any predictable, reliable agency. We need all the fallibility we can get. Most…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lewis-thomas/the-future-is-too-interesting-and-dangerous-to-be-entrusted-to-any/) [Lewis Thomas](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lewis-thomas/) > [We pass the word around; we ponder how the case is put by different people, we read the poetry; we meditate over the literature;…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lewis-thomas/we-pass-the-word-around-we-ponder-how-the-case-is-put-by-different/) [Lewis Thomas](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lewis-thomas/) > [“The uniformity of the earth's life, more astonishing than its diversity, is accountable by the high probability that we derived, originally, from some single…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lewis-thomas/the-uniformity-of-the-earth-s-life-more-astonishing-than-its/) [Lewis Thomas](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lewis-thomas/) > [Having long suspected that there was something alive in there, running the place, separate from everything else, absolutely individual and independent, we've celebrated by…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lewis-thomas/having-long-suspected-that-there-was-something-alive-in-there-running/) [Lewis Thomas](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lewis-thomas/) [Explore all 173 Lewis Thomas quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lewis-thomas/) ## More Next move quotes > [In an attempt to hinder, if not altogether halt, the next move of God, Satan has sent forth an army of faultfinding demons against…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/francis-frangipane/in-an-attempt-to-hinder-if-not-altogether-halt-the-next-move-of-god/) [Francis Frangipane](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/francis-frangipane/) > [“Doing a geographic” is a term alcoholics often use for acting on the impulse to start over by moving to a new town, or…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/katie-hafner/doing-a-geographic-is-a-term-alcoholics-often-use-for-acting-on-the/) [Katie Hafner](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/katie-hafner/) > [I like to make decisions based on things I'm interested in doing, not what seems like the next move in my quote-unquote career.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/neil-patrick-harris/i-like-to-make-decisions-based-on-things-i-m-interested-in-doing-not/) [Neil Patrick Harris](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/neil-patrick-harris/) > [“Conan's next move was the obvious one suggested by logic.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/conan-s-next-move-was-the-obvious-one-suggested-by-logic/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [“He forced my lips apart and as he thrust his tongue deep, I vaguely wondered how it would feel between my legs. The power…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lorraine-loveit/he-forced-my-lips-apart-and-as-he-thrust-his-tongue-deep-i-vaguely/) Lorraine Loveit > [I have no sense of direction; I never know where I am. When I back up a car, I'm more likely to hit what's…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jules-feiffer/i-have-no-sense-of-direction-i-never-know-where-i-am-when-i-back-up-a/) [Jules Feiffer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jules-feiffer/) > [Destroy everything. That's all well and fine, but you got to offer something in it's place. Since I always have a point and purpose…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-lydon/destroy-everything-that-s-all-well-and-fine-but-you-got-to-offer/) [John Lydon](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-lydon/) > [“What else do you want to know?” “I didn’t know I wanted to know. But it isn’t—they aren’t things I can just ask you,”…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jessica-katoff/what-else-do-you-want-to-know-i-didn-t-know-i-wanted-to-know-but-it/) [Jessica Katoff](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jessica-katoff/) > [I am learning that in life it is OK to travel in darkness, not knowing what your next move is.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/cobie-smulders/i-am-learning-that-in-life-it-is-ok-to-travel-in-darkness-not-knowing/) [Cobie Smulders](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/cobie-smulders/) > [Life is like a game of chess...there are many moves possible, but each move determines your next move...where you wind up is the sum…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mort-walker/life-is-like-a-game-of-chess-there-are-many-moves-possible-but-each/) [Mort Walker](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mort-walker/) > [Even though destiny plans to take next move,be master & creator of your own destiny.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dranil-kr-sinha/even-though-destiny-plans-to-take-next-move-be-master-creator-of-your/) [DrAnil Kr Sinha](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dranil-kr-sinha/) > [If the job is not what you expected and not even your cup of tea, stay put and learn as much as you can…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alexandra-levit/if-the-job-is-not-what-you-expected-and-not-even-your-cup-of-tea-stay/) [Alexandra Levit](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alexandra-levit/) > [I've been hooked on films ever since I can remember renting VHS tapes. But who got me hooked? I think life did. There wasn't…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jaime-zevallos/i-ve-been-hooked-on-films-ever-since-i-can-remember-renting-vhs-tapes/) [Jaime Zevallos](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jaime-zevallos/) > [When you have shot and killed a man you have in some measure clarified your attitude toward him. You have given a definite answer…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/r-a-lafferty-2/when-you-have-shot-and-killed-a-man-you-have-in-some-measure/) [R. A. Lafferty](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/r-a-lafferty-2/) > [The most powerful weapon in Chess is to have the next move](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-bronstein/the-most-powerful-weapon-in-chess-is-to-have-the-next-move/) [David Bronstein](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-bronstein/) Browse all 126 Next move quotes ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "“However, I have a stronger hunch that the greatest part of the important biomedical research waiting to be done is in the class of basic science. There is an abundance of interesting fact relating to all our major diseases, and more items of information are coming in steadily from all quarters in biology. The new mass of knowledge is still formless, in complete, lacking the essential threads of connection, displaying misleading signals at every turn, riddled with blind alleys. There are fascinating ideas all over the place, irresistible experiments beyond numbering, all sorts of new ways into the maze of problems. But every next move is unpredictable, every outcome uncertain. It is a puzzling time, but a very good time. I do not know how you lay out orderly plans for this kind of activity, but I suppose you could find out by looking through the disorderly records of the past hundred years. Somehow, the atmosphere has to be set so that a disquieting sense of being wrong is the normal attitude of the investigators. It has to be taken for granted that the only way in is by riding the unencumbered human imagination, with the special rigor required for recognizing that something can be highly improbable, maybe almost impossible, and at the same time true. Locally, a good way to tell how the work is going is to listen in the corridors. 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