• Scientific research is an inherently demanding endeavor, and its outcomes are often considered as approximations of reality. • Researchers—particularly those with extensive publications and citations—may become susceptible to hubris regarding their scientific contributions. • This hubris gives rise to a paradox: although researchers may be driven by ambition for Nobel-level recognition, they must simultaneously cultivate—or be compelled to perform—humility in advance; otherwise, their work risks rejection and remains only "near-Nobel." • Scientists may benefit from embracing the humility embedded in Daoist thought, approaching scientific inquiry as an effort to apprehend the boundless processes of the universe through the inherently "infinitesimal" lens of human knowledge.
Nguyen et al. (Wed,) studied this question.