Research is Speed Bump – Not a Roadmap

Research is Speed Bump – Not a Roadmap

I view research as cultivating the capacity to maneuver through clinical practice with skeptical inquiry and confident humility—rather than meandering with gullible conjecture.

It doesn’t give us everything we need to know. Nor should it resolve all uncertainty. But in clinical practice, research can act as a well-placed speed bump—slowing us down just enough to engage System 2 thinking: deliberate, analytical, reflective.

That pause matters. It protects us from first-instinct fallacies, novelty bias, and the illusion of certainty.

Reworking our convictions and refining our processes demands two things: first, the ability to temper our impulse to react abruptly; and second, a willingness to be bound—at least partially—to scientific credence.

Sometimes we default to autopilot. We follow methods of low utility, clinging to the familiar without interrogating the beliefs that shaped our approach in the first place.

But when we intentionally place speed bumps—literature reviews, peer challenges, reflective journaling—we introduce just enough friction to make space for recalibration.

That friction doesn’t give us answers. But it does create a better environment to rethink, refine, and reroute with more humility and clarity.

-Jarred