Does Research Have All the Answers?

I am a constant seeker of knowledge and information but one of the side effects is that I often stumble over something that is in direct conflict with what I previously thought to be true.

This happens all the time – and everyone’s opinion and viewpoint on any given topic (or ten!) is constantly evolving.

Even in the world of research and science, opinions are always changing as different researchers and labs “discover” something new. Here’s the thing about science, you never begin (nor will you get funding for) an experiment you don’t already know the answer to. The hypothesis is the answer you are hoping to prove, so of course, the study will lead people down that direction. And once the study is completed, if another lab and research team cannot get the same results when replicating your study, it isn’t considered sound.

I don’t know many people who read the research first hand – most of us get it through secondary news sources like this blog, the news, or any of the countless other websites that share “Scientists Discover XXX”. Academia doesn’t make it easy to gain access to the research either. Have you ever tried to look something up on Google Scholar? Depending on the age of the paper, it may be locked behind a paywall or only printed in a physical journal (somewhere at some university’s library). I understand that this is part of an institution’s way of making money to fund further research, but how are we, as body nerds and seekers of knowledge, supposed to be able to understand the science if we can’t even read the paper!?

I am 100% at peace with knowing that what I understand today about fascia, pain science and the body could be proven totally wrong next week. I only know what I know now – and that is that the body is an amazingly complex and fantastic thing.

So the next time you stumble across an article that promises to bust all the myths about something you thought to understand, you probably will finish reading with more questions than you started with. The same goes for research. But all we can do is have an open mind, and continue to study. The moment you stop seeking additional answers FOR YOURSELF and stop being curious is the moment you STOP learning. And that’s not something I’m interested in.

No research is the end point. If your stumble across something that makes you question what you know, KEEP ASKING QUESTIONS. Your questions may be even better now with what you learned.