Science is about overcoming failures. List: (1) once I got to be professor, my first 23 grant proposals we're rejected. I am very comfortable now. (2) I was mediocre at school (~B) and particularly bad at stats. Much of my lab's work is close to stats now.
(3) my first paper went through >100 iterations. I can now finalize one in a day. (4) I never got accepted into a summer school. But Cosmo with @GunnarBlohm and @Schrater_Lab is very popular.
(5) in 2002 I convinced myself that neural networks were a distraction and ugly. Now much of my group works on them. (6) I have rejected a host of papers that I now find amazing. I sometimes then apologize to the authors years later.
(7) I am still at chance level predicting which of our papers make it into high profile journals. But I now know why. (8) I now really dislike many statements in my older papers. I try to correct in newer papers and talks.
(9) and I am still torn about many of the foundational ideas of neuroscience. I hope that the future will let me see things more clearly.
Also, just to be clear, I am grateful, lucky, and privileged to not have a far far longer list. And outstanding mentors, collaborators and trainees made navigating the path far easier.
