LiSYS

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.title[Life Skills for Young Scientists (LiSYS)]
 
.author[Jonathan M. Lilly]
 
.institution[Planetary Science Institute]
 
 
.institution[Student Conference on Conservation Science American Museum of Natural History, New York]
 
.date[October 15, 2025]
 
 
 
.note[Created with [{Liminal}](https://github.com/jonathanlilly/liminal) using [{Remark.js}](http://remarkjs.com/) + [{Markdown}](https://github.com/adam-p/markdown-here/wiki/Markdown-Cheatsheet) + [{KaTeX}](https://katex.org)]

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#  A Quick Poll

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#  Genesis

A personal story.
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#  An Overview of LiSYS

The acronym LiSYS is pronounced like the Greek word lysis, which means “solution”.

This is a skill-building program for some essentials that our academic education doesn't cover.

- A yearlong program
- One two-hour meeting per month
- One 1.5 hour small peer group meeting per month
- Monthly readings and assignments
- Quarterly weekend intensives with visiting experts 
- Oriented toward graduate students and postdocs
- Around 50 participants per year
- Now finishing its third iteration
- Funded as an NSF broader impacts activity (so far)

The curriculum: meditation, mindfulness, self-compassion, assertiveness, and conflict resolution.

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# Meditation

Read my [{essay}](https://jmlilly.net/blog/2020/02/09/meditation-for-scientists.html) on the importance of meditation for scientists.

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# Mindfulness

There are [{lots}](https://www.amazon.com/Mindfulness-25th-anniversary-Merloyd-Lawrence/dp/0738217999/ref=sr_1_1?crid=3M9KX03K4GLW8&dib=eyJ2IjoiMSJ9.bI1I3kynK2s-0_eWjQba7A.7O_H7scHoJwuZwq-M5p_gjId4On9lVBsCgV4XN_xaz0&dib_tag=se&keywords=mindfulness+ellen+langler&qid=1753878899&sprefix=mindfulness+ellen+langer%2Caps%2C116&sr=8-1) [{of}](https://www.amazon.com/Mindfulness-Eight-Week-Finding-Peace-Frantic/dp/1609618955/ref=sr_1_5?crid=3JL2M92J1MZOK&dib=eyJ2IjoiMSJ9.sfVXgUOI4uw-jvMMCEPh2ZiEUbfEsupRWKNwqL8VxoBRXreVbFXTARl7vySRKIXcRqhD-7IOWU-iZ9dEZoeubqOdmjZZL-Yu01jO1B0CS_KUsY0GsMWVwuP8crynPT6ZAQFuudDEWMRRtfsDc9uF3fEzZFjGq13YUZmSqQXTkHKw27PeeM_1m0sbLeUg3sH-WFOCwlSgJnfix7h1NDePXCJDFfoWqmh9-ZcFmbKDDV-ax2b-lmsQaEbrLH1DZKxVSExgIF7pFIijhDWvF0rNfrwohkNGzb36lLHCHUHNHMA._o4tHQNGsBoZRm7DIzoCKDQdm5F2jQNcWjOowB1pe7Q&dib_tag=se&keywords=mindfulness&qid=1753878932&sprefix=mindfulness%2Caps%2C141&sr=8-5) [{great}](https://www.amazon.com/Mindfulness-Beginners-Reclaiming-Present-Moment/dp/1622036670/ref=sr_1_38?crid=3JL2M92J1MZOK&dib=eyJ2IjoiMSJ9.sfVXgUOI4uw-jvMMCEPh2ZiEUbfEsupRWKNwqL8VxoBRXreVbFXTARl7vySRKIXcRqhD-7IOWU-iZ9dEZoeubqOdmjZZL-Yu01jO1B0CS_KUsY0GsMWVwuP8crynPT6ZAQFuudDEWMRRtfsDc9uF3fEzZFjGq13YUZmSqQXTkHKw27PeeM_1m0sbLeUg3sH-WFOCwlSgJnfix7h1NDePXCJDFfoWqmh9-ZcFmbKDDV-ax2b-lmsQaEbrLH1DZKxVSExgIF7pFIijhDWvF0rNfrwohkNGzb36lLHCHUHNHMA._o4tHQNGsBoZRm7DIzoCKDQdm5F2jQNcWjOowB1pe7Q&dib_tag=se&keywords=mindfulness&qid=1753878932&sprefix=mindfulness%2Caps%2C141&sr=8-38) [{books}](https://www.amazon.com/dp/0861719069/?bestFormat=true&k=mindfulness%20in%20plain%20english%20by%20bhante%20gunaratana&ref_=nb_sb_ss_w_scx-ent-pd-bk-d_k0_1_15_de&crid=1M6UF1B6WQ9K&sprefix=mindfulness%20gun) on mindfulness. 
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#  Self-Compassion

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#  Assertiveness

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#  Conflict Resolution

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.title[Qualities of Scientific Thought]
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#Thinking as a Tool

As scientists, our most powerful tool is, naturally, our mind.

The mind can be used more effectively for different purposes if we attend to *the manner in which* we are thinking.

We tend to think of intelligence as an innate, unchangeable, one-dimensional quality.

But we can use our minds in different ways just by being intentional about *how* we are thinking.

Astonishingly (to me), there is almost zero discussion of this possibility within the scientific community.

Here we will explore a simple framework for bringing different *types of thinking* or *qualities of thought* to bear on a problem.

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#  Six Thinking Hats

1.  **White**: Objective, neutral, facts and figures 
--

1.  **Yellow**: Optimistic, positive, beneficial
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1.  **Black**: Critical, skeptical, negative
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1.  **Green**: Creative, possibilities, alternatives
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1.  **Red**: Feelings, hunches, intuition
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1.  **Blue**: Wisdom, experience, perspective
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From the [{book}](https://www.amazon.com/Six-Thinking-Hats-Edward-Bono/dp/0316178314) by Edward de Bono. Here is a brief  [{summary}](https://highlandliteracy.files.wordpress.com/2014/10/six_hats_summary_card01.jpg?w=625&h=1349).

You could also refer to these as “lenses” if you prefer, because when we choose to employ them, they color our perception.

These represent *qualitatively different kinds of thinking* that we can bring to bear on different situations, as appropriate.

No matter what our personal inclination or background, we can train ourselves to be proficient in each kind of thinking.

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.title[White]

Objective, neutral, facts and figures.  
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.title[Yellow]

Optimistic, positive, beneficial
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.title[Black]

Critical, skeptical, negative
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.title[Green]

Creative, possibilities, alternatives
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.title[Red]

Feelings, hunches, intuition
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.title[Blue]

Wisdom, experience, perspective

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# Thanks!

See the [{LiSYS home page}](https://jmlilly.net/lisys.html) for a lot more information.

There is also a collection of [{talks}](https://open.spotify.com/show/7GQcLJGYRBUjvGagjirnqT) I've given for LiSYS on Spotify.