Lost in Space

Scientific exploratory search behaviours evolved from simple foraging search strategies.  

These search strategies are characterized by area-restricted searching punctuated by short, 'Levy' flights.

While they served us well in our evolutionary past, they are utterly hopeless when exploring the more complex multidimensional spaces that characterize modern scientific and technological challenges.

Worse still, when used to explore complex multidimensional spaces, these low-dimensional tools have the beguiling property of generating data to support our initial intuition or starting point no matter how wrong it might be - the Paradox of the Self-Fulfilling Prophecy.

In contrast, modern experimental design tools ruthlessly and systematically map those spaces with the minimum of resource.