Are you talking about specifically - context is needed, ending one’s life prematurely or pursuing a science question? Science is odd in the fact that breakthroughs require knowledge, experience and luck. Being a scientist should be the reward in itself, you do science - are you a quality scientist, are you honest, is the project worthy - because you always need backers. It is expensive for most trials and that’s when it gets political.
A scientist fails to make a new sticky enough glue, ….for years then puts it on paper and you get a resealable sticky note. People love it.
Stuck in a rut is common - go to a museum; pursue something as a side quest, a difficult problem is solved by not trying to solve the problem.
I was interested in the satellite problem - I don’t worry about solving it 30 minutes after seeing it. I just trust that I will research it …. do something else….return to the research and then continue reading all the issues, conflicts of interest, look at it altruistically, then as selfish individuals and groups, and try and figure it out, go around in circles and loops, will this work if we try this?
Read many perspectives, each hour I get a little deeper or not as I go down the wrong path.
I trust myself and the process - an entire library of books, the solution is a line in one book …but there is no index, I start reading one book and that recommends several other books, and I just keep going as the pile of books gets bigger - there may be 5000 books - I might get there in 5, it might take 20 years and 500 books, or I won’t find it in my lifetime, but I lay the trail for the next pursuer …write up the thoughts in a book or paper, publish it - get feedback and let it go,….carry on researching realise I was not wise on the first paper - let the earlier version - the student; the novice go …give her a pass ….carry on diligently doing the work, the glory and the end becomes irrelevant - the science journey is what defines me and my identity. No one else.