what motivates scientists to ask why

In other words, what inspires scientist to purse their research? about the time we begin to think we understand it all. They find every "wrong result" of an experiment to be equally fascinating and thrilling. All of us like to know why things are as they are. Hopefully, as we become more experienced, we learn how to ask the "why" question indirectly. use a technology around jet injections didn't know much about my Our original resources for authors and journals will help you become an expert in academic publishing. That is ultimately more fulfilling than anything else., PhD Candidate and Social Entrepreneur in North Carolina, 1) I'm always learning new things from amazing people and cool papers.2) My plampts don't mind when I smell bad after a workout. It has a strong historical narrative, which is unusual in a science textbook and really worked for me. Known for storytelling and knowledge management, she is a popular speaker, author, and instructor. As for social status, yes, people will commend you atdinner parties for the nobility of a career in science and shamefully admit that in comparisontheir job in marketing is futile and meaningless but your grandmother still thinks you are a student (why else would a 32-year old hang around a University?) Reason for asking why is to put an issue on the table. Men and women in this group of working Ph.D. scientists mentioned similar kinds of influences on their career choice. "What does kind mean?" The initial enthusiasm almost always seems to get replaced by a sense of cynicism and depression. What more would you like me to explore? I hope that says Im really interested in learning what others are looking for. Yet, we are told that the question "why" will shut down the person being asked and so you should avoid it. Even though, back then, I understood very little of what it would be like to be a researcher, and make no mistake, there are plenty of challenges and hurdles to surmount on this journey, what never failed to inspire me was the utter wonderment of exploring the world of mathematics, much like strolling through the beautiful, mysterious, unfathomably vast and intricate expanse of a forest., I love staying curious and be able to always learn something new and fascinating. Your email address will not be published. Please tell me what you hope I bring to this meeting? 1536 visitors saw this today and 1210 signed up. These unique capabilities are probably a consequence of the number of neurons in our brains, in particular in the cerebral cortex and the striatum. Bill Nye put it well when he said that In one, led by neuroscientist Marieke Jepma and her collaborators, perceptual curiosity was triggered through ambiguous visual input: The researchers showed participants blurry images of common objects. And dedication paid off. Icons made by various authors from www.flaticon.com, Experiential Live Edit: How to improve Biomed manuscripts, Editing and proofreading services for a publication-ready manuscript, Customized service packs to match all publication needs, Expert help for all academic translation needs, What motivates you to do research? The relief of perceptual curiosity was found to activate the reward circuitry, and in both experiments the relief was also accompanied by enhanced incidental memory. This seemed nothing less than a Herculean feat to me, a struggling post-grad who could barely balance her course-load and the rest of her life! New research sheds light on how we are resistant to change. What do you think motivates scientists to ask why? Roughly one-third (32%) of working Ph.D. scientists said a main motivator for their career path was a lifelong interest in science and desire for intellectual challenge, according to the 2014 survey. And as one author put it, "One day the flow of questions will stop, but of course even as adults, were still searching for the answers.[1]. So, what draws people into these careers? Materials Scientist, woman, age 49, My interest in science was first piqued as a seven-year-old observing a full moon through the telescope of a friend. Similarly, the associated aptitude to describe and articulate both what exists in the real world and abstract constructs in the world of our imagination has spawned the arts and literature. Assuming for the moment that what I am saying has relevance, I have to believe that if my students or audience are not asking questions, it must be that someone or something suggested that asking questions was a dangerous pursuit. Both my parents are scientists. Once the realization occurs that no one has all knowledge, it should become easier to ask questions including why questions. In rodents, by comparison, a ten times larger number of. Who can I dismiss? " because, they are inquisitive people who want to know how things work and why things happen the way, they do. But first Ill exclude twomotivations that only the most delusional individuals would claim to be the reasons thatattracted them to science: money and social status. Ive met researchers whose predominant motivation was a raw love for science. The last two chapters were on Elementary Particles and Astrophysics and Cosmology. Psychology Today 2023 Sussex Publishers, LLC. What Happens When You Take Ayn Rand Seriously? Curiosity also motivates people to ask questions because they want to learn everything they can about a topic or topics they are interested in. Some scientists are motivated by the prospect of discovery, but this is often supplemented by the desire to solve a practical problem. Many of these scientists reported an interest and curiosity in science or the natural world starting in early childhood. It was a lot for 8-year-old me to be contemplating. Let us all be accidents that change the world! Effect: This approach tells the speaker you are not just interrupting but interested in something specific. Men have long been silent and stoic about their inner lives, but theres every reason for them to open up emotionallyand their partners are helping. Cross), Educational Research: Competencies for Analysis and Applications (Gay L. R.; Mills Geoffrey E.; Airasian Peter W.), Forecasting, Time Series, and Regression (Richard T. O'Connell; Anne B. Koehler), Biological Science (Freeman Scott; Quillin Kim; Allison Lizabeth), Brunner and Suddarth's Textbook of Medical-Surgical Nursing (Janice L. Hinkle; Kerry H. Cheever), Principles of Environmental Science (William P. Cunningham; Mary Ann Cunningham), Psychology (David G. Myers; C. Nathan DeWall), Campbell Biology (Jane B. Reece; Lisa A. Urry; Michael L. Cain; Steven A. Wasserman; Peter V. Minorsky), The Methodology of the Social Sciences (Max Weber), Civilization and its Discontents (Sigmund Freud), Give Me Liberty! She was an amateur naturalist and taught us a lot about ecology and the natural world. Based on this week's resources, I think what motivates scientists to ask why and pursue their research is first their curiosity and to find a way to make things easier for us humans. In the second, researchers Min Jeong Kang, Colin Camerer, and their colleagues generated epistemic curiosity by asking their subjects trivia questions. Binaural beats are a fascinating and exciting technology. If there is one lesson I have learned is that I need to be asking more questions; even challenging myself to see if I can ask a better question, a more important question, or a question that will deepen the conversation and challenge even my own thinking. Who do I need to network and collaborate with? Alternative question: I feel I cant contribute to the objectives of this meeting. Put simply, they do not ask Why? Maybe the reluctance to ask why questions is because some people use that question as an easy way to put an issue on the table ("Why cant these politicians solve global warming?"). At the end of the day, consider how differently you saw the world through curious eyes. I believe that human instinct is what motivates scientists to ask, "Why". A fairly common motivation amongst scientists is the sense that this work matters and that it should have a practical application. My selected story is about-an alternative for people with diabetes to One click sign-in with your social accounts. The post What do you think motivates scientists to ask, 'Why?' In other words, Read More This motivation can materialise itself in arrogant or even pedantic behaviour, like rudely trashinga colleagues work or always wanting to have the last word in an academic debate, but is also the driving force of people who enjoy disrupting dogmas and going against the establishment even if its just to prove the bigwigswrong. Reproduced courtesy of the University of Sydney, Hit hard by the pandemic, researchers expect its impacts to linger for years, There are 10 catastrophic threats facing humans right now, and coronavirus is only one of them, Chief of Staff (Global Culture and Engagement), Lecturer in Environmental Art - School of Art and Design. When I teach graduate students, I use their questions as a measure of their thinking. Children of empathic parents thrive. I was overwhelmed by the realisation that what I really wanted to do was at the core of what I had been doing for 20 years: science! Answer (1 of 13): The skepticism among the scientists community is based on the belief that every single event or occurance in this universe has a scientific theory behind it. Several spoke about how they expressed their Aboriginality on Facebook, by sharing images and forming connections. These are personality traits that every therapist needs. And once in their fields, there can be political and economic pressures with which to contend. Two seminal experiments used functional magnetic resonance iImaging (fMRI) to examine the neural underpinnings of curiositywhich parts of the brain are activated when perceptual or epistemic curiosity are induced and relieved. Here are five steps you can follow to create an effective answer to this interview question: 1. Those experiences led to a degree (BS and MS) in Physics and a Ph.D. and career in Geophysics. My journey into . Mindlessness and Memory Slips: How to Find What You've Lost, How to Stop Your Mind From Wandering During Meditation, The Dreadful Physical Symptoms of Dementia, 2 Ways Empathy Determines the Type of Partner We Choose, To Be Happy for the Rest of Your Life, Seek These Goals, 3 Ways to Improve Your Cognitive Flexibility, Forget Me Not: The Persistent Myth of Repressed Memories. You could have a professional mentor to help you advance your career in a particular industry or career path. Or they are too lazy to explore in their minds what they are really interested in knowing ("Why?"). Among these [], Re: Maybe your research will increase cancer survival rates, What is life when it is not protected from virus driven entropy https://dx.doi.org/10.6084/m9.figshare.3505769. we must practice because we wont learn it instantly. I was a scientist for 20 years before I defined myself as a scientist. In doing so, my father had introduced me to the record of organisms that were no longer alive and furthermore, that people who studied these animals are called palaeontologists. This is perhaps the idealised vision of what it means to be a scientist: a free and creative spirit that bows only to the mysteries of science and is not conditioned by the restrains of a career structure. PhD Around the World 1: Museums and Maternity leave(s) | PhD students and researchers at KI, In Search of Truth and Happiness Labmosphere, https://dx.doi.org/10.6084/m9.figshare.3505769, "In a wet lab, you turn biological samples into data; in a dry lab, you turn coffee into code. As a child I remember catching my poor mum off-guard, at 7.30am mind you, with the questions: why do we exist? and What was there before the universe?. I mined through websites and blogs and came across a few researchers who had somehow managed to (for the lack of a better word). Since dopamine is a neurotransmitter that plays a pivotal role in the brains reward circuit, the findings confirmed that epistemic curiosity taps into the reward system. The more I look, the more it seems that the five-or-longer years of research life are a quagmire that very few manage to escape unscathed. Alternative question: Im curious about the deeper concerns that hold politicians back from addressing global warming. I was devastated and thought research was over for me. They got paid for studying, while I made no money off of my efforts. Provide an example. Others (27%) remembered effective mentoring and encouragement from teachers whether in elementary school, graduate school or somewhere in between. : an American History, Active Learning Template Nursing Skill form Therapeutic Communication, ECO 201 - Chapter 2 Thinking like economist part 1, Chapter 4 - Summary Give Me Liberty! Practice Improves the Potential for Future Plasticity, https://www.nytimes.com/2017/03/21/opinion/how-does-life-live.html. Please comment here, and Ill join the conversation. Original "why": Why cant these politicians solve global warming? Alternative question: Im confused; would you please remind me of our purpose for this meeting? Once I recognized this in myself, I began to change the way I asked for questions during class or after a speech. It is not uncommon for early-stage scientists, particularly grad students, to be in research because theyre still figuring out what to do with their lives. The focus is not so much on the product, i.e. The academic career system is set up much like a video game: withpoints (impact factors, H-indexes, citation numbers), mana (grants!) As I review the original reasons for doing so, they are coming up short. I mined through websites and blogs and came across a few researchers who had somehow managed to (for the lack of a better word) form a whole that served them. @manisit_das @_DaniBeck @cynthiaLdarnell @CA_AstroComm https://t.co/eP75fLE3Ae, EL An Editage Insights community member; participant of Editage Insights six-week challenge for researchers, The quick answer is that I love being a researcher because I love the natural world and have a great deal of curiosity., Ndayisaba Pierre Celestin An Editage Insights community member; participant of the Editage Insights six-week challenge for researchers. Olfactory receptor genes are GPCRs. Active meditation can prevent intrusive thoughts from sabotaging your practice. They evolved long before the dinosaurs, and had gone extinct just before the first of the giant vertebrates (animals that have a backbone). Biotechnologist, woman, age 54, Scientists reflections often touched on multiple themes; some emphasized their curiosity about the world and others emphasized the role of people in their lives who fostered their interests. Original "why": Why am I spending my time here? most asked question on a daily basis as we go through our everyday Some 55% of working Ph.D. scientists belonging to the American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS) who we surveyed in 2014 said this was generally a good time for their scientific specialty, while 44% said it was a bad time. : an American History, ECO 201 - Chapter 5 Elasticity and Its Applications. "It's about a way of thinking." Despite reams of empirical evidence, therapists cling to arrogant fiction. So I decided to go for it. [], [] anotherblog post, author Velica explores the myriad of reasons people join and continue in science. They probably included: a diet rich in meat; shortened guts, which saved digestive energy; cooking, which reduced time spent own chewing; and upright walking, which required less energy than moving on feet and knuckles. However, many not-so-early-career scientists find themselves drained of any other form of motivation and linger in the corridors of academia stuck in limbo between the unpleasing prospect of a career in science and the fear of hanging the pipettes and searchingfor happiness elsewhere. Effect: This approach puts you in a vulnerable posture (Im confused) which removes judgment from the question and frees the leader to review the purpose and its reasoning. It is precisely this sense of, inquisitiveness that prompts children to inquire and ask, "Why?. I defended my PhD more than 10 years ago, but I still vividly remember the challenges I faced. In other words, what inspires scientists to pursue their research? This multidisciplinary, multimethod pursuit, called Motivation Science, is now an emerging field (Kruglanski, Chemikova & Kopez, 2015). The initial enthusiasm almost always seems to get replaced by a sense of cynicism and depression. These are all practical questions, but are we losing opportunities to learn more deeply as we carefully avoid asking why and curb and limit the kinds of questions we ask? Yet, in the face of insurance limitations, opposition in academic psych and national governing bodies steering towards their own connotation of evidence, I am invigorated by my patients and treatment myself. What motivations predominate at your current workplace? However, no matter how noble the motivation, scientists driven by a sense of duty will inevitably face aharsh reality: most academic researchwill not have a direct impact on peoples lives. It means not expecting too much from my environment. But unlike children as young as three-to-five years of age, they do not seek explanations for causes of phenomena. They found that an average human brain contains about 86 billion neurons, compared to an orangutan, who has only about a third of this number, and a rat, which has only 189 million. are or not. This situation changed when Brazilian researcher Suzana Herculano-Houzel and her team introduced a new method for counting neurons. and why just telling yourself not do it isn't enough. I became curious about what kept researchers motivated on their journey. ", Depression: Goodbye Serotonin, Hello Stress and Inflammation, How Blame and Shame Can Fuel Depression in Rape Victims, Getting More Hugs Is Linked to Fewer Symptoms of Depression, Interacting With Outgroup Members Reduces Prejudice, You Can't Control Your Teen, But You Can Influence Them. Register for comprehensive research tips and expert advice on English writing, journal publishing, good publication practices, trends in publishing, and a lot more. During my rehabilitation, a kind visitor remarked comfortingly, Now you have the space to decide what you really want to do with your life!. I genuinely cant remember a time I havent been fascinated with the wonders of life. It's important for leaders to assess their teams strengths, hopes, dreams, and the culture before leaping into major decisions. [CDATA[// >