This passion led me to where I am today an astrophysicist and data scientist trying to make sense of the universe (and other things) via observations and data analysis. The motivation behind scientists asking "why" is to learn and discover new characteristics of the world. 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. Even worst, when taken to an extreme, such pressures can lead to the dark side of scientific misconduct. Chemistry, Mathematics, Literature, Accounting and Political Science. Most scientists try to prove why some things happen the way they happen and in the course of working they find themselves asking questions like why. : an American History, Chapter 5 - Summary Give Me Liberty! Put simply, they do not ask Why? You're looking to give wings to your academic career and publication journey. be it through governed work spaces or not! Here, I will attempt to list some motivations I have encountered in my fellow colleagues (and in myself) to the central question of whywe chose a career in academic science. Original "why": Why am I spending my time here? When I was about five years old, my father showed me the fossil of an extinct animal called a trilobite: ancient organisms that lived within even older oceans. Most importantly, you should model the excitement and curiosity for science that you want to inspire in your students. It doesnt matter what the work is for, how much benefit it brings to society or even if it was enjoyable. and different levels to climb (faculty positions, assistant professorships, etc) so its no surprise that weve become increasinglymotivated by academic achievements rather than scientific ones. I suspect you have heard these kinds of questions. Why don't we give you complete access! During my undergraduate and postgraduate years, my circle of friends included a few people who were pursuing their PhD degrees. While many scientists mentioned childhood experiences facilitated by their families, some 6% said science media was particularly influential in their career path. Read Editage Insights in your favorite RSS Reader. I genuinely cant remember a time I havent been fascinated with the wonders of life. I defended my PhD more than 10 years ago, but I still vividly remember the challenges I faced. They find every "wrong result" of an experiment to be equally fascinating and thrilling. In primates, a brain that is ten times heavier also has ten times more neurons. The last two chapters were on Elementary Particles and Astrophysics and Cosmology. I am interested in what the student is thinking for themselves. And while nearly half (47%) said it was a good or very good time to begin a career in their field, 53% said it was a bad time to start out in their field. That final step only came in third-year experimental physics, when I discovered new properties of liquid crystals no one had found before. You can help your students appreciate the excitement of scientific discoveries in many ways for example, by discussing science news stories, new and compelling research, or the announcement of the Nobel prizes in science. So I stayed! What is it, however, that gives humans this ability to turn every phenomenon into meaningful Why and How questions? Editage Insights is funded by Editage and endorses services provided by Editage but is editorially independent. : an American History (Eric Foner), SCI 100 - 4-2 - Activity - Turning Questions into Hypothesis, SCI100 2-3 Project 1 Topic Exploration Graphic Organizer, SCI200 Project Part One Planning Document, SCI200 Project Part One Planning Document Second Draft, SCI 200 2-6 Project Part One Research Question, Business Environment Applications I: Business Structures and Legal Environment (D078), Management Information Systems and Technology (BUS 5114), Ethics and Social Responsibility (PHIL 1404), Healthcare Strategic Management and Policy (HCM415), Financial Statement Analysis/Business Valuation (ACC345), Fundamentals of Biology: Cellular and Organ Physiology (BIO 203), Managing Organizations and Leading People (C200 Task 1), Professional Application in Service Learning I (LDR-461), Advanced Anatomy & Physiology for Health Professions (NUR 4904), Principles Of Environmental Science (ENV 100), Operating Systems 2 (proctored course) (CS 3307), Comparative Programming Languages (CS 4402), Business Core Capstone: An Integrated Application (D083), TB-Chapter 21 Peripheral Vascular System and Lymphatic System, Chapter 3 - Summary Give Me Liberty! Professor of Indigenous Studies and Director of The Centre for Global Indigenous Futures, Macquarie University. Learn strategies for building lessons and activities around the Science Checklist: Grades 6-8 Grades 9-12 Grades 13-16 View 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. Include specific examples to support your response. I spent many hours pondering the 2 and the square root. It means not expecting too much from my environment. my cat sleeps all the time but we just as a species are curious and want We would like to show you a description here but the site won't allow us. This led me down the road of studying evolution, ultimately resulting in me becoming an evolutionary palaeontologist. the But what sealed it in the end was Douglas Giancolis textbook Physics: Principles with Applications, which I came across at about age 16. And some 17% talked about the importance of lab and field work, often at the high school and college levels, which spurred their interest in a science career. We like that! Maybe you need mentoring for a particular transferrable skill you'd like to develop e.g. Please comment here, and Ill join the conversation. 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[] In a recent blog post here, Pedro outlined some of the reasons for doing science, so naturally I wondered what Ninas were and why did she decide to do a PhD? 6 strategies to deal with a storm of uncertainty. or "Why do trees just stand there?" ", 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. For years to come, his work in the field of natural science will be at the top of its class. Ecologist, woman, age 35. They might also want to know that you understand the role data science plays in business. More obsessions followed, from plucked violin strings to nuclear fission. There was no going back. What motivates scientists to ask, Why? As Gruber put it: Curiosity may put the brain in a state that allows it to learn and return any kind of information, like a vortex that sucks in what you are motivated to learn and also everything around it.. In fact, I would go so far as to argue that had we known these facts about perceptual and epistemic curiosity from the start, we might have chosen different words to describe the two psychological states, rather than using the same wordcuriosityfor both. His work has opened the way for others to follow in his footsteps and discover more about space and the origins of our existence. What do you think motivates scientists to ask, "Why?" In other words, what inspires scientists to pursue their research? It was not a simple matter of choosing a question or an area that one wanted to focus on and diving in. //--> But after watching all the Discovery Channel, National Geographic and History Channel documentaries I could possibly get my hands on, my mind was constantly in awe of such questions. Even a comment in class can reflect reading from somewhere else. They now are looking for creating their very own work environment in which to create something out of nothing you mention Darwin he actually was put on that boat by his father who wanted him out of his feet, and who could not imagine any better use of his son and his son triggered a revolution, just by accident, because he JUST started thinking and reflecting about what he saw, and started to form hypotheses. That still does not explain why humans have more neurons than, say, gorilla. One of the practices that I recommend to those who wish to enhance their resilience is to ask questions. [Insert text.] Mentoring can take so many different shapes and span many topics. Whilst some scientists come withpersonalities that neatly match this type of motivation, the longer you stay in academic science the more pressure there is to behave in these terms. I became curious about what kept researchers motivated on their journey. Answered by opiraajudith One or more of the following reasons could motivate you to conduct research: - Desire for a research degree and the rewards that come with it; - The desire to take on the challenge of solving unsolved problems, i.e., concern about practical issues, motivates research. There is nothing else which can be a big achievement for myself than contributing to the pool of knowledge on the basis of which policies can be designed and changes can happen. The thoughts of those who had shared quotes with me were not very different from the Tweets I found. They enjoy being astounded by science. By the time I defended my thesis however I had been colonised by some of the aforementioned motivations and I knew I wanted to be a scientist. Effect: This approach tells the speaker you are not just interrupting but interested in something specific. When I teach graduate students, I use their questions as a measure of their thinking. What do you think motivates scientists to ask, "Why?" In other words, what inspires scientists to pursue their research? Hopefully, as we become more experienced, we learn how to ask the "why" question indirectly. 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. Curiosity also motivates people to ask questions because they want to learn everything they can about a topic or topics they are interested in.

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