When I was presenting my masters thesis the committee suggested I continue with the same theme. Practice Improves the Potential for Future Plasticity, https://www.nytimes.com/2017/03/21/opinion/how-does-life-live.html. Scientists are motivated by the chance of producing discoveries that shift our worldview. It sort of just happened. There are 10 catastrophic threats facing humans right now, and coronavirus is only one of them. One part of the answer is known: Because we are primates. Please leave a comment! Avoid language that implies you're a victim. This can lead to a lifetime of exploration. Self-determination, according to social psychologists, is a critical factor distinguishing intrinsically motivated from externally regulated behaviour. Hit hard by the pandemic, researchers expect its impacts to linger for years. Even worst, when taken to an extreme, such pressures can lead to the dark side of scientific misconduct. 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. A fairly common motivation amongst scientists is the sense that this work matters and that it should have a practical application. Ive met researchers whose predominant motivation was a raw love for science. Accordingly, my research is most relevant vis-a-vis psychotherapeutic training and the philosophical bedrock permeating the whys beneath the hows and whats of treatment. So, what draws people into these careers? One of the practices that I recommend to those who wish to enhance their resilience is to ask questions. It was not a simple matter of choosing a question or an area that one wanted to focus on and diving in. In not asking why, I wonder if we have also stopped asking questions in general. 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. Based on this week's resources, I think what motivates scientists to ask selection, which is what made me curious. no salary. Foraging behavior links ecological variation to ecological adaptation in the context of this atoms to ecosystems model of biophysically constrained energy-dependent RNA-mediated protein folding chemistry. Affect the Future of Fiction? What does symmetry mean and does it play a role in aesthetic experience? 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. . Bill Nye put it well when he said that we must practice because we won't learn it instantly. Why Do Women Remember More Dreams Than Men Do? In Jepmas study, the researchers found that perceptual curiosity activated brain regions that are sensitive to conflict and unpleasant arousal (the anterior insula and the anterior cingulate cortex). 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. Microbiologist, woman, age 50, I found science interesting. Men and women in this group of working Ph.D. scientists mentioned similar kinds of influences on their career choice. What more would you like me to explore? I hope that says Im really interested in learning what others are looking for. 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.. When scientists have complete confidence, they may conduct effective research and projects. Explain the value of being a scientifically informed citizen within your community. The focus is not so much on the product, i.e.