tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-17226356.post3858985328580859142..comments2023-10-25T07:42:21.149-05:00Comments on Average Professor: System, failure.Average Professorhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13879007878874956437noreply@blogger.comBlogger2125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-17226356.post-3179495729639764832007-07-29T20:12:00.000-05:002007-07-29T20:12:00.000-05:00"Or, imagine how irate I would be if I did the for..."Or, imagine how irate I would be if I did the former and it still lead to, you know, unsuccess... <BR/><BR/>Or, maybe the people that are successful are the ones that just naturally have EXACTLY the same definition of success as the system, and so they don't ever experience this conflict. Maybe I'm naive; I find this pretty unlikely. "<BR/><BR/>Sadly, I've been trying to do what you're supposed to do, even though it's not really me, and it has not been working. I've also tried to do things "my way", and that hasn't worked, either. <BR/><BR/>I really do think the system is built for people who are not like me, the way most things in the world are built: <I>by</I> tall, burly men, <I>for</I> tall, burly men. <BR/><BR/>Nevertheless, this post and sixdegrees optimistic comment both cheered me up somewhat. Maybe I'm not completely alone.Ms.PhDhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11050354864577547294noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-17226356.post-91711637990077660082007-07-14T07:20:00.000-05:002007-07-14T07:20:00.000-05:00That's a pretty accurate description of a major qu...That's a pretty accurate description of a major quandary that we, as academic scientists, have to deal with. The key question, in my mind, is why do we do what we do? Are we doing it just for the recognition, for the external rewards? Or are we doing what we do for the intrinsic rewards - to get answers to the questions that bother us so? (my apologies to Jimmy Buffett). <BR/><BR/>First and foremost, we have to have our own value system that defines what is important to us. An example - a couple of months ago, I met a senior colleague in my department as we were walking to our respective destinations across campus. She is very well-respected in her scientific field and throughout this particular state university. I was upset because of issues in my little piece of the university. Her counsel was to ask me how my son was doing - to which my answer was, truthfully, quite well. To which she replied "and that's what really matters, isn't it". She was right - that the maneuvering of university and departmental politics is, ultimately, of minor importance relative to the things that really matter to us. <BR/><BR/>Our values enable us to maintain a balance between our work and personal lifes. Our values also enable us to deal with some of the external pressures that come with an academic scientist. For myself, I am doing science for a very personal reason - because it is the only way to truly know and understand the world we live in. It is this internal motivation that provides a stable foundation through the erratic fluctations of grant funding, lab personnel, manuscript writing and teaching reviews.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.com