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Another 5 words
Aug. 2nd, 2009 10:32 pmMasati gave me some vocabulary to ponder the personal meanings of:
Science, teaching, dogs, medicine, computers.
If anyone wishes me to randomly stick a pin in a dictionary then reply to this with 'Words' and I shall grant unto thee 5 words which you shall have to ponder for yourself...
Science
I still consider myself a scientist, even though the last proper science I actually did was quite a few years ago. Science for me usually involved lots of blood and big machines that sometimes actually did go ping. Often it involved sticking the products from one into the innards of the other.
But science is not really experiments and machines and getting your arms covered in human blood up to the elbow (no matter how much fun that is). Nor is it the people in white coats staring intently at some blue liquid in a test tube in the background while some tweedy 'expert' talks to the invisible interviewer off camera. And it certainly is not anything to do with 'pro-retinol A', 'ceramide', 'micropeptides' or any other words often spewed out of adverts for cosmetics. Science is a way of thinking. It is a way of looking at the universe and thinking 'how does that work?' Then looking at your answer to that question and thinking 'is that *really* how it works?' and 'Are you positively sure that is how it works?' Better writers have more accurately and entertainingly described how it works better than I have. In particular, the subtle distinctions between a philosopher and a scientist... If anyone wants to know more, I strongly suggest the Science of Discworld series for a non specialist introduction and anything written by Ben Goldacre (the Bad Science website, Guardian article or book). The important thing about science, however, is also what Fox Mulder taught us. Trust no one, not even Einstien or Hawkings cos even they could be wrong, clever though they are. Especially do not trust yourself, your own opinions are as likely to be as wrong as anyone...
Teaching
Those who can't do indeed teach... I am living proof. Actually, I found teaching almost too easy after years of struggling in research to make anything like a significant impact. I suppose my career to date, in terms of skills I have acquired and knowledge I have learnt, I have been preparing to be a teacher ever since I left university. I just did not know it until recently. I have always had a desire to broaden my education but not necessarily deepen it. So, I know a little about a lot of things instead of a lot about one thing. This was a flaw in research - where I was expected to know a lot about one thing - but is an advantage in teaching.
As to my attitude to teaching, I am always amused by the 'Lies to Children' idea proposed by Ian Stewart (in Science of Discworld). You tell the children little lies that they can accept and build on them with more and more complex models of the universe. Much of what you have to battle as a teacher of science are misconceptions which come from parents, other kids, television, the media in general and so on. Often the best way to deal with these is to let them explore them and test them and reject the ones that fail - in other words, give them the chance to do real science rather than follow the dictates of Authority.
Dogs
Dogs are cool. Need there be any more said than that? I prefer them to cats because they have a greater appearance of loyalty than cats do. Not saying that cats cannot be loyal, just that dogs are more likely to express it. If you need any more evidence as to how cute and cool dogs are, here it is:
Medicine
My scientific research was all involved in medical and clinical research. So, I got to work a lot with medical staff and with patients. It always scared me when I would walk into the clinic in my white coat to collect samples and the doctors would talk to me as an equal, the nurses would do things for me and the patients would treat me as if I was a medical doctor. I never understood why they did that as I had no medical training at all other than a little bit of physiology. Its the same with teaching, of course, it is always disconcerting when you give an order to some kids and they do it. Even more disturbing than when they don't do it.
What scares me about medicine currently is that there have been no really big breakthroughs in medicine in the past few decades. There have been refinements and improvements but nothing major or new. Part of the problem here is that some research is not being financed by governments or business because of the potential media scare factor - stem cells, genetic modification and so on. Yes, these are potentially dangerous technologies but not as dangerous as is often made out and more than likely to be made less dangerous by proper understanding of how they work. It is a fact that these technologies exist, the theories are out there. If we hadn't properly researched radiation, we would still be painting watches faces with radium and wondering why all our watchmakers die of cancer. Instead, we now make sure than any radioactive source is properly sealed and all workers protected. If you want to stop some alleged Frankenstien's monster from rampaging through the tabloid editorials, you need to make sure enough money is available to properly examine these things and understand them.
Computers
Bane or boon? Life is a lot easier for many people because of them but they are also tools for procrastination. It has been calculated that an average computer user can waste far more time far less efficiently than someone who does not use a computer. Like all technology, they amplify our effect on the world. However, what they often seem to amplify is our ability to achieve nothing in a large amount of time.
Schools now have IT suites in them. I remember the days when 'the IT suite' was not so much a suite but a single computer in the corner of one classroom. And the computer was a BBC micro which ran DOS and (I think) was powered by a clockwork and steam powered engine in the back. Occasionally we had to add more coal to the boiler or wind up the key in the back. Luckily, I was at school in the 'grim oop north north' so coal was in plentiful supply. We had a small mine in the school grounds and detention often involved either pulling carts laden with coal up to the surface or being carried in a little cage to check for gas emissions.
No one seems to understand 'DOS' these days. They all talk some strange, modern dialects (Java, C+, Perl, Klingon). No one seems to know BASIC either. This is a shame as these are the only two computer languages I know. I sometimes feel like a Latin speaker in a chav town. I learnt DOS at university the year before Windows 3.1 was introduced to the university (given it was Sunderland, probably at least 300 years after everywhere else had got it). Therefore, all my DOS knowledge was useless... well, unless I wanted to mess around in Command.com which I sometimes do when windows is too annoying. Chris Parr once said that I knew enough about computers to be dangerous. He didn't add 'but not enough to know how dangerous' but I think this is what he meant...
Science, teaching, dogs, medicine, computers.
If anyone wishes me to randomly stick a pin in a dictionary then reply to this with 'Words' and I shall grant unto thee 5 words which you shall have to ponder for yourself...
Science
I still consider myself a scientist, even though the last proper science I actually did was quite a few years ago. Science for me usually involved lots of blood and big machines that sometimes actually did go ping. Often it involved sticking the products from one into the innards of the other.
But science is not really experiments and machines and getting your arms covered in human blood up to the elbow (no matter how much fun that is). Nor is it the people in white coats staring intently at some blue liquid in a test tube in the background while some tweedy 'expert' talks to the invisible interviewer off camera. And it certainly is not anything to do with 'pro-retinol A', 'ceramide', 'micropeptides' or any other words often spewed out of adverts for cosmetics. Science is a way of thinking. It is a way of looking at the universe and thinking 'how does that work?' Then looking at your answer to that question and thinking 'is that *really* how it works?' and 'Are you positively sure that is how it works?' Better writers have more accurately and entertainingly described how it works better than I have. In particular, the subtle distinctions between a philosopher and a scientist... If anyone wants to know more, I strongly suggest the Science of Discworld series for a non specialist introduction and anything written by Ben Goldacre (the Bad Science website, Guardian article or book). The important thing about science, however, is also what Fox Mulder taught us. Trust no one, not even Einstien or Hawkings cos even they could be wrong, clever though they are. Especially do not trust yourself, your own opinions are as likely to be as wrong as anyone...
Teaching
Those who can't do indeed teach... I am living proof. Actually, I found teaching almost too easy after years of struggling in research to make anything like a significant impact. I suppose my career to date, in terms of skills I have acquired and knowledge I have learnt, I have been preparing to be a teacher ever since I left university. I just did not know it until recently. I have always had a desire to broaden my education but not necessarily deepen it. So, I know a little about a lot of things instead of a lot about one thing. This was a flaw in research - where I was expected to know a lot about one thing - but is an advantage in teaching.
As to my attitude to teaching, I am always amused by the 'Lies to Children' idea proposed by Ian Stewart (in Science of Discworld). You tell the children little lies that they can accept and build on them with more and more complex models of the universe. Much of what you have to battle as a teacher of science are misconceptions which come from parents, other kids, television, the media in general and so on. Often the best way to deal with these is to let them explore them and test them and reject the ones that fail - in other words, give them the chance to do real science rather than follow the dictates of Authority.
Dogs
Dogs are cool. Need there be any more said than that? I prefer them to cats because they have a greater appearance of loyalty than cats do. Not saying that cats cannot be loyal, just that dogs are more likely to express it. If you need any more evidence as to how cute and cool dogs are, here it is:
Medicine
My scientific research was all involved in medical and clinical research. So, I got to work a lot with medical staff and with patients. It always scared me when I would walk into the clinic in my white coat to collect samples and the doctors would talk to me as an equal, the nurses would do things for me and the patients would treat me as if I was a medical doctor. I never understood why they did that as I had no medical training at all other than a little bit of physiology. Its the same with teaching, of course, it is always disconcerting when you give an order to some kids and they do it. Even more disturbing than when they don't do it.
What scares me about medicine currently is that there have been no really big breakthroughs in medicine in the past few decades. There have been refinements and improvements but nothing major or new. Part of the problem here is that some research is not being financed by governments or business because of the potential media scare factor - stem cells, genetic modification and so on. Yes, these are potentially dangerous technologies but not as dangerous as is often made out and more than likely to be made less dangerous by proper understanding of how they work. It is a fact that these technologies exist, the theories are out there. If we hadn't properly researched radiation, we would still be painting watches faces with radium and wondering why all our watchmakers die of cancer. Instead, we now make sure than any radioactive source is properly sealed and all workers protected. If you want to stop some alleged Frankenstien's monster from rampaging through the tabloid editorials, you need to make sure enough money is available to properly examine these things and understand them.
Computers
Bane or boon? Life is a lot easier for many people because of them but they are also tools for procrastination. It has been calculated that an average computer user can waste far more time far less efficiently than someone who does not use a computer. Like all technology, they amplify our effect on the world. However, what they often seem to amplify is our ability to achieve nothing in a large amount of time.
Schools now have IT suites in them. I remember the days when 'the IT suite' was not so much a suite but a single computer in the corner of one classroom. And the computer was a BBC micro which ran DOS and (I think) was powered by a clockwork and steam powered engine in the back. Occasionally we had to add more coal to the boiler or wind up the key in the back. Luckily, I was at school in the 'grim oop north north' so coal was in plentiful supply. We had a small mine in the school grounds and detention often involved either pulling carts laden with coal up to the surface or being carried in a little cage to check for gas emissions.
No one seems to understand 'DOS' these days. They all talk some strange, modern dialects (Java, C+, Perl, Klingon). No one seems to know BASIC either. This is a shame as these are the only two computer languages I know. I sometimes feel like a Latin speaker in a chav town. I learnt DOS at university the year before Windows 3.1 was introduced to the university (given it was Sunderland, probably at least 300 years after everywhere else had got it). Therefore, all my DOS knowledge was useless... well, unless I wanted to mess around in Command.com which I sometimes do when windows is too annoying. Chris Parr once said that I knew enough about computers to be dangerous. He didn't add 'but not enough to know how dangerous' but I think this is what he meant...
