I wonder if squirrels prefer Pepsi
I know a guy who is interested in, let’s say, lizards. He has been fascinated by lizards ever since he was in high school. And so he became a famous scientist, absolutely #1 in the lizard field, author of several books, etc, etc. And now he is 41, a big-shot tenured professor with his own Lizard Center, and he is quitting it all to act in regional theater and write fiction. Why? Well, here are the reasons he gives:
- Science and technology are progressing towards a horrifying future in which we will all be half-robotic, cybernetic creatures living in a networked world devoid of any vestiges of privacy and civil liberties (note– not that lizard research has even a hope of contributing to said future, even if one wanted to) and he is sick of hanging out with scientists who have no interest in analyzing the consequences of their own endeavors.
- He is no longer interested in lizards.
Well, I can’t argue with the last one. That’s the trouble with basic research. Your research does not serve any particular, immediate good. So if you lose interest in it… that’s it then, isn’t it? This reminds me of something my sister once said about squirrels.
"I don’t know how you study that science stuff, Shellie," she said. "I mean how do you know what to think about and what not to? I mean, if it were me, I might just go crazy. Like, I’d start thinking about squirrels, and then I’d just think MORE and MORE, and then I’d never know when to stop!!! How do you avoid THAT?"
And I suppose she has a point there, since the other day I saw a special on PBS about how a Berkeley researcher is, in fact, doing psychology experiments on the squirrels native to the Berkeley campus.
THAT explains the squirrels, and their cheeky sammich-thievery! They’ve been psychologized!
I don’t want to know which department has been doing experiments on the local raccoons.
Comment by yami — June 13, 2006 @ 5:31 am
I can certainly understand wanting to go in a more expressive direction after years of tunnel vision pursuing a highly specialized analytical profession. It’s a crazy thing to do–and I’m saying that as someone who did the same thing as Lizard Guy–and it’s uncertain whether it will reward him in terms of status in the same way that lizard studies did. But on the other hand, you only live once, and it’s only a question of what regrets you prefer to have on your deathbed.
Comment by Kristin — June 23, 2006 @ 4:59 am
Big ups to the Lizard Guy. I’ve left a job as a lawyer to do theatre work, including producing my own stuff.
Comment by Rachel — July 19, 2006 @ 11:05 am