I used to think I might not be suited for scientific research. The reason being that I try not to spend my Saturday in lab (unless it's REALLY necessary) and say a definite NO for having to spend Sunday in lab. I enjoy reading, going to temple, go for dance practices, or even just relaxing and doing nothing at home on weekends. Maybe some of you will ask isn't it normal to spend weekends doing leisure activities or having rest? Well, it has been a common shared thought in scientific community (at least 99% of researchers that I've met with or talked to, or even on the Internet resources) that if one wants to become a successful scientist, spending long hours in lab is almost unavoidable or a 'must'. So I guess people like me perhaps are considered 'lack of passion', and therefore we might not make good scientists. Until I saw this last week on a survey report by AAAS:
“Young scientists ought to get 8 hours of sleep per night, as a basic need for mental, physical, and emotional health. They should take at least one day per week off of their intellectual scientific pursuit, to leave room for unstructured reflection; to maintain their curiosity and inspiration; and, of course, to do laundry, garden, shop for groceries, etc. … Let’s be realistic with regard to our expectations of young scientists, and foster an environment in which they might thrive, not just as counted in numbers of publications.”
—reader Dr. S. Fischer
2 comments:
Not only for scientists, the whole Asian society still think OT means hardworking, no OT = lazy. Leisure activities = lazy.
This is crazy *_*
no wonder, i sleep a lot. haha....
I do agree with you, one of the reason(and many 's') i am taking this is bcos I do have sometimes for myself, comparing some other career. ^^
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