I've always found it a little interesting that there's this one piece of small research that I did on attitudes on biological conservation during my undergraduate studies. I remember being examined and my examiner questioning me, "Why are you doing research in the social sciences? Do you know this is not real research?" Being the person I was then, against an authority figure, I had no ability and knowledge how to defend myself. Here was someone denying the importance and relevance of studying subjectivity! It hence, amuses me that today I am what one could call a social scientist, or one who dabbles in the social sciences.
Could I see this coming? Yes and no. Yes, because I always felt drawn to the human condition. I had always felt studying plants, animals and habitats were not enough. I wanted to study humans. I was very interested in the social side of biology - Man's relationship with the environment. How were Man using the natural world for medicine and materials? How can encourage sustainable development? How can we protect the environment from destruction? No, because there was no way back then, I could see how all these seemingly unrelated threads would eventually link up one day to lead me onto this path I am currently on!
I am hence extremely grateful to my former supervisor and mentor who gave me this opportunity and this guidance with that earlier research, a taste of social science research. I find them courageous and farsighted, to know that we cannot study biology, apart from the human race.
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
No comments:
Post a Comment