Pretty good, albeit very wordy, article that kinda has one thing to say and stretched it out. My main gripe is they aren't talking about working in biology but specifically human medical...
Pretty good, albeit very wordy, article that kinda has one thing to say and stretched it out.
My main gripe is they aren't talking about working in biology but specifically human medical biological work. Their argument is also a bit odd for being simultaneously very emotional and very logical. "You should do this because it benefits you" is alongside "mother nature giggling and gnashing you through her teeth like a cat with a baby mouse".
Well. From that headline I certainly wasn’t expecting a lede about the horrors of urinary catheterization. Consider my loins clenched. I’m not a fan of this piece because (catheters aside) it...
Well. From that headline I certainly wasn’t expecting a lede about the horrors of urinary catheterization. Consider my loins clenched.
I’m not a fan of this piece because (catheters aside) it ignores division of labor. Medical research is an important field but it’s not the only field. No medical research would be possible without countless specialists applying themselves in a variety of non-medical capacities. Who feeds the researchers? Who generates the lab’s electricity? Who educates the children while the parents are running clinical trials? It’s silly.
Maybe I missed the point or I’m being needlessly pedantic, but there are tons of reasons one might not work in biology. It doesn’t mean that person’s uninterested in the continuation of our species, or whatever. Regardless of the author’s dismissal of jobs that are “largely useless outside of The Market” (however he defines that), we all have our roles to play.
From the article: In the comments, the author acknowledges that there is more nuance, but they wanted to get the emotional case out there.
From the article:
In every other game, you can at least pretend the losers are going to be someone else, somewhere else in the world, happening to some poor schmuck who didn’t have your money or your foresight or your connections to do the Obviously Correct Thing. Instead, people hope to be a winner. A robot in my house to do my laundry, a plane that gets me from San Francisco to New York City in only an hour, an infinite movie generator so I can turn all my inner thoughts into reality. Wow! Capital-A Abundance beyond my wildest dreams! This is all well and good, but the unfortunate reality of the situation is that you will be a loser, an explicit loser, guaranteed to be a loser, in one specific game: biology. You will not escape being the butt of the joke here, because it will be you that betrays you, not the you who is reading this essay, but you, the you that cannot think, the you that has been shoddily shaped by the last several eons of evolution. Yes, others will also have their time underneath this harsh spotlight, but you will see your day in it too.
My pitch for working in biology is that you will be working to either prevent, or at the very least alleviate, the inevitable moment that Mother Nature decides to extract a pound of flesh from you […]
In the comments, the author acknowledges that there is more nuance, but they wanted to get the emotional case out there.
You cut the best line from the whole thing! that Mother Nature decides to extract a pound of flesh from you, giggling and gnashing you between her teeth like a cat plays with a baby mouse. That is...
You cut the best line from the whole thing!
that Mother Nature decides to extract a pound of flesh from you, giggling and gnashing you between her teeth like a cat plays with a baby mouse.
...i don't see a strong argument here: you can rage against the night all you want, but entropy's still coming for each of us at the end of all things...why not focus one's energy on palliative...
...i don't see a strong argument here: you can rage against the night all you want, but entropy's still coming for each of us at the end of all things...why not focus one's energy on palliative care and dying gracefully instead, which is much more of a sociological than a technological issue?..
There are many ways to try to make the world a better place. Some people have different motivations than others. Being motivated by the possibility that your research might benefit you personally...
There are many ways to try to make the world a better place. Some people have different motivations than others. Being motivated by the possibility that your research might benefit you personally someday doesn't seem so bad?
It's kind of a long shot, though.
Others might be motivated to work on improving palliative care, sure.
Pretty good, albeit very wordy, article that kinda has one thing to say and stretched it out.
My main gripe is they aren't talking about working in biology but specifically human medical biological work. Their argument is also a bit odd for being simultaneously very emotional and very logical. "You should do this because it benefits you" is alongside "mother nature giggling and gnashing you through her teeth like a cat with a baby mouse".
Worth a skim, thanks for the post!
Well. From that headline I certainly wasn’t expecting a lede about the horrors of urinary catheterization. Consider my loins clenched.
I’m not a fan of this piece because (catheters aside) it ignores division of labor. Medical research is an important field but it’s not the only field. No medical research would be possible without countless specialists applying themselves in a variety of non-medical capacities. Who feeds the researchers? Who generates the lab’s electricity? Who educates the children while the parents are running clinical trials? It’s silly.
Maybe I missed the point or I’m being needlessly pedantic, but there are tons of reasons one might not work in biology. It doesn’t mean that person’s uninterested in the continuation of our species, or whatever. Regardless of the author’s dismissal of jobs that are “largely useless outside of The Market” (however he defines that), we all have our roles to play.
From the article:
In the comments, the author acknowledges that there is more nuance, but they wanted to get the emotional case out there.
You cut the best line from the whole thing!
that Mother Nature decides to extract a pound of flesh from you, giggling and gnashing you between her teeth like a cat plays with a baby mouse.
That is poetry haha
...i don't see a strong argument here: you can rage against the night all you want, but entropy's still coming for each of us at the end of all things...why not focus one's energy on palliative care and dying gracefully instead, which is much more of a sociological than a technological issue?..
There are many ways to try to make the world a better place. Some people have different motivations than others. Being motivated by the possibility that your research might benefit you personally someday doesn't seem so bad?
It's kind of a long shot, though.
Others might be motivated to work on improving palliative care, sure.