• Question: being a "scientist" do you think you look at the world a differnt way to people who arnt scientists?

    Asked by courtneymullane to Ben, Dave, Ed, Sam, Susana on 19 Jun 2013.
    • Photo: Benjamin Hall

      Benjamin Hall answered on 19 Jun 2013:

      I think we probably do.

      I think it enhances the world, in some respects. I used to work on flower development and when I look at a flower I don’t just accept how beautiful it is, I start thinking about all the different genes and their interactions that shape the flower and give it it’s colour. I visualise which parts of the flower they are important for forming.

      This can be a bad thing at times. Sometimes it’s difficult to ‘switch off’ and on more than one occasion I’ve been told to stop ‘ruining simple things’ by friends and family.

    • Photo: David Briggs

      David Briggs answered on 19 Jun 2013:

      Yes, I think so.

      I think scientists are trained to be more sceptical, to ask for evidence when someone tells them something that seems odd or outlandish.

      Always be sceptical – always ask for evidence.

      If someone can’t back up the claims they are making they aren’t worth taking much notice of. (E.g. Politicians).

    • Photo: Susana Teixeira

      Susana Teixeira answered on 20 Jun 2013:

      No, I do not. Not in any way particular to being a scientist. I know so many scientists and they have such different ways of looking at the world.

      Any job will change our perspective, but in the end what I think makes more of a difference is your personality, your culture, and your education. Life events can also radically change how you see the world, like when you loose someone dear to you. Perhaps Scientists tend to focus on some things in some circumstances, like Ben focuses on the genes of the flower, but I am a scientist too and when I look at it I may just think about planting it in my balcony cause it is pretty 🙂

    • Photo: Sam Horrell

      Sam Horrell answered on 21 Jun 2013:

      Everybody looks at the world from their own perspective, science just offers a way for people to make sense of a problem. Some poeple choose to ignore the tools that science provides and work on blind faith alone. Everybody is born with this sceientific curiosity, I guess scientists just embrace it and use it to its full potential. A lot of the time that can be the ability to accept that you were wrong about something. I’ve found blind faith people have a lot more difficulty changing their minds, even when presented with evidence.

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