SCIENCE AND THE PEOPLE WHO PURSUE IT...Part I

SCIENCE. WHAT IS IT?

FOR ONE THING, IT IS THE INABILITY ON THE PART OF SOME OF US TO ACCEPT "UNKNOWN" AS AN ACCEPTABLE ANSWER...TO ANYTHING. 

FOR ANOTHER THING, it is knowing the
right questions to ask, the proverbial 'WHY', and knowing or at least sensing what areas are important to know more about. Truth seeking missiles scientist could be rightfully called.

For some, it is about pure curiosity and for others it is about THE PURSUIT OF KNOWLEDGE. For others...
BLOOD SPORT, making sure every 'i' is dotted and every 't' is crossed so that for future generations the answers will be there. There are so many potential questions in life that it takes a certain kind of genius to know how to prioritize them.

HOW DO WE MAKE SENSE OUT OF THE ETHEREAL CHAOS THAT IS WHAT WE DON'T KNOW YET, AKA THE FUTURE UNKNOWN?

THAT is the ART of Science. Scientific painting by the numbers in a way to get to where the instinct says is the goal line.

BUT, WHO DOES all this work? Who ARE the thinkers, doers, the WORKER BEES of Science?

FOR ONE THING,

there are all kinds of 'scientists' and all kinds of science for that matter. 

Behaviorists are those who study human (and sometimes animal and who can tell the difference) behavior, while social scientists study the socialization of mankind or lack thereof...how we do it, and why. These are the elves who look into FaceBook, Twitter, My Space and the rest...what is called Social Media, but that is ONLY ONE SMALL COMPONENT of man as a social animal and the Social Scientists have to be concerned with ALL of it.

Physical scientists study the earth and its ever-challenging and often unpredictable changing dynamics. Then the specialties.

Climatologists focus primarily on the climate of the earth with many subsets. Astronomers study beyond the earth and out into the Cosmos, while some scientists like Astrologists study things many don't believe are actually scientifically viable. Who am I to argue.

Planetary interaction. Seismology. Oceanography. The Atmosphere, and on and on. A virtual potpourri of scientific intrigue and curiosity and the endeavors to find the why's among the facts and theorems and mythologies.

Scientists study the outside of people, the inside, the brain, the mind, and question every little thing. Yes the penis too.
(Maybe I am a scientist. I have investigated any number of penises).

Interestingly, science is by its very nature a solitary pursuit. Rarely do you find more than two collaborators on a scientific project/pursuit. The amount of reading and absorbing required is hard to do in groups...and while usually scads of people ARE working on the same area of scientific research, often unknown to other researchers or only casually, science is NOT usually for the socially rambunctious among us. Even in scientific laboratories employing and occupied by hundreds of people, each is often in a cocoon, a small world of their own...working independently of the others with periodic communal briefings etc.

One way scientists DO become more socially engaged is when they are studying the social aspects, characteristics, and behavior of human beings. Endlessly fascinating and changing with new technologies arising constantly these days that seem to be bringing us at least in theory closer together...
but the debate rages on about that.

Scientists are normally quiet and thoughtful, exuberant in their recitations of their work, and fascinated more than fascinating by the sheer effort and focus/concentration it takes 
to be a good one.

My hats off to the Scientists among us and the hard work they do which is helping us to define US, and the world(s) around us.

From Psychological researchers to astrobiologists to those who study the human genome and try to find answers to diabetes, PTSD, and what determines hair color or YES, Sexual orientation.

It is THEY who hold the keys to the kingdom of learning BEYOND what we already know and it is thanks to them that have made possible the discoveries that 
we already have.

Quiet, introspective...
who often go thankless 
even among their peers.

From Madame Curie to Henry Ford 
to the inventor of the electric toothbrush, Thanks.

We are waiting for the next big breakthrough on subjects like...

WHY?

That is all a Scientist needs to get all crazy. WHY?

Who knows. But give them enough money and time and they will do their damndest to find out and for that we are ALL 
better off.

WHY. One of the most intriguing and challenging words in the English Language, and like the word Love...it often leads to unexpected places and results.