This I know - that I know nothing. -- SocratesIf all goes well, in just a few weeks time I will have handed in my thesis and, assuming it meets the standards, I will then have successfully added another academic degree to my substantial collection. I don't have the exact numbers but I am pretty sure that in terms of formal education that puts me somewhere in the highest percentages globally. And yet, all it has done is make me realise how little I really know.
The fool doth think he is wise, but the wise man knows himself to be a fool. -- William Shakespeare
Especially writing my dissertation and preparing for the defense of it, made me very aware of just how small the box we think in is. The thought of having to answer questions even just slightly off-topic scared the living daylights out of me. I remember many years ago a friend of mine, a social scientist herself, wanted to know what as an exact scientist were my thoughts on Big Bang Theory. I replied her with stunned silence. More frequently I have had to answer questions concerning genetic engineering, stem cell research and such. I feel slightly more equipped to handle those types of questions though my approach is usually that of the objective scientist and not that of the opiniated ethicist.
The well-bred contradict other people. The wise contradict themselves. -- Oscar Wilde
I often find it hard to publicly defend an opinion on something that lies outside my comfort zone. That is not to say I have no opinions. In fact, opiniated and argumentative are words that have both been used on me frequently. My problem is that I don't remember sources very well. I am the uncrowned queen of the statement "I recall reading somewhere...". I did read it somewhere and usually in a credible source but I tend to forget where exactly the 'somewhere' was, thus undermining my own credibility. It makes me too easily blown out of the water by people less hesitant to bluff their way out of an argument. Fiction can sound like fact if said with enough conviction. Internet is a great help. At least it will retrospectively tell me what the real facts of the matter were. But of course by that time it is too late to save face in the discussion.
Better to remain silent and be thought a fool then to speak out and remove all doubt. -- Abraham Lincoln
4 comments:
wow Thyra, your blogs are philosophical more and more! I like them!!
Btw, about the word of the day, culling, now I finally know the English word for 'ruimen', not that it makes me happy...
Well, it keeps me off the streets. :-) Off my thesis writing as well, but that's a different matter!
"Fiction can sound like fact if said with enough conviction." is so true! Assuming from this post that you have the same habit as I do to add "I think" or "It might be"/"I've read somewhere"/"It seems that" to every sentence you write, just out of scientific habit, leaving those out makes all the difference between sounding like an expert and sounding like a hesitating beginner. Even though the use of such phrases is most likely the result of experience rather than inexperience. (I think.)
That is exactly true, Edith. My original thesis manuscript was about twice its final size when I gave it to my supervisor. He then systematically removed just those sort of phrases. Of course he also removed most of my adjectives because my style was too "baroque". :-) I could never do well at poker, I don't like to bluff.
Have you touched down on the other side of the pond yet?
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