Why do I want to stay in this field
I had a long conversation with D today. He asked me what attracts me to stay in this field. I said that systems built by molecules are elegant and beautiful. Then he said what if people asked or challenged whether these research could be useful. I replied not every research should be directly applied. Some research does not have immediate application, but other people may be inspired and find that later. D agreed and talked about other examples.
One year ago when I was interviewed with Da, I remember he also asked me this question. I didn't give him a good answer because I myself was not quite sure. Da set himself as an example and said that he stays in this field because he could do both theory and experiment.
Later I had an argument with F about his doubts in this field. While defending myself, my thoughts became clear.
“对一个领域的展望永远都不是扯淡或者忽悠，因为科学就是这样发展的。我们看到了科学在一些领域成为了实用的技术根基，于是我们记住了那些科学根基。可是在那个科学发展的时候，也一定存在其他发展的科学，有的最后实用起来了，有的没有，但这就是科学，不能根据最后用不用得起来来衡量它的价值，因为你永远都不知道你做的东西用不用得起来。学医是很实用的，做一名医生减轻病人的痛苦。但是这个世界上有太多现在科技没有办法解决的疑难杂症，而对于这些问题的解决也一样离不开科研工作者在最前沿的地方的基础研发。这些研发，又有多少能真正用于临床医学呢？太多的尖端科学都只是给了人们一个promise，一个前景，能不能让这个前景成为现实，还是需要一代又一代相信这个promise的科学家的不断努力和奋斗，还有运气。”
It's great to work with people who share the same research philosophy.
If you would like to leave a comment, feel free to contact me at Mastodon @bios@moresci.sale