I empathize with you. As you have so succintly described, conducting successful research has, at least in part, to do with luck. Okay, maybe 'luck' isn't the right word I'm looking for, but I hope you understand where I am getting at. Investing countless hours and plucking one's hair over something that eventually brings one back to the starting line isn't exactly my cup of tea, either. Research can be intellectually challenging, but from the practical perspective, it doesn't always pay off, literally. Researchers who are unsure of their direction and barely getting by might be better off setting up a bubble tea shop in a nightmarket frequented by the crowd. I know it is a bit cynical, but this 'all or nothing' dilemma may prove to be too risky for some to undertake. Perhaps it is not only the end result that is important, but also the process of carrying out research leading to the conclusion, however elusive it might be. Like any journey, though one may not reach the destination, one can certainly take note of interesting things that happened along the way. Yes, we all probably know this rosy talk, but in the current world where money and greed rule, I'd still suggest that researchers who are afraid of low returns open up tea shops. Who knows, you might just be the next Bubble Tea Tycoon ;) ※ 引述《obiter (加油！)》之铭言： : I'm worried about a research topic at the moment. : I've discovered that I really don't like doing research, or science inventions, : for that matter. : Don't get me wrong. I absolutely agree that research and inventions are very : important, and I totally support it, and acknoledge that such are the best way : forward, both in terms of academic research and scientific discovery. : However, all I'm saying is that I really don't enjoy doing either at all. : Scientific research and invention often gives me a sense of hopelessness, : and that I'm wasting time doing nothing useful. Why? Precisely because when : you are working with science, you are bound to face a lot of failures and : dead-ends. And sometimes you even lose the point of what you are doing. Or : worse yet, far into your research, you discover that what you have doing was : completely useless, or that you started of with the wrong premise, and that : it was never going anywhere! So you're back to square one, as if you never : did any work at all. But what about all the hours wasted in the lab? All those : wasted diagrams, theories etc etc? : But of course, if you did something right, it could be a major discovery, : and you could be famous overnight. It is often achieved with a breakthrough, : with that, you have everything, but without it, you have nothing. : The same goes with research. You spend hours in the library, going through : book after book, flipping through the dusty pages, hoping to find something : that you are looking for. More often than not, you find nothing. Again, hours : completely wasted, and you feel incredibly frustrated, as you spent all that : time, working incredibly hard, and the result is 0. : Of course, if you find what you are looking for, and write a coherent report. : again you might be famous if you publish what you have written. But without : the right information (or if you started with a hopeless research topic the : first place) you will have nothing. : For me personally, what I cannot understand is how can I possibly justify to : myself doing work which might result in nothing no matter how much effort I : put into it? I get very frustrated as I know that I'm not talented in : research or scientific work, and that no matter how hard I work, I will only : produce work of average qualify (if not worse). So then I slack off, thinking : there's no point in working hard for something that I will not do well in, : and then I end up getting worse results because I put in so little effort, : and end up disliking research work even more... @@ : I think I need to change my attitude :P : Anyone here that really enjoys research and scientific work? --

※ 发信站: 批踢踢实业坊(ptt.cc) ◆ From: 137.229.34.152 ※ 编辑: eGoddess 来自: 137.229.34.152 (08/19 04:33)