Issue 40
"Scholars and researchers should not be concerned with whether their work makes a contribution to the larger society. It is more important that they pursue their individual interests, however unusual or idiosyncratic those interests may seem."
The speaker alleges that as for scholars and researchers, pursuing individual interests is more important than making contribution to the society. I find this allegation to be specious. It wrongly suggests that personal preference overwhelms society needs. Admittedly, interesting is the best teacher to inspire those people’s imagination and creativity. However, only creative thoughts being devoted to our society can the scholars and researchers realize their value.
To begin with, how much development our society make largely depends on how hard our researchers and scholars work. Our world is making progress with the time going by. From generation to generation, researchers always leading human to search and create new wonder to make us live a better life. Their altruistic spirits permit ordinary people sharing the fruit of theirs. For example, Tomas Edison, one of the greatest inventors in human history, invented thousands of devices—what we consider the most commonly are playing an important part in our daily life. If researchers only use their admirable knowledge to do something for their own benefit, we may not see the prosperity as we are enjoying today.
In addition, having devoted to the society, researchers and scholars also receive people’s admission and respect as repay. Everyone lives in a community with many other people, but not alone. Albeit we live with each other, it is still difficult to name other’s name sometimes since he or she doesn’t leave us memorable impression. However, no one will forget those people who have made so much convenience for us. We may transform a visit to the grocery store into an homage to the many inventors, scientists and engineers of the past who have made so much convenience for us today.
However, personal interests of researchers and scholars cannot be ignored. We may never know how magic the interests are in contributing to human achievements. A falling apple inspired Newton, and then the Law of Gravity was found. Having seen the cover of the kettle with boiling water, Watt improves the steam gas and introduces Industrial Revolution. Nevertheless, some unusual or idiosyncratic ideas may cause severe consequences if they are put into practice. Such as cloning human beings, which may cause ethical issue we cannot solve right now.
In sum, the speaker overemphasize the importance of interests while make light of society to scholars and researchers. In the final analysis, to make our society better for living, we expect these researchers and scholars go all out for our living environment.