Indeed, CR, what a lovely and mindful summary. I am reminded of
Bhutan's adoption of Gross National Happiness as an alternative Index to
Gross National Product(ion) as an example of the creative impact mindful
people can have on the collective whole, when the need for change is
noticed and tended to.
On 4/13/2012 12:18 PM, Cynthia Ross wrote:
Dear Ecologgers,
This discussion about family and science has been very interesting to follow.
Whether single or married, childless or not, everyone is entitled to and should
stand for nothing less than a balanced life - whatever that means to them. And
the definition of success is subjective to the individual. As my wise advisor
often reminded me, what is right for one person is not right for another. If
at the end of the day you are happy, you are successful whether you use your
education at home to improve the lives of yourself and your family or to make
grand contributions to the scientific community. I have never in my 40 years
regretted sticking to what I believed was right for me even if it was against
the advise of others. Only you know what is right for you and if you truly
want something you will figure out how to do it. My point is, that it is up to
each one of us to make it OK to live our lives the way we want.
CR
On Apr 12, 2012, at 6:41 PM, Steven Schwartz wrote:
"many of us higher quality scientists" I don't often post here but that is about as arrogant a
statement as I have read. It is that kind of thinking that has made me distance myself from much of the ESA
community. I have authored or co-authored 30 papers and would never dream of casting myself or anyone else
as a "high quality scientist." I'm not sure of the size of your ego but I a dose of modesty might
be in order. And as for hard work equalling reward, there is just as much chance involved as there is
effort. I have seen too many hard working ecologists suffer at the hands of fate and who you worked for or
know. At my first ESA meeting, almost 30 years ago, I was taken aback when the first question people had for
me was "who do you work for?" referring to my PhD advisor. Not anything about what I was studying
or the quality of my work. Things haven't changed nor will they. I'm only sorry I never knew the right
people or went to the right school.
SSS
