• Question: How does being a scientist affect your everyday life?

    Asked by tomg44 to Charlie, Eoin, Jemma, Julian, Steve on 21 Mar 2011.
    • Photo: Julian Rayner

      Julian Rayner answered on 17 Mar 2011:

      It affects the way that you think about the world – you take everything with a grain of salt, and look at the data before forming an opinion. For example, if a website says “acai berries help you diet”, or “paint gives you cancer”, your first thought is – show me the data. Don’t believe what you read, learn the skills to weigh up the evidence with a completely open mind. That is what a scientist does.

    • Photo: Stephen Moss

      Stephen Moss answered on 17 Mar 2011:

      Hi Tomg44

      Being a scientist has a big affect on everyday life. It makes you question things, so for example, when you see an advertisement for some fancy skin cream that ‘makes your wrinkles disappear’, you immediately wonder what experiments did they do to test that? Where is their proof? Should I just believe them? Being a scientist just makes you question everything.

    • Photo: Eoin Lettice

      Eoin Lettice answered on 17 Mar 2011:

      Hi Tom,
      A good question. Being a scientist means that you generally have a good training in how to think logically and solve problems in a “sensible” way. So, I suppose this means that I sometimes think about the rest of my life in very logical ways.
      Being a biologist means that I tend to notice natural things around me during the day and I like to go out of my way to visit nice natural sights like forests and parks and stuff like that.

      Eoin

    • Photo: Charlie Ryan

      Charlie Ryan answered on 20 Mar 2011:

      hi tomg44. Well i’m not sure if it does really. It is just a job, one i enjoy, but in the end not the be all and end all.
      I suppose i have become more interested in science as i have studied it in more detail, and now i do find the things i do outside of work being more science related. Like answerring questions on this website!!!
      I do have issues when i meet new people, and they ask what i do. I say i test a new type of rocket, they say i’m a rocket scientist and think i am a genius!!! I’m not!! I’m a normal guy!! I do normal things!

    • Photo: Jemma Ransom

      Jemma Ransom answered on 21 Mar 2011:

      I guess the answer to your question (if rather cheesy) is that science is my everyday life. To be a scientist you have to be completely committed and passionate about your work, so whether it’s in the lab, at home talking to my partner, or on here talking to you, I spend about 95% of my day doing something science related, but because it is my passion, I don’t mind giving up the time!

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