The readings for this week were interesting for me in a multitude of ways--they were enlightening as well as challenging. The two I engaged with the most were Good's "How Medicine Constructs its Objects," and Traweek's "Pilgrim's Progress: Male Tales Told During a Life in Physics." The articles both addressed professions that I have somewhat of an attachment to, which made each experience reading them a more personal and connected one than otherwise. With my older sister pursuing her PhD in physics and quite a few of my friends aspiring doctors, it was hard for me not to imagine them as the nameless people I read about in the articles.This personal attachment forced me to read the articles and the situations with somewhat of a guard, as the descriptions the articles detailed often didn't align with the characteristics of my friends or my sister.
I will begin with Traweek's article, "Pilgrim's Progress: Male Tales Told During a Life in Physics." Immediately, I was taken aback by the forceful and enclosing use of the description "male" in the title and the introduction, being used as somewhat of a first step to becoming a physicist. I continued reading, and was taken aback by the "tales" of becoming a physicist, as what I learned about in the article does not align with a lot of my sister's experiences as a physics major and now PhD student. Traweek emphasizes the studious aspect of a physics student, "...students learn from textbooks whose interpretation of physics is not to be challenged; in fact, it is not to be seen as interpretation" (75). Later, Traweek details the kind of characteristics expected from a physicist, "'hard and willing worker'" and so on, and most importantly, unemotional or unconfident (83). Virtually all of Traweek's descriptions of physicists were different than how I characterize my sister.
A similar thing happened when I read "How Medicine Constructs its Objects" by Good. I cannot imagine the intensity that my friends will have to endure going to medical school after reading this article. From the way Good describes how students are required to look at human bodies anatomically--how students are supposed to forget about the social and emotional "human" aspects at times when expected to understand the body. My relationship with my friends is especially contrasting because of how much of a social basis the relationship is set on. It is difficult to imagine my friends severing their relationship with social and emotional responses for certain time periods because that is the only responses I have ever received from them.
My thoughts, however, are probably not unrequited. This brings me to understand, however, a fault in my own thinking and understanding of the concepts. My sister is only one semester along on her PhD, and the majority of my friends have only taken half of the pre-medical school requirements and expectations. I'm sure there is variance between those in the paper and my friends and sister--I am not doubting that there is some truth to the differences I notice. It does make me realize, however, that students are mostly unaware of the culture or "pilgrimage" associated with an aspiring career field. My sister may have a love for physics, but she may not be able to hold her own becoming an serious researcher in physics because that is not something you learn about until you are thrown into it. And my friends may see themselves as doctors, but it is no doubt that they will have emotional and academic struggles in medical school. The reading for this week made me think about how, oftentimes, you don't know what to expect when going into a field of study, which makes it all the more taunting to commit to one (in my opinion). These articles illustrate strong evidence for cultures within science and academics, but also how it is a culture many people don't classically think to associate with pilgrimage. I'm interested to see how I view academic fields now, and if I will try to find patterns and aspects of culture in sections of science and academics that I didn't used to before.
I will begin with Traweek's article, "Pilgrim's Progress: Male Tales Told During a Life in Physics." Immediately, I was taken aback by the forceful and enclosing use of the description "male" in the title and the introduction, being used as somewhat of a first step to becoming a physicist. I continued reading, and was taken aback by the "tales" of becoming a physicist, as what I learned about in the article does not align with a lot of my sister's experiences as a physics major and now PhD student. Traweek emphasizes the studious aspect of a physics student, "...students learn from textbooks whose interpretation of physics is not to be challenged; in fact, it is not to be seen as interpretation" (75). Later, Traweek details the kind of characteristics expected from a physicist, "'hard and willing worker'" and so on, and most importantly, unemotional or unconfident (83). Virtually all of Traweek's descriptions of physicists were different than how I characterize my sister.
A similar thing happened when I read "How Medicine Constructs its Objects" by Good. I cannot imagine the intensity that my friends will have to endure going to medical school after reading this article. From the way Good describes how students are required to look at human bodies anatomically--how students are supposed to forget about the social and emotional "human" aspects at times when expected to understand the body. My relationship with my friends is especially contrasting because of how much of a social basis the relationship is set on. It is difficult to imagine my friends severing their relationship with social and emotional responses for certain time periods because that is the only responses I have ever received from them.
My thoughts, however, are probably not unrequited. This brings me to understand, however, a fault in my own thinking and understanding of the concepts. My sister is only one semester along on her PhD, and the majority of my friends have only taken half of the pre-medical school requirements and expectations. I'm sure there is variance between those in the paper and my friends and sister--I am not doubting that there is some truth to the differences I notice. It does make me realize, however, that students are mostly unaware of the culture or "pilgrimage" associated with an aspiring career field. My sister may have a love for physics, but she may not be able to hold her own becoming an serious researcher in physics because that is not something you learn about until you are thrown into it. And my friends may see themselves as doctors, but it is no doubt that they will have emotional and academic struggles in medical school. The reading for this week made me think about how, oftentimes, you don't know what to expect when going into a field of study, which makes it all the more taunting to commit to one (in my opinion). These articles illustrate strong evidence for cultures within science and academics, but also how it is a culture many people don't classically think to associate with pilgrimage. I'm interested to see how I view academic fields now, and if I will try to find patterns and aspects of culture in sections of science and academics that I didn't used to before.
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