The stereotype that a lot of scientists are not well socially adjusted has a lot of supporting evidence. Some of the most awkward people I have ever met have been scientists. People who think that plaid on plaid makes for a well-matched outfit weird. No conversation skills kind of weird.
It’s understandable. Lab work is lonely. There are conversations about science, yes, but those conversations are conducted in a language all their own, one not really related to real life. Spending long hours shut in a lab environment carries a risk of losing some part of one’s social skills.
Nothing supports my hypothesis better than a story I recently heard from a friend. A friend of a friend was sitting between her advisor and her husband (also a research scientist) at a seminar, when her advisor turned to her and asked, “So when will you be having F1s? Can’t wait too long, you know!” Oh. My. Everything. If I had been sitting next to that woman, I could not be counted on to contain my snort. No way. Who says that? It sounds a little forced, doesn’t it? Science has taken over her sense of humor. Eek.
Anna, your post was so, so evocative of my own past lab life – my heart bleeds for you, it really does. The sheer bloody loneliness of it all. The fact that one could spend days (and nights) in a museum vault with nothing but 3,000 fossil bison ankle bones and a set of calipers for company, and absolutely nobody with whom to have an intelligent conversation about anything (especially bison ankle bones). Nearly drove me round the bend. That’s why I left and became a journalist. Journalists are social misfits, too, just not as badly as scientists, and in different ways. I am convinced that the people who make the best careers as scientists are those on the autism spectrum, for whom loneliness and isolation are advantages.
This is so strange – I’ve always been in very social labs where everyone chats away about sport, music and the latest reality TV shows at all times. Practical jokes and laughter abounded in both my Scottish and Canadian labs. I feel more isolated now that I’m in an office job. I guess I just got lucky.
I am intrigued that Henry and Cath have had such contrasting experiences and I think that culture plays a major role. According to my friend in London, the researchers there have a far more relaxed attitude towards their job than in the results-driven atmosphere here in Singapore. The size of the group, status of the professor (e.g. assistant vs. tenured), and fraction of foreign grad students probably also has a major role.
Henry – I have met many researchers whose lack of social adjustment has made me question their position on the autism spectrum. I think that it takes a very special kind of person to be a researcher for life, just like one needs a specific personality/character to succeed as a surgeon. I am nowhere near the appropriate personality for either of those professions.
Your experiences in research sound particularly horrifying, I have to say. You were physically isolated in addition to feeling intellectually and emotionally isolated. Ouch. Did I just pour salt on the wound? Sorry.
Cath – I think it is definitely a matter of luck. I have been in labs that sucked the life out of me and others where I almost (almost) didn’t want to go home at the end of the day.
Naveen – I have heard that science in the UK is a different beast than elsewhere. I obviously can’t comment on it form personal experience, but I have been told that the schedule is much more regimented (as in no working till 11PM) and usually ends with pints at the pub. Any UK dwellers care to weigh in?
HAHAH!
We frequently refer to the Pawns as the ‘F1’s.
And we’re reasonably well adjusted. . .
This whole thread has brought back so many memories of my PhD days that I’ve had to write a blog entry about it.
Anna – Physical environment counts for a lot. My place of work is off campus, with no decent spill-out pub for those spontaneous (often better than pre-arranged formality) lubricating switch-offs. Compared to my last place of work, which was right on the edge of a good town with plenty of options, it pales in this regard.
However, environment includes people, and as one who, in a previous incarnation, spent eleven years in uniform, I do like the mix academic research throws up – oddballs and all. I recall an interview with John Sulston, in which he talked of how he used to spend hours self-chained to a microscope making detailed observational drawings of nematodes, and would bark when interrupted. Now, I’ve never met him, so could not comment on his personality/sense of humour/dress sense (although I’ve been told he is a very nice man), but I would still doff my fedora to Sir John Sulston, Nobel Prize winner, if he attired like Grayson Perry.
I like the F1 idea! but as you know I am the weird one: I also compare being an Iron Chef as having a Hughes award, their cooking as “Nature” quality work…
However, when mentioning F1, if they were as serious as their experiments (with no smile, laugh..) that’s odd. And by the way, I dont think I’m that lonely, although crazy, probably.
mehdi
Anna, I’ve worked in a grand total of 1 UK and 1 Canadian lab, so I don’t know how general my experience was. But the UK lab taught me to plan my experiments around coffee breaks (10.30 am and 3 pm) and lunch, at which times everyone would sit together in the common room and chat. There were regular pub and club nights orgnaised by the students and postdocs, with everyone from the PI down joining in on big group nights out a few times a year. This was fairly typical of all the other groups in the building.
The Canadian lab was a lively and chatty place, but there were no regular group coffee and lunch times. The pub nights were less frequent and involved a smaller percentage of the people in the department – mostly students and postdocs.
Richard – Sorry to be dense, but what do you mean by Pawns? Chess? Or undergrads?
Henry – While I am sorry that this post brought up some negative emotions for you, I am pretty happy that I got to read another one of your posts as a result!
Lee – I completely agree! My old lab was off campus, in the middle of about 100,000 bars and restaurants. It was so nice! Now I am marooned on the Medical School campus and it’s hospital-y and depressing. It’s difficult to run out for a drink. It does put a damper on after (or during) work activities. So when you say that this person barked, you mean that he literally barked? That’s not a good sign. Speaking as someone who spent about a year of her life locked in just such a dark microscope closet, I can sympathize. Don’t think it made me into a barker, but it was a close call.
Mehdi – While I wasn’t there at the time of the F1-bomb dropping, I am assuming that it was meant as a joke. A really dorky joke. I like your Iron Chef/Nature analogy! I will have to remember that.
Cath – Thank you for chiming in with your experiences! I am always curious to find out how lab work/life is different in other countries. It is strange how differently science is approached in the UK. I wish I knew more about it, but it almost seems more of a job there than the life style it is made into here. I can’t believe that the PI joined in the outings! I have never heard of a PI doing that here. My advisor quite consciously drew a line between us and herself to avoid any potential authority conflicts.
Sorry Anna: ‘Pawns’ is the term on my pseudonymous weblog for my children.
I sometimes forget where I am.
OK on this point I disagree 100%. I’ve found that most scientists are interesting and interested in what their conversation partners have to say. I’m glad that I don’t work in an environment where what was on last night on teevee is the ever present topic of conversation. Sure there are many quacks, but that’s part of the charm of being in science ;)
I’ll go along with Alexander. My personal experience is that scientists scientists are similar to society around them but their standard deviation is much larger. Typically scientists also tend to be more tolerant of the people on the tail ends of the social curve so many don’t feel like making an effort to fit in as much as they might in other company.
Also, given that many famous scientists have been oddballs, it seems some people try to be more like an oddball in the hopes of becoming famous :).
While I agree that there is a lot of correlation between lack of social skills (and lives in general) and science, I’ve come to believe that some of the best scientists (and people to work for) are the ones who, while passionate about science and are incredibly smart, have a wicked sense of humor (about themselves as well) and have a hobby/talent outside science that gives them perspective. Of course, these are also the people who make you sick with envy…