Self-motivated

You can find people enthusiastic about any subject nowadays.  This is a good thing.

One of our consultants had some extra time this past week and went through a large backlog of journals and magazines.  Staying abreast of any field these days is almost impossible, but he makes a valiant effort, and even takes time to read the popular-science articles about subjects far from his specialties.  One of these, as it happens, was about bees.  And not only bees, but native American bees, a class that does not include the familiar honeybee (a European import).  And not only native American bees, but new, little-known or endangered species.  The article profiled several people who search for and classify that kind of species of this type of insect.  For a few of them it is a (not well-paid) job; for all, it’s an enthusiasm.  They do it because they want to, in spite of the multitude of inconveniences that come with natural history.

To be enthusiastic about a specialized topic is a common human feature, even if it’s not shared by everyone.  It is of course easy to be condescending of another’s passion and make it an object of ridicule.  It seems rather daft to spend one’s free time and no little money searching in uncomfortable places for obscure species, with no obvious reward.  Better to share the more widespread enthusiasm for, say, a particular set of people playing a game?  Perhaps.

Well, one of our bee-hunters learned that an elusive species seemed to prefer American Chestnut tree blossoms.  He then called up the American Chestnut Foundation for advice.  Of course there is an American Chestnut Foundation.  A tree can be the subject of enthusiasm just as much as an insect.  (The American Chestnut more than most, we suppose, because a disease all but wiped out the trees early in the last century.  Someone must coordinate the ongoing efforts to fight the disease.)

There are other enthusiasms than those in science, of course.  Builders of model train sets and restorers of vintage automobiles, volunteer social workers and local historians, amateur genealogists and players of antique musical instruments all come under the heading.  We comment mostly on science, a field we know something about.

In a sense, all science is driven by enthusiasm.  Even the most prominent professional scientists didn’t choose their fields for the pay or prestige.  But to a larger degree than most people realize, scientific results come from the great population of unpaid enthusiasts.  And now that the US Government seems inclined to stop funding science, the proportion will only increase.