Comments on: “careful about how you present yourself” http://drugmonkey.wordpress.com/2007/08/21/careful-about-how-you-present-yourself/ biomedical research, just another job... Fri, 18 Dec 2009 07:20:54 +0000 http://wordpress.com/ hourly 1 By: drugmonkey http://drugmonkey.wordpress.com/2007/08/21/careful-about-how-you-present-yourself/#comment-527 drugmonkey Tue, 21 Aug 2007 23:18:35 +0000 http://drugmonkey.wordpress.com/2007/08/21/careful-about-how-you-present-yourself/#comment-527 Thomas, no worries. It'll be confusing for a bit, hopefully not too bad. Dr. Joan Bushwell's was the model, seems to work for them. <i>Even so, I refrain from writing about certain topics or signing on to certain online projects because of future potential misconceptions surrounding those actions. I don’t want to jeopardize a possible career with an experimental idea. I guess I’ll need real live friends to talk about those ideas.</i> I don't have any solutions really, but you are wise to at least think hard about some decision on the public front. Ultimately you have to balance the quixotic "I'm just going to act as if the world is as I wish it were in hopes that it really is" with the "Yeah, but get real here bucko". For any job consideration in the future you are going to be Googled. Everybody knows this, or should. Unfortunately, you probably can't predict your eventual career at this point, no? So you could see where certain things you do now (like blogovating) might be either good (policy, media, publishing, politics) or bad (experimental science) depending on the eventual job track. Thomas, no worries. It’ll be confusing for a bit, hopefully not too bad. Dr. Joan Bushwell’s was the model, seems to work for them.

Even so, I refrain from writing about certain topics or signing on to certain online projects because of future potential misconceptions surrounding those actions. I don’t want to jeopardize a possible career with an experimental idea. I guess I’ll need real live friends to talk about those ideas.

I don’t have any solutions really, but you are wise to at least think hard about some decision on the public front. Ultimately you have to balance the quixotic “I’m just going to act as if the world is as I wish it were in hopes that it really is” with the “Yeah, but get real here bucko”. For any job consideration in the future you are going to be Googled. Everybody knows this, or should.

Unfortunately, you probably can’t predict your eventual career at this point, no? So you could see where certain things you do now (like blogovating) might be either good (policy, media, publishing, politics) or bad (experimental science) depending on the eventual job track.

]]> By: Thomas Robey http://drugmonkey.wordpress.com/2007/08/21/careful-about-how-you-present-yourself/#comment-524 Thomas Robey Tue, 21 Aug 2007 22:35:53 +0000 http://drugmonkey.wordpress.com/2007/08/21/careful-about-how-you-present-yourself/#comment-524 Okay, I conflated bikemonkey with drugmonkey... As I now understand (I think) the difference, you'll have to sort out my above comment as you see fit. Okay, I conflated bikemonkey with drugmonkey… As I now understand (I think) the difference, you’ll have to sort out my above comment as you see fit.

]]> By: Thomas Robey http://drugmonkey.wordpress.com/2007/08/21/careful-about-how-you-present-yourself/#comment-523 Thomas Robey Tue, 21 Aug 2007 22:31:12 +0000 http://drugmonkey.wordpress.com/2007/08/21/careful-about-how-you-present-yourself/#comment-523 As you know, I am a novice to the concept of blogonymity, and I am glad I encountered it and the concept of it early in my blogging career. The same concerns that lead to one blogger's pseudonym can put me on guard for both what I write and the way I spend my time. You'll recognize that I carry a few unique (and possibly career impacting!) opinions. I had originally thought my blog to be a venue to air them out to public input so that I could refine them. I recognize now that that was much too idealistic. Most of the folks that take issue with my views (yourself and Mike Haubrich excluded) do so with sarcasm or with the intent of nitpicking. Finding a community of thoughtful contributors (as you have attracted here) will take a while. What confounds me is how/why individuals past statements are so important. As interpersonal interaction becomes more text-based, how do folks expect that we come to our opinions? Reading and meditation and original thought help, but I put public discourse highest on the list of things that underlie my own opinions and beliefs. Even so, I refrain from writing about certain topics or signing on to certain online projects because of future potential misconceptions surrounding those actions. I don't want to jeopardize a possible career with an experimental idea. I guess I'll need real live friends to talk about those ideas. A final, somewhat unrelated opinion: What I think is neat about the SciBlings and their satellite blogs is that the writers seem all committed to honest conversation, even if 'trolls' do populate discussions. As you know, I am a novice to the concept of blogonymity, and I am glad I encountered it and the concept of it early in my blogging career. The same concerns that lead to one blogger’s pseudonym can put me on guard for both what I write and the way I spend my time.

You’ll recognize that I carry a few unique (and possibly career impacting!) opinions. I had originally thought my blog to be a venue to air them out to public input so that I could refine them. I recognize now that that was much too idealistic. Most of the folks that take issue with my views (yourself and Mike Haubrich excluded) do so with sarcasm or with the intent of nitpicking. Finding a community of thoughtful contributors (as you have attracted here) will take a while.

What confounds me is how/why individuals past statements are so important. As interpersonal interaction becomes more text-based, how do folks expect that we come to our opinions? Reading and meditation and original thought help, but I put public discourse highest on the list of things that underlie my own opinions and beliefs. Even so, I refrain from writing about certain topics or signing on to certain online projects because of future potential misconceptions surrounding those actions. I don’t want to jeopardize a possible career with an experimental idea. I guess I’ll need real live friends to talk about those ideas.

A final, somewhat unrelated opinion: What I think is neat about the SciBlings and their satellite blogs is that the writers seem all committed to honest conversation, even if ‘trolls’ do populate discussions.

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