Science vs Biz

I am a scientist by profession .. delving into the intricacies of science is meant to not only be a source of subsistence but also a flaming passion for professionals of my ilk.. But I guess I am not one of the "ilk" at least not entirely ... yeah i like science .. I do worry about answers to questions ... soemtimes when I am sleeping , sometimes during the ritual of daily ablutions ( btw they shld do a study on the number of scientists who take a scientific research paper to the loo ..would not be surprised if that number came close to 2/3 rd) .. but I do have other interests ... Business or specifically the business of science is one such passion. My fascination I guess began in my sophomore year when one of my proffs decided to leave research in favor of the "darker side" : a pharma BigCo... while I was never a follower of this proffs fan cult, I was definitely impressed by his unabashed approach to this transition as I was intrigued by the feelings of outrage that his colleagues had on this transition.. it was almost as if one of their brethren had flipped ... and ever since it has been my good fortune to be in the midst of two warring parties : the guys who believe that science and scientists are prisitne and subliminal as long as they are unexposed to the corrupt machinations of business talking charlatans, and those that believe that scientists are out of touch with reality, intellectually narcissistic and definitely do not like the C.R.E.A.M (cash rules everything around me ) reality..

And where do I stand? Frankly I dunno .. It would not only be untrue but immature too to say that I have never been entranced by the swagger of a Wall Street lifestyle. However it is also true that I enjoy thinking about my science ... the satisfaction that stems from a well "fought out " scientific discussion and the fleeting sense of pride that follows a well orchestrated logical victory in the afore-mentioned discussion. So there lies my dilemma : the eternal eat and have situation ... But the topic of this post is not to sort out this dichotomy ..coz I frankly like it ...adds a top-spin to my serve .. borrowing from tennis.. This post is about attitudes of people from both sides that I usually interact with .

Scene 1: I was at this lecture with Mr JAPS . And as we were walking back, we had a discussion about how sometimes science is all about optimizing and improving upon some one else's work . It is almost as if all that we ( as is evident I am guilty too ) scientists do is try and disprove someone. That set me off on my usual rant: that the problem that plagues science is that the actual benefit is really low compared to the money spent on it. a SWOT analysis , borrowing business descriptors, would be pretty dismal.. And yet ppl trudge on ..adding to the copious journal volumes of mostly drivel .. debating whether a 1st order/2nd order or nth order exponential fits data better or whether they should be 1st /2nd/nth author on a manuscript or how Impact factors of scientific journals are direct correlates of the significance of your research. Really? gimme a fuckn break ! Pencillin which is the most widely recognized drug was mostly serendipity . What I am saying here is that only a small proportion of scientists really do something fruitful with all those research dollars.. and yeah I know that it is a slow process but seriously how many of us really are concerned about accelarating that? In fact in strange ways at a spiritual level, we aint too different from those Wall Street jackasses who get bonuses for nothing. I mean all we do is wait for the next conference to go to. And yeah the criterion for many is not based on how important it is but whether or not it has a ski resort closeby. I mean seriously, we really do not do much except sit on our asses, write blogs ( like me right now ) and occasionally do an expt to add to some drivel in a magazine. And thats why I find it almost ridiculous when scientists lampoon business execs: yeah they make money , loads of it but many of them deserve it ... they are intelligent ..no way less intellectual than researchers ..and in some cases much more ( really anyone wanna talk abt a Buffet vs a james watson ??) ..

Scene 2: I am in a meeting with a business exec who I took a course with and the topic veers to how researchers are refractory when it comes to marketing their invention..how they pontificate about the science and turn a blind eye to the market potential etc .. Of Course she does not understand the science but she does know when it is impactful enough to make a high ROI ( return on investment) .. She has the intuition ... maybe her decisions are 90 % logical and 10 % intuition ..but then we scientists jump at that 10 % .... yeah business is alchemy almost / sinister and w/o logic ... but hey hang on are nt most inevntions intuition too ...are not most equations optimizations which ultimately mirrors the inutition of the guy who wrote em ...and guess what they have worked.. come to think of it, in my mind business is as much a science as science is an art ( and yes science is in many cases is art ... i dont call 10 making 10 keys of different Young modulus to the same lock, science...thats jus impractical shenangians ).. And while I believe that mixing them in the right proportions (read with set regulations) is the way forward , unfortunately I guess that will never be the scenario.

Karma police

Karma police the song by radiohead : karma police in my head in my dreams and in my rest .. karma police on the streets ...in conversation ..in action .. karma police in a child ..in the father and the mother ...in the wife and in the enemy ..karma police across nationalities ..across creeds and across religions ..karma police that binds us ...that separates us ..that defines us ..and that breaks us ...karma police that i run from ...karma police that i run to ...on the outside and the inside ... karma police that is ingrained and that which is taught ....karma police that is insurmountable ...karma police that is intolerable ... karma police that is perhaps inevitable ...karma police that is expendable.. karma police in blacks and in all hues ..... karma police as an aggresor and as the defender.. karma police ...angry , jealous , happy ,beneficient and fucked up .... karma police in a paranoid funk

karma police in my head ...

Randomness of Consciousness

Nights have always been creative vents for writers: young and old ; callow and experienced.. starry nights , dark nights ( with an accompanying dark knight) , the clear skied night or the plain old rainy night. Nights.. the perfect setting for novels of diverse genres. Nights , often associated with the existence of dark forces : Incubus , the Succubus .. Now I am gonna go ahead and add another name to this list: The Insomnobus .. the demon that does not let you sleep .. that makes you conjure up weird ideas, irrelevant thoughts and douses out that feeble spark of rationality that wants you to forget everything and sleep.

A smashing pumpkins song plays in the background : in a way they remind me of myself . A blast from the past holding on to the past and yet wanting to move on, unsure of where they are but nostalgic of where they have been... . click ... I walk to my window. The street deserted except for the occasional cars that drive by, the drunk guy ambling back to home if that ever existed ....click ..salman rushdie's Grimus lies on my coffee table, flapping eagle was an enigma as was his duality of existence.. click.. I am reading a blog and I pick out something that reminds me of a city that now seems like an alternate reality-Chennai. The autos, DAV, Guindy, the British Council : remnants of a life that was mine but not any more....click.....i am on the rooftop running and jumping from one building to another.. fires burn, something crashes , adrenaline rushes and then free-fall.. darkness ..click ... loud music and swaying bodies ..the stench of alcohol and ladies cologne.... wyclef sings to the sweetest girl and then the tones of the sitar and the falsetto of an opera singer.. click... a cool breeze and a warm sun, breatjlessness, the endorphins , the sweat and the pain ...click .... bright screen .. a green matrix of numbers

Whats real and whats fantasy? In the zone of transition does it matter .. is there a cause to the effect or vice versa ..do words make sense or are they meant to? Are feelings the genesis of thoughts or the other way around? Is a sane mind an escapist reaction of an insane mind? Is cognizance a reaction to consciousness ?

Insomnibus..incubus ...succubus ..