will Environmental Science kill my Creativity ?

[mr_p]

hi,

after years of being totally opposed to studying at University, I'm feeling that the time has come to learn how to learn better

I'm interested in ecology, flora & fauna, restoration, water quality .. basically environmental stuff

I still have residual blockages to studying uni. One of them being how scientific and rational the thinking is. and the emphasis on academic knowledge

I understand this is important, but just feel sometimes environmental professionals and ecologists and the like are sometimes to caught up in the studies and the analysis and all the paperwork without actually creating and real change on the ground.

though i also do see the need for this level of awareness and it will ultimately be up to me to apply this knowledge

what i really want to know is will university study kill my creative expression ?

any advice or experiences ??

cheers

 

[capstone]

Don't believe everything those teachers tell you. Do your own research, and don't follow all in some textbook as absolute Truth.

 

[satricion]

How could being exposed to new ideas would make you less creative?

Your degree won't tell you what you should do with your beliefs, but it can give you ideas as to how to go about doing the things that your ethics and values lead you to do. Academic knowledge and rationality are useful things. They don't solve value (ethical) questions, but they will give you new ways of dealing with them.

Higher education is a tremendous privilege which will allow you to engage with the world in new ways as long as you are open to it. If you're going to go and study, you need to be open to what you are learning, rather than approaching it as though it is going to limit you in some way (it won't).

 

[Cyc]

^ Precisely!!

Satricion is correct. Higher education is ia privilege not to be squandered. Take everything you can from University. It doesn't have to guide your life, but as a critical thinker you should be able to take what you need.

You're luckier than you realize.

 

[Binge Artist]

In some ways, I think that studying more "creative" fields actually drains your creativity even more. When you're constantly forced to create, it can kinda drain you.

 

[ingannilo]

If you don't like procedure, you don't want to be a scientist. There are lots of jobs for people who like plants & animals that aren't scientific. Going to college and studying any remotely relevant field will increase the odds of you finding a gig like that (which you want) by nearly immeasurable volumes.

If you feel, though, that science's paperwork & heavy procedures & academic nature do anything to curb the creativity of those that practice it, you're sorely mistaken. People who need to express themselves loudly will never loose that need.

Routines can "kill creativity" in that they're capable of " birthing boredom", and routines can pop up in any occupation. It's the individual who decides whether or not to interpret their life as "routine".

Any place that serves to instruct is going to be focused on academia. If that disturbs you, it sounds like you may have that most common of allergies-- super sensitivity to "hard work". You can't skate through life spewing shit as it comes to your mind without thinking about it, refining it, & studying what similar flavors of shit other refined & studied people have spewed, and what's been concluded about them.

 

[Rogue Robot]

as someone who is working and studying this field of science, i don't know how you perceive ES people as not being creative. if you have not actually worked in the field, then this couldn't be further from the truth. sure, it seems systematic, but with the environmental issues at hand today, there's plenty of room for creative thinking.

if you're wanting to look at pretty flowers and things, then any sort of scientific field of interest likely isn't for you. yes, there is a lot of analysis that needs to be done and lots of problem solving. research takes LOTS of time, and while it may seem that the people you know are not making any headway, this could not be farther from the truth. every little minute detail helps, whether you find it trivial or not.

talk to people that are in this field either in academia or for an environmental company.

 

[mr_p]

^ I have worked with Environmental Scientists ~ some of them are amazing characters working within the system to conserve biodiversity on a local and regional scale ~ where as others work for mining companies and plant a few trees to off-set gold mining in Papua New Guinea

my concern is that people lose touch with the essence of the natural world when viewing these systems through a scientific filter~ for instance the labeling and such of various species, which is obiously necessary for understanding ecological processes ~ i just feel sometimes when we label things we lose touch with the essence~

having said all that ~ most of the change happening in conserving, preserving and restoring the Earths ecological systems, come from people who have a degree and work within the government system~

 

[satricion]

^^
Are you talking about a kind of 'deep ecology'? That idea is not incompatible with science. Remember, science doesn't talk about the meaning or value of life. Science helps you do things. So you can have your deep ecology, and in fact those kinds of ideas are becoming more influential as time goes on I think.