Why do I study difficult neuroscience?
When I was studying mesolimbic/mesocortical pathway in Behave: The Biology of Humans at Our Best and Worst, it dawned on me that I was…
When I was studying mesolimbic/mesocortical pathway in Behave: The Biology of Humans at Our Best and Worst, it dawned on me that I was self-studying something unreasonably difficult. The learning seemed to be so irrelevant to my life. I am a computational science major. All of a sudden, I was confused. What’s the point?
I started asking myself several questions.
Is this relevant to my course or assignments?
Not anymore. It has been important to psychology class SS110, but it already ended.
Do I plan to have a psychology-related career?
No. At least not now.
Is the knowledge helpful in making new friends?
Not anymore. It is too technical now.
Is it because I want to look smart in front of people?
Maybe a little. But it is not really sharable with the general public. So no, I don’t think so.
Is studying it joyful?
Not sure. I guess so. But it is not the typical joy that a novel could bring you.
Nothing was checked on the list. In contrast to my friend, Ha’s 30-day coding challenging, my learning seemed useless weird. However, reading it gave me calmness and clarity of my life. I felt understood.
When I felt fear, anger, and instinctive, I knew where it could come from (amygdala, testosterone, dopamine, etc). The neutral tone when science talked made me feel “it’s okay” about those unwanted thoughts and feelings.
Behave is about human behavior in neuroscience and social psychology. Though I strive to be a better person, I’m still a human. In front of my biological and evolutionary nature, I am humble.