Part 2 of 2 - find Part 1 here Alice stood at the stand, accepting her prize, Standing before, the world’s watching eyes. “Ladies and Gentlemen, all those in between, And anyone else at further extremes, I’ll endeavour for truth, will try to be honest, To thank you for this, the greatest of honours. It would be easy to say, to stick to cliche, That I couldn’t imagine, not in my wildest dreams, That I couldn’t believe, as real as it seems, This moment could come, that I’d stand here today. But these would be lies, as safe as they sound, And the truth, although buried, should always be found. I imagined quite young, that when I’d be old, To science my life, and my heart would be sold, I imagined I’d toil, toward answers to queries, My curious mind, boiled with questions and theories, I imagined a world, where reasons were sought, With prizes awarded, for the best of our thoughts, I imagined that knowledge, was all we require, Where the thirst just to know, was the purest desire. Noble they said, were these thoughts in my mind, Naive and selfless, and helplessly blind, An unreasonable goal, a risk not worth taking, A sacrifice wholly, completely heart-breaking, A slur dressed as praise, meant to turn me away, To put me down softly, to keep me at bay, Unravel my sails and black out the sun, But if no one did do it, it wouldn’t be done, I couldn’t accept, a world without truth, Where reason and wonder were purged from our youth. I dreamed while I slept, and I dreamed whilst awake, Of a future for science, that I might help to make, I dreamed that one day, I’d cause a great change, To make something normal, where once it was strange, I dreamed up new questions, with no answers in sight, And invented new studies, to bring them to light, I dreamed of a world, where ideas had worth, Were we considered the value, of improving our Earth. My peers called me brave, and called me courageous, But all the while preaching that ideas were dangerous, Ideas caused change, and change was unstable, It gave rise to things we’re unable to label, How can we trust, what cannot be tagged, Cannot bear warnings, so cannot be flagged, The unknown should be feared, avoided, ignored, All of these things, to me they implored, But faced with such fears, I’d not show restraint, It was with the unknown that I wished to acquaint. I believed that for progress small risks must be made, That the greatest risk faced is the risk that we stayed, I believe that life’s purpose is to progress our species, Is it merely to eat, drink, sleep, produce faeces? I believe that all people have good underneath, No matter how deeply they’ve buried belief, I believe in our future, I believe in our youth, If only we all yearn to believe in the truth. I want to give hope, and by standing up here, I hope to push people to push through their fear, Their fear of their courage, the fear that they’d fail, The fear that their peers would judge and turn tail, What I want to instill, is a strong fearless passion, A selfless devotion with complicit compassion, When I grow up, to this day I insist, What I want to be is a scientist.” This weeks Words on Wednesdays form a sequel to the words of yesterweek.
Interestingly, late last week (Thursday) there was a paper published relating to the negative side of last weeks words - about hypercompetition and perverse incentives in academic science and the threat it poses to the future of science, and by extension society. As a taster - “... the combination of perverse incentives and decreased funding increases pressures that can lead to unethical behavior. If a critical mass of scientists become untrustworthy, a tipping point is possible in which the scientific enterprise itself becomes inherently corrupt and public trust is lost, risking a new dark age with devastating consequences to humanity. Academia and federal agencies should better support science as a public good, and incentivize altruistic and ethical outcomes, while de-emphasizing output.”
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Every week on Wednesday there'll be a new short story or poem added to this page.
Lets call it Words on Wednesdays. older
. . Self care - 26.01.2022 (Poem) Perceptions of reality - 2.02.2022 (Poem) Natural impunity - 9.02.2022 (Short Story) Lost in a Labyrinth - 2.03.2022 (Poem) Ministerial Standard - 23.03.2022 (Poem) Dungeons and Dating - 6.04.2022 (Short Story) Better Shared - 20.04.2022 (Poem) Touch to toilet - 27.04.2022 (Poem) Shooting Stars - 4.05.2022 (Short Story) Chop Shop - 18.05.2022 (Poem) Family Ties - 25.05.2022 (Short Story) Age of Consent - 8.06.2022 (Poem) Legacy - 24.08.2022 (Poem) Performative Enjoyment - 7.09.2022 (Poem) Bridge of Dreams - 7.12.2022 (Poem) Faultless - 22.12.2022 (Poem) Disconservative - 11.01.2023 (Poem) Single use - 1.03.2023 (Poem) Donor Cards - 6.04.2023 (Poem) Creative Art Say I - 13.04.2023 (Poem) Home-bound - 5.07.2023 (Short Story) Sand and Sea - 20.07.2023 (Short Story) Luminosity - 15.11.2023 (Short Story) About the AuthorA 33 year old medical intern who plays frisbee and likes long walks over mountains. Archives
November 2023
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