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                           %SCIENTISTS' SELF ESTEEM 860623

     To  be   creative,  scientists  need  to  have   self
confidence,   for only with confidence can one risk  much,
invest  much  of  oneself and be persistent in  trying  to
confirm a genuinely new conceptual framework.   Since much
is  at stake and much of oneself is invested,  there is  a
great threat to anybody who lacks self esteem who ventures
into the scientists' world.

     Scientists do not  want to  certify as new scientists
people who can not survive in their world.   Thus they put
novice  students  to  the test early  in  the  process  by
threatening  the  self esteem and self confidence  of  any
person who has the temerity to think that they can make it
as a scientist.  The fact is that whether they can make it
is an objective fact.   It will be a favor to anybody  who
presumes  to  become a scientist to expose their  lack  of
self  confidence and self esteem, early rather  than late.
This can be done by withholding praise,  giving  ambiguous
instructions,  being  sarcastic,  making fun of beginners'
efforts,   etc.    Only those with the self confidence  to
succeed  will  survive  to  make  demands  upon  the  busy
teacher's time,  and  so  the  whole process will be  more
efficient.  Research  scientists  will  have more time  to
spend upon important research by having to waste less time
on   teaching   stupid  students  who  lack  enough   self
confidence to make it on their own.

     Thus it is that self-esteem, a non-objective reality,
is  an  essential  character for someone who seeks  to  be
accepted as a scientist.  But wait, it is not that simple.
The self-esteem is of a peculiar sort.   It has little  to
do  with  personal  abilities to enter  in  to  meaningful
personal relationships characterized by openness, honesty,
responsiveness,   vulnerability,   intimacy,   etc.    The
scientists'  self-esteem has to do with confidence in I-It
relationships   wherein   there   is  an   emphasis   upon
objective/analytic understanding,  prediction and control.
Yet  not  even such confidence is  an  objective  reality,
because it is self-referential in its essential nature.

     The  ability  of  a person to become  successful  and
respected  as an objective scientists depends  essentially
upon  non-objective characteristics of the person.   Those
non-objective  characteristics  which  are  essential   to
objective  success  as  an objective  researcher  tend  to
undermine the possibility of being helpful as an educator,
educer,    of  students  who  might  become  creative  new
scientists in a more integrative paradigm.

                                                                                                                               
                         (c) 2005 by Paul A. Smith in      
                    (On Being Yourself, Whole and Healthy)  
                                                                                                                               
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