Occupational Hazards.... ;)

"Every life is a profession of faith, and exercises an inevitable and silent influence."

So said Henri Frederic Amiel. 

A slight mutation in the statement is going to be what this post is all about. 

"Every profession is a life of faith, and exercises an inevitable and silent influence." 

I am sure there are a lot of puzzled expressions but just sit back and think about how much of our profession actually shows up in our life - in the way we dress, we talk, we think ! With a little observation and experience, one can actually try and predict people's occupations. And it could be quite a fun exercise too. 

Take for example the scientists - the clan that I happen to belong to !

We mostly have a rather disheveled and unconcerned appearance, quite unlike a management student who is forever seen in these carefully tailored attires - shirts, suits and well fitting dresses. We, the scientist lot, walk into our interviews and conferences and expect people to disregard our appearance and focus solely on our work and our brilliant ideas. We talk jargon all the time and we think everyone will understand it. Its almost second nature for us to think that everyone on the street understands what a gene is or what cancer is or what DNA is !!  

Not just that, we have a weirdly nerdy and geeky sense of humor as a lot of our jokes will involve names of proteins, techniques, experiments, results and the likes. 

How nerdy can one be, right ?

And academic life was the only life we had for a long time. When on a residential campus, in a PhD program, your life usually moves from one experiment to another than from one day to another. Your friends are all geeks and nerds and everyone is going through the same phase and your conversations would reflect that. 

Imagine these conversations at some of the dinners that we have had at our friend's homes (actual homes, where non-scientists lead their normal lives in ;)), far away from the influence of work or science.

"Hey, Let's cook in situ today na ? Let's not pick up something from somewhere! Its been ages since we've had a home cooked meal !" (Instead of saying "let's just cook at home na")

"Hey, what is the volume of that thing? How much stuff can it carry ?" (Volume ? Seriously... i ve rarely heard any of the normal people use the word at a suitcase shop... nothing wrong, it perfectly conveys the point but perfectly occupational too!

"Hey, I made that completely de novo - no precooked ingredients !" (I made it from the start ! - how difficult is that but no that's not what we end up saying)

"Hey ! Can you please aliquot the dessert for everyone ?" (Aliquot ?? Seriously ! When all you want is someone should portion out the dessert for all present)

"Don't give me the abstract of the story. Give me the full version of the article !!" This is self explanatory but that doesn't make it less hilarious.

"She talks like a Nature article while I go on and on like a Cell article" This is something that one can appreciate when they open the two journals and compares their articles. While the artciles in Cell are complete narratives and span at least half a dozen pages, the ones in Nature are extremely succint and wrap up the story in 2-3 pages at max. I guess, the reason we laugh at this should have become clear by now.

"How much do you think this will shrink  - 10%, 20% ?" Not one size or two, not one inch or two... but 10% or 20%. Well, that's how we are !!

"Come for a run, the endorphin release will do you good !" Yes, exercise does release endorphins and they do make you feel good but do the normal people even care for how it makes you feel good !?!

"Listen, we'll put this at 4 degrees and this at -20. We can heat it tomorrow." (Fridge and freezer respectively... but for all scientists I have met, nothing but the actual temperatures define what they truly are - 4 and -20 degrees Celsius)

There here are only some of the prominent examples that I can recall at the drop of a hat. There are many such idiosyncrasies that one could see when we went out eating  or grocery shopping.

And so for a long time, our work life invaded our actual life and almost took over it. And this was a life in faith. In faith and in hope. 

All through those years, closeted in the close confines of the academia, I didn't realize that all the professions leave an imprint. From history, to management to psychology to photography, they all invade the life of their respective professionals. They all use words, phrases and language that is typical to their line of work and no one but an outsider would find it odd. Software guys routinely use the words bug, chip and code everywhere. Management guys use words like start ups, venture capital, proposal, data, balance, turnover, growth, policy and cash flow even as they dine with normal people. Accountants and finance guys randomly sprinkle (at least to me, it sometimes does seem random) the words debit, credit, deficit, fiscal, cash flow, taxation and budget. 

Every professional has a language (a speaking and writing style), a personality, an attitude. What is the cause and what is the effect is of course difficult to speculate !
Do all nerds become scientists or does science make one a nerd ?
Who knows ... ?

And at this point someone I know might just tell, we need an experiment but the right controls are difficult to get... ;)