me: i'm attracted to research because i like thinking, reading, writing, translating
research: fill this form, come up with a proposal, structure a budget, develop criteria, do a workshop on a very random subject, craft a course on an even more random one, publish or perish, bring some money to the institution
The problem I see that most of these tasks are not merely mechanic, but they require creativity. That's what stifles the spirit: one becomes idea-fatigued.
I notice it with myself. Ideas and enthusiasm for developing them emerges from unconstrained time, from joy, not from discipline, as Simone Weil convincingly argued.
I wonder how many researchers and academics feel alienated from their own research. I bet A LOT.
@entreprecariat It always frustrated me as a translator when I had to translate grant applications for people with really good and interesting ideas, and they had to press those ideas into the constraints of a grant application - budget proposals, time frame, expected outcomes, evaluation measures, etc.
I just wanted these people to get the money they needed to do the research they wanted to do.
