Melbourne and Prague, Modern and Modernising.

So far the trip to Melbourne has been low-key and enjoyable; just the way that I like it. I have only accidentally run into a couple of people so far, but they were people that I was glad to meet again.

I had lunch with a former mentor who advised me through the difficult process of choosing between fields–I seem to have defied him a bit by choosing interdisciplinary fields, but I have still made a promise to him and to our former work that I will finish what I have started in this new life in Prague. Although my direction is not quite in the area of molecular neuroscience anymore, I still want to go back and finish the work that we had started–it’s unanswered questions that still haunt me, still keep me up at night. And despite my best attempts to explain my ventures into science policy to a friend just recently, I am still puzzling this one out for myself–I think perhaps I have gone into an outreach and policy direction because I am not objective enough about the science that I perform in labs, because I am still yet to learn not to fight for access and education and distribution to those who need it the most. As much as I want to stay rational and objective, at the same time this little, stubborn voice of ‘justice’ (whatever that is, whichever philosopher I follow, whatever tradition notions of justice may lie within) that says: ‘reason’ got us so far, but to get further in a humane way, considerations of consequences and effects need to accompany our work. It depends on who is advising me at the time; according to some this will always hold me back, some others say it could mean I venture further.

I don’t yet know, but what I do know is that I enjoy following in the footsteps of my mentors and learning from their wisdom and their experience. Sometimes I think I am happier just being their oral historian, writing their stories of how politics and society suppressed their work, and to connect others whose joint work could result in new and exciting fields of study. Maybe I’m just not confident in my own abilities, definitely I’m not a genius, perhaps I am best working as a conduit.

The Czech Republic is still an emerging economy; aside from the BRICs economies (Brazil, Russia, India, China), countries such as Czech are still establishing themselves, still working things out. I find it motivating to work in emerging economies; what’s that quote about the shoulders of giants? “If I have seen further, it is only because I have stood on the shoulders of giants”. In recent days I have made some arguments for non-conventional, cutting edge science, and why I chose this mixed field over the more stable, established areas, and it’s not out of disrespect. It’s because in combinations and collaborations, so many more possibilities unravel.

Meanwhile, I have commented in recent days that Melbourne has changed a little bit, but only superficially. The stalwart of a cafe that was with me in my University of Melbourne days has been remodelled, and indeed, renamed.

Had coffee with a former colleague at a place in Melbourne called ‘World’ the other day; apparently you get discounts if you’re a ‘local’ and say a certain phrase to identify you as one. I have this sneaking suspicion it is probably going to be a sentence like ‘I am a world citizen’. Because why else would a coffeehouse want to call itself World in the first place, and ask if you’re a local?