[NF] NFs interested in science

[sculpting]

majored in biochem and in grad school did biophysics/NMR/protein structural dynamics. I find science "beautiful".

 

[Scott N Denver]

majored in biochem and in grad school did biophysics/NMR/protein structural dynamics. I find science "beautiful".

I hope to do NMR, or more correctly as applied in medical imaging context, MRI.

My perception of what science "is", and how "nerdy" people view themselves varies greatly upon where I am. The science is much simpler in what I do now, and I cant help but laugh when our ESFJ instrcutor comments on how much of a [science subject] nerd she is. As someone told me once, when it comes to nerdiness there are lots of different levels. Some people use big words once in a while, other people should be characters on the tv show big bang theory, and all the levels in between.

I wonder if a lot of NF's are more in love with the idea or notion of science than they are with actually *doing* science??? Or maybe I just spent too much time in non-NFy science areas and dont realize that a lot of NF's like other kinds of science??? Anyways

 

[Anew Leaf]

Wait, NF's can do science?! I thought we weren't logical enough for this kind of work!

 

[EJCC]

One of my INFJ friends is very interested in computers, and computer science (if that counts in this thread) -- and he's told me that the reason why he likes it, is the same reason why he's interested in linguistics. He likes that a computer is something that you can learn to communicate with, that can talk to you in a very straightforward way as long as you know its language.

In other words...

 

[Qlip]

Wait, NF's can do science?! I thought we weren't logical enough for this kind of work!

No, we're just *interested*. Kind of like dogs who like to watch Law & Order on TV.

 

[MacGuffin]

Wait, NF's can do science?! I thought we weren't logical enough for this kind of work!

To paraphrase the great Lyle Lanley: "You know an NF with science is a little like the mule with a spinning wheel. No one knows how he got it and danged if he knows how to use it!"

 

[garbage]

One of my INFJ friends is very interested in computers, and computer science (if that counts in this thread) -- and he's told me that the reason why he likes it, is the same reason why he's interested in linguistics. He likes that a computer is something that you can learn to communicate with, that can talk to you in a very straightforward way as long as you know its language.

Man, yeah. Linguistics kicks ass. I'm also a fan of semiotics in general, for similar reasons.

Computers can be pretty neat because they allow us to create models of real-world phenomena and explore them. They're a bit too impersonal and I don't have much patience with them nowadays--I can't stare at code for very long--but I get a kick out of giving others a vision and working with them to implement it.


edit: I posted pretty much this same damn thing two years ago, too

 

[RaptorWizard]

NF is the very last thing I would test as and I like cosmology, and so do a lot of NFs because of the spiritual side to cosmology, whereas I am into the physical mastery side of it.

 

[ExAstrisSpes]

I write software for a living. Not sure if it was the "best" choice for me, but it pays the bills.

I <3 science fiction (good stuff like Star Trek before DS9), and I find the elegant mathematics used in cryptology amazing. I'm amazed by many of the sciences, including the "soft" sciences like psychology, anthropology and archeology. I love stargazing although I know almost nothing about astronomy, and things like chemistry and biology are fascinating also.

 

[Laurie]

I love science and math.

I'm not into life sciences. I'm more a physics/chemistry chick. I took Chem 2 for fun in college and only physics 1 in college cause I went the mech e way because as an 18 year old I had no idea what I wanted to do. I thought engineering was math and science.

I liked control systems design, thermo and compressible fluid flow best in college. I don't remember it now.

 

[skylights]

I dabble in quantum physics, genetics, and marine biology. I find them all aesthetically pleasing.

 

[ExAstrisSpes]

I liked control systems design, thermo and compressible fluid flow best in college. I don't remember it now.

I had a control systems design prof who believed learning all the schematic symbols were way more important than actually learning control systems. I don't remember anything from his class either.

 

[kyuuei]

I'm slow when it comes to math, but I'll endure it for the science. I do love it.. chemistry interests me, and physics as well. I didn't realize how much I loved physics until it opened up the beauty of the world to me. I remember watching a show where the guy said, "Everything in the world is made up of stars. And the star matter in your right hand can come from a completely different time and galaxy than the star matter in your left hand." Something about that has stuck with me ever since I heard it.. there's a beauty to knowing particles, and life, and where it all comes from.

It seems cold and calculating, but really it's beautiful and curiously interesting.. the fact that it never has an end to the journey (science in general) is also a great thing.

 

[garbage]

I had a control systems design prof who believed learning all the schematic symbols were way more important than actually learning control systems. I don't remember anything from his class either.

Oh, man. Our very first lecture in control systems concerned the design of a toilet. Very .. relatable, to say the least; the prof had an idea of how to make concepts stick with us. I'll be damned if I remember much of the math involved, but I still have some of the books from the class.

That class was hard as balls.

It was one course of many on linear systems in my engineering program. All of the stuff that uses linear systems is connected--controls, filters, and so on. I've actually used those concepts in social sciences--modeling political movements with systems dynamics models, modeling human behavior, etc.

 

[ExAstrisSpes]

Oh, man. Our very first lecture in control systems concerned the design of a toilet.

:-O

Did we take the same class from the same professor?

 

[BAJ]

So I majored in Biology, like I said.

Yet, I took two classes of physics and math through Cal III. Physics was fun, and our teacher did demonstrations like with liquid nitrogen or with static electricity.

As a kid I wanted to be an astrophysicist or something, but realized I wasn't smart enough (according to timed standardized tests to get into someplace like Caltech).

Yet, when I was in the BSA, I took Environmental Studies. We had to sit in the forest (like Thoreau <3), and record our observations (at summer camp), and the adult said that my report was amazing...like one of the best he'd seen for someone my age.

Also, my sixth grade class went to the local Environmental Studies Center. She asked us questions, like "Does anyone know the poisonous snakes for our state?", and I knew them all. I knew almost all the answers, and she also suggested that I should study science.

Being that I liked learning about those things and being extremely starved for praise and positive-feedback, I came to consider science my destiny.

Though I'm not an astrophysicist, I love science documentaries. I watch "how the universe works" series over and over. I like reading about fractal geometry, physics, and other stuff. I have some of Mandelbrot's books and books by other people. I frequently buy Discover or Scientific American.

Right now, however, I'm dabbling in philosophy (not science). I like philosophy and probability type books.

Of course, since...as I said...I operate a fish hatchery, I use practical science every day. I inject fish with hormones and manage plankton cycles...for example. I use a lot of knowledge from my field. I'm also a fish whisperer. Yet, I can basically whisper any kind of animal or plant, I believe.

 

[garbage]

:-O

Did we take the same class from the same professor?

Dunno. Maybe the classes always open with a toilet. It's pretty engaging, at least

I pulled out my notes from that class. It looks like I could probably re-learn this stuff, but.. it's hard to believe that was a time where I actually knew it.

I had a much easier time grasping the overall concepts in my classes than I did memorizing the stupid algorithms and formulas. On half of my tests, I just used those overall concepts to re-derive the formulas, because that was somehow easier for me.



In one class, the prof was so lazy that the tests were literally regurgitated homework problems. So, even on tests that had no computation, you'd hear click-clacking of calculators--since people put the solutions to those problems in their calculators. I had more honor than that, and I actually tried to learn the material, but that got in the way of actually succeeding in the class.

The worst thing about the sciences and engineering are that some (or many) of the professors don't give a crap.

Screw the pedants; that's why I enjoyed graduate school more.

 

[Coriolis]

I didn't realize how much I loved physics until it opened up the beauty of the world to me. I remember watching a show where the guy said, "Everything in the world is made up of stars. And the star matter in your right hand can come from a completely different time and galaxy than the star matter in your left hand." Something about that has stuck with me ever since I heard it.. there's a beauty to knowing particles, and life, and where it all comes from.

It seems cold and calculating, but really it's beautiful and curiously interesting.. the fact that it never has an end to the journey (science in general) is also a great thing.

I'm not an NF, but I have always felt this, too. Carl Sagan was particularly good at presenting this side of science, probably why some people want to type him as an F. It is unfortunate that so few Fs make careers in the physical sciences. There is much beauty there, and the field could use the diversity.

 

[SpankyMcFly]

I am always drawn to any field that has ¨evolutionary¨ in it. Cognitive neuroscience and astronomy also interest me. I have a subscription to Discover magazine does that count?

 

[mrconfusion87]

I know an ENFJ friend from the UK who focused more on scientific classes such as Biology, Chemistry and Physics in Secondary School. She went on to do Archeology in Uni...