(Re)blog 6 by Rohan Bamania ISAT 131 Section 1 Spring 2015
http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2015/03/150310205707.htm Throughout the semester, I've always wondered about how do scientists affect the society by their research and inventions. Does their research benefit the society or harm it? What do scientists feel when they realise that they have made a difference in the society? What’s the next goal in their life? The article I just read answered a lot of my questions and piqued my interest.
The article talks about how “the experience of auditory hallucinations, commonly referred to as voice hearing, found that the majority of voice-hearers hear multiple voices with distinct character-like qualities, with many also experiencing physical effects on their bodies.” According to the article, Auditory hallucinations are a common feature of many psychiatric disorders, such as psychosis, schizophrenia and bipolar disorder, but are also experienced by people without psychiatric conditions. Co-author Dr Nev Jones from Stanford University finds their research regarding the prevalence and phenomenology of non-acoustic voices “particularly noteworthy”. He says that by and large, these voices were not experienced simply as intrusive or unwanted thoughts, but rather, like the auditory voices, as distinct 'entities' with their own personalities and content. According to him, the data they obtained also suggests that they need to think much more carefully about the distinction between imagined percepts, such as sound, and perception.
The article mentions a female named Rachel Waddingham who experiences auditory hallucinations and she says, “This research is a step forward. If we want to understand more about voice-hearing, it makes sense to ask a voice-hearer -- and be willing to modify our perception of what it means to hear voices based on their answers. For me, the word 'voices' isn't sufficient. I use it, but it hides the embodied parts of my experience for which I have few words to describe.” She also said, "I would like to live in a world where we are curious about one another's experiences and seek to understand rather than pathologise. Everyone has a story and the world would be much kinder if we started to listen to it.”
I was happy to learn about how one of the victims felt about the research and makes me want to research too. Research about something which would help the society. Then by researching it I would feel happy that I made a difference in the world and make someone’s life better.
So that’s how scientists feel when they do something which helps the society...