Scientist and spiderman

Spiders are wonderful creatures - they find a vantage point to lay a trap, then they work hard building and rebuilding their nets with intricate patterns, and then wait cautiously until an opportunity comes along. Researchers have spent quite some time looking at spider evolution, in nature as well as simulated in-silico. A very interesting aspect in spider reproduction is the fact the the more dispensable sex (read male) captures the all-important, center-of-the-universe sex (read female) with his net, does his act and then runs away for his life, and doesnt often escape the by-now-pregnant female. So is spider life from gender persepctive. But as Dawkins would say, genes of such suicidal male spiders survive in the gene-pool and those of the more cautious, celibate male spiders, do not.

But anyway, I am getting a bit carried away with spiders and evolution and all that, let me get back on track. So, because spiders are so fascinating, it was just a question of when, not whether, a spiderman would occupy his corner in urban folk-culture. Spiderman was a huge hit in his comic-strips and later his celluloid version when Hollywood spotted and cashed in on the spiderman brand. I myself saw both spiderman movies, and cant wait for the next one. What I like most about spiderman is that he is not too supernatural, he has all those reflexes and he can, of course, spins webs and he can stick to the walls, but he cannot fly, he cannot uproot buildings and such intimidating stuff. He just uses his environment for commuting and setting traps. He is very versatile, I like the way he throws ropes on all famous building in New York and sort-of flies his way. This act of his tempts me to liken a successful researcher to him.

Modern science is saturated in the sense that there are too many workers out there looking for diamonds in the same coal mine. Because diamonds are so rare, there is immense competition for spotting one; but the worker has to sustain himself while he is at it, he has to tell hopeful tales of glitter while innovating his technique - he has to borrow ideas, try tricks and meta-tricks (combinations of tricks). He has to make the most of his environment, he has to latch onto all structures in his surroundings to keep going, to stay afloat and to stay in pursuit. Spidery way of commuting is quite akin to multidisciplinary research, where one borrows interesting ideas from any field which offeres them, and creates the much-needed intellectual churning right across the scientific spectrum.

Only a prepared mind can spot and make the most of an opportunity - if one doesnt know about turbines generate electricity, one would not think of building a hydroelectric station. Remember spiderman has a bit of spidery precognition ? Very similarly, a good scientist 'senses' the utility of an idea without actually trying it, he guesses the area where his work will have maximum impact. Most famous scientists did not achieve fame because they did a huge amount of work, no, they spotted the opportunity, invented its utility, and shaped the future. Thats why Nobel prizes are not given for maximum quantity of high quality work, they are instead won by visionaries who grabbed a chance to innovate and extended knowledge horizons in unforseen directions. Vision matters, ask spiderman.

Lastly, about donning the spiderman attire. I guess spiderman wont be even half as impressive without that outfit (I mean in normal clothes, I have no idea what he looks like otherwise). Human fallibility has to be masked to overcome formidable challenges. Spiderman's enemies gain a lot by looking at his confused, frightened face, as opposed to his mask. A researcher is really masking his human intuition and related anxieties, else it is difficult to enter the unchartered waters.

It would be unfair to confine this spiderman analogy to scientists only, because almost all humans are always searching for something and running their own enterprise, trying to boost one's own brand. Perhaps there are many more analogies I missed to spot. But hey, I have to be off spinning a new web !