This week has been a lot of troubleshooting, and not a lot of progress. I think this is one of the hardest parts of science.
When I feel like I’m not making any progress, I like to re-read The Myth of Sisyphus by Albert Camus (or at least just the last chapter)
When I feel like I’m not making any progress, I like to re-read The Myth of Sisyphus by Albert Camus (or at least just the last chapter)
I turn to this book when I’m discouraged, because in it, Camus works through the idea of finding meaning in an absurd universe. But it doesn’t feel patronizing in the way “motivational” books can.
Who’s Sisyphus? Punished by the Greek gods for trying to put Death in chains, he is condemned to push a huge rock up a mountain, only to have it roll back down once he reaches the top...and start all over again.
He works really hard, seems to make progress, then has to start all over—sounds like a grad student to me!
But Camus decides, that despite this punishment, one must imagine Sisyphus happy, for “there is no fate that cannot be surmounted by scorn.”
But Camus decides, that despite this punishment, one must imagine Sisyphus happy, for “there is no fate that cannot be surmounted by scorn.”
So I didn’t get my assay to work this week. But I can try again next week.
What do you like to read/watch/listen to when you need some motivation to persevere?
What do you like to read/watch/listen to when you need some motivation to persevere?
