social scientist

I recently finished reading a great book by Dan Ariely called The Upside of Irrationality. It explores human behavior and discusses why certain aspects of our behavior can be irrational and then goes on to say that irrationality is not always a bad thing. There are, of course, some irrationalities that are not so great but what is interesting is how our behavior can actually be much different than what we predict it might be.

He relays his conclusions by describing a variety of social experiments that he conducts and the various conclusions he has made about the unexpected benefits of defying logic. It's a very interesting read and I recommend that you pick up a copy at your local library. Side note on the library remark: I am in saving mode for my upcoming wedding so one of my self imposed rules is that I can not purchase books to read, I must borrow them from the library so I am also encouraging others to do the same.

After reading this book, I immediately wanted to become a social scientist. I want to design interesting experiments to test theories regarding human behavior. I want to carry out the experiments, analyze the data and present my conclusions to whoever will listen, and subsequently acknowledge my efforts. I want to debate hypotheses with other academics and discuss my findings with others.

The best part of this book were the experiments, which were likely the strongest factor in my latest desire to be a social scientist. They are incredibly compelling and their results force you to reconsider they way you are living your life and interacting with other people. I could get behind something like this.

If I am serious about this, I would need to go back to school and get a Masters degree and possibly even a PhD if I really want to succeed or make some real money. That would be quite an investment in time and money. I never thought I would go back to school but there is no reason I can't...