this post was submitted on 25 Jan 2026
379 points (97.3% liked)

Science Memes

18262 readers
3778 users here now

Welcome to c/science_memes @ Mander.xyz!

A place for majestic STEMLORD peacocking, as well as memes about the realities of working in a lab.



Rules

  1. Don't throw mud. Behave like an intellectual and remember the human.
  2. Keep it rooted (on topic).
  3. No spam.
  4. Infographics welcome, get schooled.

This is a science community. We use the Dawkins definition of meme.



Research Committee

Other Mander Communities

Science and Research

Biology and Life Sciences

Physical Sciences

Humanities and Social Sciences

Practical and Applied Sciences

Memes

Miscellaneous

founded 3 years ago
MODERATORS
 
you are viewing a single comment's thread
view the rest of the comments
[โ€“] fossilesque@mander.xyz 6 points 6 hours ago* (last edited 6 hours ago) (1 children)

I unironically wanted to do chemistry or biology back in the day, but couldn't make the grades in maths and had trouble with the calculations. Hell, even I took Stats 101 3x in college... but any time I used it in hands on applied science I was a wizard... Then, after 30 I realised I had dyscalculia. ๐Ÿคฆโ€โ™€๏ธ You have talents to contribute, but the hard part is figuring out where you belong. That kind of thing takes a little luck, though, not merit.

[โ€“] happybadger@hexbear.net 6 points 5 hours ago (1 children)

I've suspected a dyscalculia diagnosis for a while. Everything up to elementary algebra clicks with me in some fundamental way where I can intuitively do a four digit multiplication table in my head or a pharmacological weight calculation in an ambulance. It's just like any other knowledge base to me. But then everything after that, at least through the high-level trigonometry and general calculus classes I took along with the sciences that are equation-heavy like chemistry/physics, feels like I'm illiterate no matter how much I read. Meanwhile classmates in those labs were doing the same work as intuitively as the practical side of medicine comes to me.

Applied science is definitely the route for me to take either way. I like doing anti-Cartesian science with a sense of praxis to it. I'd be shitty at the level of programming or biochemistry it takes to be a good research horticulturist, but I can interpret those studies and use them as best practices while turning my city into a living lab for my politics.

[โ€“] fossilesque@mander.xyz 3 points 5 hours ago* (last edited 5 hours ago) (1 children)

Oh man, do I have some books for you. I haven't forgotten about you. I defend my thesis next week so my brain is crazy rn, but I have your message pinned. In the meantime, find Seeing Like A State by James Scott. Then if you Iike that one, check out his other one called Against the Grain. One of my besties does the biochem side of things and I am the mapper, computer person.

[โ€“] happybadger@hexbear.net 4 points 5 hours ago (1 children)

No worries at all! I like Scott's work a lot. Weapons of The Weak is one of the books that got me into peasant studies and changed my whole urbanism outlook.

[โ€“] fossilesque@mander.xyz 2 points 5 hours ago

Oh hell yes. :) He just came out with a new one about Rivers too. His outlook, well that's the thing we joke about having any type of anthropology in your background, it's like having secret power levels. Perspective is everything, especially in geographical contexts.