The message of Professor KT Foo’s (不玩初心, 勇往迈进, (向前) 展翅飞翔) in two versions of his painting is clear – have a purpose in our lives and get down to doing it! Purpose gives us our lives direction like the painted flying birds (cranes). But it is easier said than done, knowing which direction to fly and the reason for the commitment.
The paintings reminded me of when I was preparing for my retirement. The non-financial literature on retirement planning often states the importance of having a purpose in our third age. Apart from religion (where the goal is often explicit), few other articles provide enough details or “step-by-step” guidance in crafting one’s purpose, let alone translating the purpose into tangible things to do. Finding a purpose in one’s life is daunting, yet life without a direction is “meaningless” (for want of a better word). We will have to find our way in the third stage of our lives, through religion or otherwise. Perhaps, this amorphous state gives us the opportunity for inquiry, creativity, and expression of our individuality. Not a bad situation to be in!
Professor KT Foo’s paintings also remind me of my research days as an academic clinician. Scientific inquiry also deals with crafting a purpose. The most challenging task in research is framing the research question. It takes months to state the purpose of the whole endeavour clearly. The success of scientific inquiry depends on the penetrating questions that researchers ask. (Does a “successful life” depend on our ability to articulate a purpose in life too?)
After labouring through formulating the research question (with the clearly articulated specific aims), researchers must show how they intend to answer the research question by describing the methodology. The methods researchers employ must be acceptable. If these tools are new, they must also validate these novel means through separate experiments. The next task is relatively easy (compared to the two previous actions) – recording the findings. The investigators then discuss their results and compare them with other researchers’ findings. Finally, the investigators state the conclusion to the research question(s) – and this step closes the loop.
But it is not over yet! The principal investigator (leader of the research team) usually takes the responsibility of preparing the manuscript for publication. This process is also a daunting task because it requires a particular skill – medical writing. Most researchers learn special writing skills through writing workshops or learn on the job from more experienced colleagues. There will be congratulations if the paper is accepted for publication in a peer-review journal (and commiseration if the endeavour fails).
The comparison between finding a purpose in our lives and articulating a purpose (research question) is imperfect. Scientific research is within rational intelligence. Finding a meaningful purpose in our lives takes us into the non-scientific world of spiritual intelligence, a different field of inquiry with different thinking tools to arrive at any conclusions.