I should have loved biology (2020)
Many commenters reflect on how school biology reduced a deeply awe‑inspiring subject to memorizing terms and pathways, echoing similar frustrations with physics, math, and history taught as test prep rather than exploration. They argue that better pedagogy—hands‑on experiments, narratives of discovery, good illustrations, and game‑like environments—could convey the wonder and structure of living systems without sacrificing rigor. Others highlight the harsh career realities of life sciences compared to tech, while still recommending books and alternative educational models that helped them reconnect with biology later in life.
Reactions to the article and biology education
- Many relate to hating school biology (rote memorization, terminology) but later discovering deep awe in cell biology, evolution, and natural history.
- Several say good teachers or later-life self-study revealed the “machinery of life” that school never conveyed.
- Others report they did experience that wonder in school and credit strong biology teachers and labs.
Broader pedagogy and curriculum critiques
- Repeated theme: school emphasizes memorization and exam prep over curiosity, experiment design, and conceptual understanding.
- Commenters generalize this to math, physics, chemistry, and history: students see lists, formulas, and dates instead of first principles, narrative, or discovery.
- Some argue education optimizes for employability and grading, not understanding; time pressure pushes mechanics over meaning.
- Strong support for “meaning → motivation → mechanics → measurement,” but others push back that “meaning first” alone is not a full solution and scaling is hard.
Experiences with biology and switching fields
- Several engineers and software developers describe discovering biology later (often via specific books or courses) and wishing they had studied a “real-world” domain first and used computing as a tool.
- Others took the opposite path: majored in biology, then moved into software, valuing experimental design, statistics, and systems thinking gained from biology.
Life sciences careers: romance vs reality
- One prominent thread contrasts the intellectual appeal of life sciences with perceived poor pay, status, and harsh career odds in academia.
- That view is criticized as misanthropic and unrepresentative; others report long, satisfying, reasonably paid careers in industry life sciences and emphasize teamwork over individual centrality.
- There is side debate about immigration, class, and “STEM vs humanities,” with some defending liberal arts and women’s studies, others disparaging them.
Comparisons with other subjects
- Physics, chemistry, and engineering labs are described as cookbook-style exercises focused on reproducing expected results, not real experimentation.
- Multiple commenters say they “should have loved” subjects like history, math, Latin, etc., but schooling stripped away the inherent fascination.
Books, resources, and recurring HN interest
- Thread repeatedly mentions certain books as gateways to awe in biology and science more broadly.
- Gödel, Escher, Bach is debated: some find it uniquely mind-expanding; others see it as dated, self-indulgent, or mostly a cultural signal.
- The article itself is noted as a recurring HN favorite resurfacing every few years.