Poll: iNatters, are you formally trained, or is nature your passion? Vote now!

[jdmore]

@broacher

I would qualify this to say that it “indicates that you may have” instead of shows. Otherwise, what does it say about those who can’t complete their studies, for very good reasons?

@broacher

does anyone really believe that all degrees in any field in all schools are equally difficult to obtain?

I think my next sentence pretty much said the same things:

@jdmore

While a degree or other formal training is not required to possess these qualities, it does tend to increase their likelihood in the eyes of employers who are looking for a convenient way to size up someone’s capabilities.

For sure, lack of a degree doesn’t say anything one way or the other about the possession or lack of such qualities. And the quality of degrees and schools certainly does vary widely.

Sorry to hear about the unwanted turn in your son’s life, and glad to know he’s been able to mostly recover and move on in positive directions.

@broacher

I wonder how an AI system would respond to this question?

By process of elimination, I think it would have to come down on the side of “formally trained.” I for one am not prepared to attribute “passion” for anything to an AI system.

[broacher]

I kinda wish that the first choice included the phrase, ‘But you love nature’ too.

I know that in many other fields of study, there are those who gained credentials, but lost their passion when the grimness of surviving the demands of reality kicked in. That happened to me and many others I’ve known who trained in creative arts, for example.

Worse, I suppose is those that gained credentials without actually having any passion for their subject at all. A lot of the highest paid ‘success’ program streams have lots of these poor souls.

Somehow, I don’t think I’ve ever ran across that with biology majors. They may not all work in the field that they studied in, but they really hang onto their passion and wonder of nature that they’ve had all along.

[nilshelstrom]

I have formal training (having pursued a Masters in entomology and worked as an assistant curator at two colleges) and yet I think I’ve learned more using iNat!

[thefungiphotographer]

I started using iNaturalist in my first year of my biology degree. I’m by no means an expert in anything (I mostly only do broad sorting and posting observations anyway) but I’m slowly building up a formal training as my classes get more specialized in my 3rd year.

It’s been interesting to go back to my old observations with a bit more formal training (and passion-driven self learning), and get a chance to clean them up, refine them further, and correct my mistakes.