The Pro-Am Revolution

[anotheranon]

Found through Slashdot: From astronomy to activism, from surfing to saving lives, Pro-Ams - people pursuing amateur activities to professional standards - are an increasingly important part of our society and economy.

Despite the tormented classification of "pro-am", I think the researchers might be on to something here. Though the press release seems to focus mainly on amateur astronomers and open source programmers (which are laudable efforts, don't get me wrong), but I also note there are numerous "pro-ams" in the historic costume "hobbyist" community - some of the best regarded researchers out there don't have the "official" training but out of love and fascination have done their work and ultimately lectured/published papers and otherwise been recognized by professional historians/academics.

I aspire to be a costuming/textile "pro-am"; I'm not there yet because there is so much left to learn. No one topic has obsessed me enough to really delve, but hope springs eternal that one day The One will come for me :)

Comments

GO HOBBYISTS!!!!!!!

[jlsjlsjls.livejournal.com]

Most of the useful discoveries and inventions in human history have been the work of so-called amateurs and hobbyists, not "professionals." We'd still be stuck at the "banging the rocks together" stage if folks who hadn't even attended kindergarten hadn't come up with things like pottery, the wheel, writing, etc. :p

Re: GO HOBBYISTS!!!!!!!

[anotheranon.livejournal.com]

So true! Also thinking of people like Ben Franklin and Leonardo da Vinci, but those are all historical examples.

The press release points out that the increasing affordability/availability of profesisonal equipment (be it cameras, hiking equipment, computer memory cards, etc.) has made it easier for amateurs to get the technology they need to pursue their interests. I'm also thinking that the more access to higher education (at least in Britian, where this study was done and where [I think] college is less expensive than here) has something to do with the rise of extremely professional hobbyists.

Re: GO HOBBYISTS!!!!!!!

[jlsjlsjls.livejournal.com]

Yes, 'tis true, in many European countries, post-secondary education is far more accessible.

But, if you take a browse through any history of inventions/discoveries, you'll find that a large chunk of even the twentieth century's more useful accomplishments were born from hobby/interest/practical application rather than from professional research. :-)))

Re: GO HOBBYISTS!!!!!!!

[nminusone.livejournal.com]

> Most of the useful discoveries and inventions in human history
> have been the work of so-called amateurs and hobbyists,
> not "professionals."

I think that most fields of study tend to have a transition point, beyond which it becomes very difficult for an amateur to make leading-edge discoveries, unless they're amazingly talented and/or well-funded.

The development of radio is very much like that. Up to a point it was hobbyists who made the important discoveries, but as the state of the art in the field improved (especially after WWII), it became much harder for amateurs to do much of anything on the cutting edge, simply because the pros had already beat them to it.

I think a lot of other fields follow this pattern, if not always for the same reasons. A lot of times fields advance to the point that one needs a well equipped ($$$) lab just to replicate undergraduate level experiments, let alone push the curve. In other cases it may not be too hard to do new work, as long as you're working in areas widely considered pointless, which may or may not bother you.

One common factor, at least in high tech fields, is how many different disciplines need to be involved to make a breakthrough. If just one or 2, an amateur has more of a chance. On the other hand something that took 20 Ph.Ds, from different fields, 3 years and $15mil to develop will probably not be replicated by Joe in his garage.

I think this is part of the allure of things like cold fusion: the idea that some of the toughest problems of the day can be resolved in very simple ways, if only you can find them.

The arts (and perhaps the humanities to a lesser extent) seem more persistently egaltarian in that way. Great artworks and books, even today, are still mostly created by individuals or small groups, not large and well-funded research teams. (Hollywood-size movies are an interesting exception, but even so you'll still have low budget films like Clerks, She's Gotta Have It, El Mariachi, Reservoir Dogs, etc that are considered great.) Some of these individual authors are pros, but many are not, at least not before their first big success. So in that sense I think the arts may be more inspiring, because the potential is still there. On the other hand I have a bunch of experiments I'd like to run, in various technical fields, and I can be pretty sure that I will never get to run any of them.

The democratizing effect of technology has been widely cited too. Punk and rap had at least one thing in common; a strong DIY ethic, and in the case of rap, technology had by then progressed to the point that kids could afford to put together usable recording studios in their bedrooms. In the late 80s and early 90s I worked for a company that did "desktop video". We were only maybe 10 years too early, since now anyone fairly interested can get a digital camcorder and prodoce video on their PC. Sadly this effect has not worked, to that extent, in the hard scientific fields. As much as I'd like to have one, a peptide chain synthesizer is still far more expensive than I could justify paying. Though maybe I could make an Amazon wish-list...

Re: GO HOBBYISTS!!!!!!!

[anotheranon.livejournal.com]

The arts (and perhaps the humanities to a lesser extent) seem more persistently egaltarian in that way. Great artworks and books, even today, are still mostly created by individuals or small groups, not large and well-funded research teams.

I think you may have a point here - most humanities studies don't require expensive, specialist equipment in quite the way the hard sciences do (hard to have one's own, say, nuclear reactor :P) Still, the article does make a point that some technology (telescopes, high-end cameras) are more available than they ever have been, making the field of amateurs in those disciplines better equipped.

One common factor, at least in high tech fields, is how many different disciplines need to be involved to make a breakthrough. If just one or 2, an amateur has more of a chance. On the other hand something that took 20 Ph.Ds, from different fields, 3 years and $15mil to develop will probably not be replicated by Joe in his garage.

An excellent point, but with all of the emphasis on specialization these days, I have to wonder if you don't need a few "generalists" in every field, someone capable of seeing how different sciences interrelate and getting those people all in the same room, as it were. An amateur might fill this niche nicely :)

Re: GO HOBBYISTS!!!!!!!

[jlsjlsjls.livejournal.com]

Generalists are essential, in any field. Specialists are the dots and generalists join them up to make a recognizable picture.

Re: GO HOBBYISTS!!!!!!!

[jlsjlsjls.livejournal.com]

Very true that the hard sciences are the last ones to be accessible to the general public. But that doesn't stop an interested amateur from reading scientific papers and making connections/coming up with interesting theories. At least if they can't do it on their own, there's potential for interaction.

In a book I was reading a book on Tsavo lions (either this or this ... I read both) a few months ago, there was an interesting bit about a museum curator, whose training was in art rather than science, who had noticed (possibly because his art background made him more minutely aware of perspective and proportion) that the head-body proportions of the specimens from that region appeared to be different from those of lions in other areas and could possibly be considered a unique subspecies. He didn't get any recognition or encouragement from the scientific community, but did eventually find a professional zoologist who was interested. With the stamp of professional "respectability", they managed to get some funding and have been accumulating measurements of Tsavo lions for comparison purposes. There may be nothing to the theory itself, but it's encouraging to know that it's possible for a truly determined amateur can, eventually, find a way to access more expensive research.

Re: GO HOBBYISTS!!!!!!!

[anotheranon.livejournal.com]

A very interesting story about someone from arguably a very different background being able to contribute :) Also, thanks for the tips on the Tsavo lions book - I was fortunate enough to see them at the Field Museum in Chicago last year, and it would be nice to read a bit more about them :)

Re: GO HOBBYISTS!!!!!!!

[jlsjlsjls.livejournal.com]

***chuckles*** You've just made me realize that the two books reflect the pro/amateur thing as well. One is written by a scientist. The other is by a non-scientist who has been fascinated by the Tsavo lions most of his life, after seeing the Field Museum specimens when he was a boy; he wrote his book after finally achieving his dream trip to Tsavo in middle age and getting to hang out with the scientists who were there studying the lions. :-)

[tommdroid.livejournal.com]

though my profession is as a programmer I'm also an amateur in herpetology...and I'm proud to say that we frog/snake/lizard fancier do not make a difference between professionals and amateurs. late night discussions after a nice froglet exhibition does include professionals eagerly receiving advice in frog-breeding from a succeeding amateur and vice versa. it is only natural, and what counts is the result and the amazing animals :)

[anotheranon.livejournal.com]

That's good to know :) I'm guessing that many natural sciences rely less on "book learning" than on actual experience, and I imagine that many amateurs would be so passionate about their interest that they might wind up with many more years of hands-on lizard research than a grad in herpetology...

[nminusone.livejournal.com]

The part of this that really bugs me is that so many people feel the need to be their own amateur doctors, because they aren't happy with the care they're getting otherwise. And for once, I'm not just talking about myself! I've been telling people for years that they need to do this, but it's still sad to see people, independent of anything I ever said, realizing for themselves that it's true.

Ah well...

[anotheranon.livejournal.com]

Most people don't have the know how to do this on their own - I tend to follow your advice because you've not led me astray yet, and most of the remedies you recommend are fairly low on disasterous side effects - can't hurt, might help, and I know I don't know what I'm doing!

I do think there is a lot to be said for good diet, exercise, and preventive care which isn't really emphasized enough - many people wait until they're in rotten shape and then go to the doctor crying "fix it!", which isn't the most effective way to handle things.

I do think that people need to make more of an effort to be informed and proactive in their own health though.