Thread: Why Biology is important ?

One day a student ask me ' Sir, why we must learn about biology ? , I don't even think want get a job about medical '
When I think about it, I said to him ' Biology is universal, this is not about your job in future, this is not about who you are and where you are, exactly you must use biology to solve problems. '

When I go home, I think it day by day..
How can I explain it with my student clearly. I want they know how important, interesting, and amazing as you know about biology than someone else.

So any from you can help me ?

Thank you..
by : sean

To learn about biology is to learn about the complexity of seemingly simple things, and the hidden beauty in the natural world. I really can't say what the students are going to find interesting, you'll have to ask them about questions that they have, and do your best to foster their curiosity.

Learning about biology is learning about life. You don't need to learn everything about it, that is for medical personel and perhaps farmers, and those concerned with public health. But everyone needs to be biologicly "literate", if only to guard yourself against charlatans like those who pretend to do "psychic surgery".

Let's not forget that physics and chemistry are just sub-disciplines of biology.

Originally Posted by Zwirko

Let's not forget that physics and chemistry are just sub-disciplines of biology.

I don't think just sub-disciplines is a good way to describe this. For the purposes of school students especially, it would be better to say that biology also involves basic physical and chemical processes - but you don't need to be a physicist nor a chemist to understand biology at high school level. Not even at undergraduate level.

Arguing like this could get us into xkcd territory

xkcd: Purity

Just a little anti-stamp collecting joke.

adelady, you forgot the philosophers all the way at the top :P

And thus was the circle made complete and all were sore amazed.

Originally Posted by sean

One day a student ask me ' Sir, why we must learn about biology ? , I don't even think want get a job about medical '
When I think about it, I said to him ' Biology is universal, this is not about your job in future, this is not about who you are and where you are, exactly you must use biology to solve problems. '

When I go home, I think it day by day..
How can I explain it with my student clearly. I want they know how important, interesting, and amazing as you know about biology than someone else.

So any from you can help me ?

Thank you..
by : sean

One must know for themselves if they want to learn biology. I don't feel like biology is a necessity for everyone to know. But i like to look at the bigger picture here. Why any other subject. Why specialize in anything anyway. Every thing we know is useless by itself. By combining it you can create something.

A person who will work in a bank, a grocery store, or as a janitor at a school won't need biology, but it will make everything that makes others wonder about the world, spark in any biologist. Looking at life by itself is empty. Not knowing anything about where we come from, and why we are here. In my eyes it is either religion, or biology. Both explain the origin of life, however one makes sense, and the other is religion.

Biology gives purpose, it shows us the past, the future, and our potential (except biologists who just study animal behavior, seriously, wtf). Show your student what biology can do, and what it does.

Biology does;
- Energy regulation, osmotic regulation (Chemistry, Physics)
- Growth, photosynthesis, amidosynthesis and lipidosynthesis. (Mass production, energy management)
- Animal/Human behavior, instincts (Sociology and psychology)
- DNA/RNA coding, so data interface, and programming. (ICT, Programming, mathematics and System management)
- Protein construction. (Engineering and design, nanotechnology)
- Neurological research (Logic gates to the nanoscale, electronics)
- Pharmaceutical development (Medicine)
- Crossbreeding plants (Art)
- Environmental effects on life (Geology, ecology)

Most can be placed on multiple locations, but everything that matters crosses biology at some point. Except economy, law, politics and marketing... Tell everyone willing to do one of those subjects to ignore biology.