Interestingly concluded! The social sciences (anthropology, archaeology, criminology, economics, history, linguistics, law, communication studies, political science, international relations, sociology, human geography, and psychology) have a rich tradition, as shown by its various authors and theories found throughout written history. But, are the social sciences really- and merely- sciences?

The subject matter of social sciences is mysterious. But social science is also integrated into our systems of education, medicine, justice, politics, economics, etc.—and this gives it great power, hence great responsibility. Power must be exercised with humility, in the face of the mystery of being human.

For this mystery, though proven by physical science, is not even expressible in the language of physics or chemistry. Physical science examines the things of this world in terms of their physical parameters, but meaning, the collection, transformation, storage, communication, etc., of information, is not captured in physical parameters.

Could you give some bio-examples of those considered meaningfully high-tech or futuristically valuable?

I remember you have a solid foundation in Bayesian Networks. Perhaps, combining with your technical expertise, you can find many useful applications in Systems Biology, and make a difference using the open-source R software.

As a phylogeneticist who does not only construct phylogenetic trees, but also explain the remarkable diversity of life histories among species, could you force a significant development in the field of phylogenetics, such as understanding how evolution shapes the planet’s inhabitants to optimize their reproductive success?

Most people would know organisms differ dramatically through documentary channels. However, most probably they don't know the exactness in how they develop, the time they take to grow, when they become mature, how many offspring of a particular size they produce, and how long they live.

Like we are fascinated by the origin of the universe, together, the age-, size-, or stage-specific patterns of development, growth, maturation, reproduction, survival, and lifespan define an organism's life cycle, its life history. Perhaps in the process of studying the evolutionary relatedness, you will find a more compelling reason for why understanding life history evolution is as important as biomedical and applied sciences.

Great! Where do you work now, Dr Ong?

This post has been edited by Critical_Fallacy: Jul 18 2013, 04:09 PM