"C. P. Weidling" wrote in message
...
Members of
a lay audience always ask the big questions, the important
questions,
and that helps us to remember that our piecemeal efforts
are only
worthwhile insofar as they're steps towards answering
those big
questions.


Actually, in my own field (biomedical research) you don't
need to rely on lay people to ask the big questions. The MDs
in the audience will do it, because they're always thinking
about how whatever it is you're doing can be usefully
applied to some real and pressing clinical problem.

My difficulties in biomedical research have been with the
PhDs. Most of who act, in their research and their thinking,
as though they and their families were immortal and
disease-proof.

SBH