I should have loved biology
The author critiques traditional biology education for focusing on rote memorization rather than the wonder of biological processes. By referencing Lewis Thomas and Douglas Hofstadter, the piece argues for viewing cells as complex, self-modifying programs.
Why it matters
This perspective challenges current pedagogical approaches in STEM, advocating for a more conceptual and awe-inspiring method of teaching science.
I should have loved biology but I found it to be a lifeless recitation of names: the Golgi apparatus and the Krebs cycle; mitosis, meiosis; DNA, RNA, mRNA, tRNA.
In the textbooks, astonishing facts were presented without astonishment. Someone probably told me that every cell in my body has the same DNA. But no one shook me by the shoulders, saying how crazy that was. I needed Lewis Thomas, who wrote in The Medusa and the Snail :
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