Research - Curious and Curious-er!

This write-up got published in "Thinklet" online journal, issued by Jain University, in the December 2016 Issue.

Research is quite an abstract term if we were to define it philosophically. Ever since our stepping into the world of knowledge acquisition by choice, we have been closely acquainted with research. We might not have used the word in exact, but we have broadened our horizons of learning through curiosity. Inevitably we have shifted our priorities from revelations to reason. Here's an interesting joke to substantiate my previous point;

A man stumbles into a deep well and plummets a hundred feet before grasping a spindly root, stopping his fall. His grip grows weaker and weaker, and in his desperation he cries out, "Is there anybody up there?"

He looks up, and all he can see is a circle of sky. Suddenly, the clouds part and a beam of bright light shines down on him. A deep voice thunders, "I, the Lord, am here. Let go of the root, and I will save you."

The man thinks for a moment and then yells, "Is there anybody else up there?"

Hanging by a root has a tendency to tip the scales toward reason. The journey of research enables a researcher to firstly question all the universal truth claims. This is the attitude that a formal research degree aims to inculcate in researchers. We must therefore be at the edge of the cliff, and our arguments must be framed based on thorough groundings, for research is but a form of knowledge that enhances further learning.