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Professor Pedantic 教授的考究學問
【學術專欄】
TPS的編輯教授在此歡迎關於學術文章的所有詢問，當然，其實他並沒有足夠的時間給你。他擁有終身教職的教授身份，也是著名的學術巨作作者。即便如此，他仍大方地接受你們的詢問。將關於學術方面的詢問寫在下方，你將獲得教授的親自指導，陶冶對學術的探索與啟發。
The professor awaits your query on academic writing, though in all honesty, he doesn’t have a lot of time for you. He is a tenured full professor and working on yet another magnificent academic tome. Even so, he has graciously consented to entertain your question. Submit it and prepare to be edified.
QUESTION: I sometimes am frustrated—maybe even peeved—by the disinterest shown my research by scholars in other disciplines. For various reasons, I would feel more fulfilled if they showed more interest in my work. What can I do to elicit their interest?
有時候，其他領域的研究者對我的研究沒興趣，會讓我很沮喪，甚至不太高興。基於種種理由，我很希望不同領域的研究者能注意我的研究。怎麼做才能引起其他研究者的興趣呢？
It is interesting to me that you want your peers in other scholarly disciplines to show interest in your work. I mean, if you have a particular peer in mind, possibly the one with the dimpled smile and terrific hair, well, yes, I understand that and offer a one-word piece of advice: flirt. However, if your concern is more general in scope and intellectual in nature, your dilemma is much more interesting to me. Let me note that some scholars simply confine themselves to notoriously narrow fields of interest. Don’t take it as a personal affront that they don’t have time for you.
你希望其他學術領域的研究者關注你的研究，讓我覺得很有趣。如果你只想讓某一位學者注意你的研究，特別是那位笑起來有酒窩、頭髮光滑迷人的學者……好吧，那我了解，我的建議很簡單：放電吧。不過，如果你的重點是想讓更多人關注學術研究，那就更有意思了。我知道有些學者把注意力集中在極為狹窄的範疇裡，所以如果他們沒有時間關注你的研究，並不是特別針對你。
Still, there is much to be said for interdisciplinary fraternization as an intellectual exercise. While the aforementioned scholar who becomes a mental hermit can be applauded for his intense focus, approval is given with a caveat: Such narrow vision is unlikely to produce anything of broad significance. Academic research and writing always are deeper than they are wide, but both research and writing fall short of excellence when they lack context. Context is the “outside” information that gives a paper parallel meaning. Hermit-scholars often lack such perspective.
跨領域學術交流確實大有可為；過度專精於自己領域的學者專注力驚人，這點固然令人欽佩，但也應心存警惕－如果視野狹隘，所作的研究就沒有重要的影響力。學術研究與寫作多半務求精深，不以廣博見長，但若缺乏脈絡，兩者都無法卓然有成。脈絡是外在的資訊，讓研究得以與其他事物互相呼應。過於專注在自己所屬領域的學者，通常無法洞察這一點。
Your sense of wanting to interact with scholars across disciplines is a good one. The benefits of doing so are mutual. I would suggest that the surest way to attract the interest of such academic researchers is to demonstrate genuine interest in their research. Not only will you then win their interest in your work, you will likely come away with some arcane tidbit discovered by them in the course of their work. It is interesting how such esoteric knowledge can spur fresh thinking in an entirely unrelated field. Good luck with encouraging your peers to open their minds to you.
想與其他領域的學者交流是個很好的想法，雙方都能從中受益。我認為要吸引那些學者的注意，最有效的方法就是對他們的研究領域展現真誠的興趣。如此一來，不僅能讓他們關注你的研究，你或許也能發現對方研究的吉光片羽。某個領域的專業知識，能在完全不相干的領域中，激起富有新意的想法，讓人覺得很有意思。祝你能順利打開同事的心。
The professor awaits your query on academic writing, though in all honesty, he doesn’t have a lot of time for you. He is a tenured full professor and working on yet another magnificent academic tome. Even so, he has graciously consented to entertain your question. Submit it and prepare to be edified.
QUESTION: I sometimes am frustrated—maybe even peeved—by the disinterest shown my research by scholars in other disciplines. For various reasons, I would feel more fulfilled if they showed more interest in my work. What can I do to elicit their interest?
有時候，其他領域的研究者對我的研究沒興趣，會讓我很沮喪，甚至不太高興。基於種種理由，我很希望不同領域的研究者能注意我的研究。怎麼做才能引起其他研究者的興趣呢？
It is interesting to me that you want your peers in other scholarly disciplines to show interest in your work. I mean, if you have a particular peer in mind, possibly the one with the dimpled smile and terrific hair, well, yes, I understand that and offer a one-word piece of advice: flirt. However, if your concern is more general in scope and intellectual in nature, your dilemma is much more interesting to me. Let me note that some scholars simply confine themselves to notoriously narrow fields of interest. Don’t take it as a personal affront that they don’t have time for you.
你希望其他學術領域的研究者關注你的研究，讓我覺得很有趣。如果你只想讓某一位學者注意你的研究，特別是那位笑起來有酒窩、頭髮光滑迷人的學者……好吧，那我了解，我的建議很簡單：放電吧。不過，如果你的重點是想讓更多人關注學術研究，那就更有意思了。我知道有些學者把注意力集中在極為狹窄的範疇裡，所以如果他們沒有時間關注你的研究，並不是特別針對你。
Still, there is much to be said for interdisciplinary fraternization as an intellectual exercise. While the aforementioned scholar who becomes a mental hermit can be applauded for his intense focus, approval is given with a caveat: Such narrow vision is unlikely to produce anything of broad significance. Academic research and writing always are deeper than they are wide, but both research and writing fall short of excellence when they lack context. Context is the “outside” information that gives a paper parallel meaning. Hermit-scholars often lack such perspective.
跨領域學術交流確實大有可為；過度專精於自己領域的學者專注力驚人，這點固然令人欽佩，但也應心存警惕－如果視野狹隘，所作的研究就沒有重要的影響力。學術研究與寫作多半務求精深，不以廣博見長，但若缺乏脈絡，兩者都無法卓然有成。脈絡是外在的資訊，讓研究得以與其他事物互相呼應。過於專注在自己所屬領域的學者，通常無法洞察這一點。
Your sense of wanting to interact with scholars across disciplines is a good one. The benefits of doing so are mutual. I would suggest that the surest way to attract the interest of such academic researchers is to demonstrate genuine interest in their research. Not only will you then win their interest in your work, you will likely come away with some arcane tidbit discovered by them in the course of their work. It is interesting how such esoteric knowledge can spur fresh thinking in an entirely unrelated field. Good luck with encouraging your peers to open their minds to you.
想與其他領域的學者交流是個很好的想法，雙方都能從中受益。我認為要吸引那些學者的注意，最有效的方法就是對他們的研究領域展現真誠的興趣。如此一來，不僅能讓他們關注你的研究，你或許也能發現對方研究的吉光片羽。某個領域的專業知識，能在完全不相干的領域中，激起富有新意的想法，讓人覺得很有意思。祝你能順利打開同事的心。
