Enthusiasm

contributed by Alan On Enthusiasm and Curiosity in Research
There is a saying that ‘science begins in wonder.’
We (by which I mean social researchers) do research because we want to puzzle out the strange and wondrous lives led by others.
We want to know how and why they do the things that they do.
This curiosity about what others are doing is what draws us into relationships with those we are studying.
A good researcher is animated by this curiosity and conveys a sense of this enthusiasm to others.
There is, however, a reticence to talk about and highlight this straightforward enthusiasm.
It feels unserious — and it doesn’t seem to be nearly enough of a warrant to justify research.
Still, without the pull of this enthusiasm and the curiosity with which it is entangled research doesn’t get done.
For social research there is a challenge in cultivating and maintaining enthusiasm, whilst also conveying a sense of the wider importance of our research.
We might think about why many social researchers are so skeptical of enthusiasm.

contributed by Henriëtte on enthusiasm:

I’d like to add to Alan’s draft on enthusiasm, about the role of enthusiasm in artistic research in art and design when it comes to funding application assessment.

I use the contagious nature of enthusiasm in my work to get things going, to make people feel curious and capable, the qualities necessary for starting something new. Enthusiasm in this sense works to suspend the complexity that can be paralyzing, especially at the beginning, when the capacity is not yet matching the task ahead. 

Enthusiasm has an important role when it comes to launching projects on faith. And when it comes to sustaining faith in these projects through extended periods of uncertainty. Sometimes the naïve simplicity of enthusiasm is exactly what is needed for a project that is overwise an overwhelming amount of work. 

Then enthusiasm transpires in the otherwise dry text formatted for the funding partners. Juries often reward ambition, transformation, innovation, and broad impact. And if you ask them, the first thing they often say after receiving proposals is that the proposals were…boring. Not too complex or difficult but boring. Yet experienced practitioners know that social, ecological, and cultural change is usually incremental, relational, and difficult to predict.

Funding systems can unintentionally reward exaggerated claims because applicants compete for attention and resources. Realistic proposals are not less ambitious; they are often more responsible because they acknowledge complexity, uncertainty, and the time required for meaningful change. But this realism doesn’t need to exclude excitement by way of avoiding hyperbole. 

The challenge is that you still need to meet the jury or everyone where they are.