Qualia

I am reading a pop-sci book called Pandora's Seed, which looks at how our genetics tie into our cultural inheritance. In the preface Spencer Wells starts discussing the why behind his book. The why, is of course, rooted in the question “what impact does this research have?” This is a good question for all of us to answer, regardless of what level we are doing research in, or even if it's just an undergraduate research paper. When we know the value of what we are learning, it takes on a whole new dimension. However, there are two ways to think about this: from the side of the researcher and the side of the public.