A Scientific Consideration
iNaturalist has helped me see what I've just realized recently and what I think will help you and the name of science.
Most of everything is already done for us.
When you see a bird that looks like a great blue heron at the local lagoon, you will log it to iNaturalist and add it to your biodiversity projects here. iNaturalist will verify that for you. And later, you might be interested in this bird for various reasons, and you'll look it up on the computer. A list of over 10 websites will appear, and across the whole Google universe there are likely many more. So when you discover (as did I) that the heron mostly eats fish "but also frogs, salamanders, turtles, snakes, insects, rodents, birds" according to Audobon.org its from someone else's discovery. And likely what you found out from the discovery was also likely not theirs but someone else's.
How did we figure this out?
We should remember that a true scientist doesn't know enough to fill several thick encyclopedias, but they have enough experiences wherever they are to create a few observations (iNaturalist optional) and questions.
So how did people figure this stuff out? They went down to the lagoon, wetland, or estuary and watched. And what did they see, but a great blue heron staring at them? And it ducked its head under. And came out with a fish. They recorded their observations in their memories, notebooks, and conversations. Maybe even their recording apps if those came out by then. In order to be completely sure, they had to keep observing SEVERAL herons and try to identify the pattern. Run tests, maybe.
I think its important that we remember this, and that we remember the true meaning of a scientist.
Thank you. Study on.
