WHAT'S THE QUESTION?

The idea of doing research leading to a degree can be quite exciting.  All that reading and rummaging in libraries, meeting lots of different people, exchanging thoughts and fun discussions, picking though the labyrinth of works and other research to find a way to that clearing where no one or at least very few have been before. It’s rather like starting out on a cross country run with lots of other people, surrounded by lots of active spectators, and after a while, further along the run, you find yourself quite alone, able to run at a relaxed pace, fully enjoying the scenery, and breathing in invigorating fresh air and finally joyfully arriving at the finish line, to be greeted by admiring fans handing you a token of achievement and many congratulations.

The problem is finding the right run, especially if you design your own track and field. Sending out invitations to take part can be problematic, even assuming you’ve found the right country to set up in.

Sometimes you start out immersed in the pack, stumbling over others, never quite breaking free, circling round, falling through the finish line, with only a certificate to show that at least you took part.

Sometimes you turn up and find you are the only one on the starting line and no one else is remotely interested in taking part. Despite your entreaties and promises that it will be a great fun run, they all turn away and are not in the least engaged by your invitation. “Where’s it going?” they cry “The tracks too wide, where are the boundaries? There’s no real finish line. What kind of run is this anyway?”

You have to offer up something special at the finish to bring them on board. No matter how pretty, intriguing or challenging the cross country run, if you haven’t got the big finish, forget it. By finish, I mean the finish, not just a finish.

So it boils down to the finish. What or who is the finish? That is the question. If you haven’t got the question right, then all that running will not find you an answer.

I think I have a reasonable design for the track and field. I just need the right country park that will allow me to lay it out while I keep a look out for the who and what of the big finish. Trust me, I could do this.

However, all country parks want to know the big finish before you pick up a shovel.  You see my problem. I’ve got what I think is a great track and if I can start marking it out, see where it’s heading, I just might come up with the big finish.

It’s just a matter of who and what. That is the question. Simple, isn’t it?