Jigsaw Puzzles and River Banks: Two Ways of Picturing Our Future

Abstract

The papers presented at the 2004 Academy meetings can be thought of as pieces from jigsaw puzzles. While the employment of this metaphor over the years has been useful, we may be ready for a new image, one that is both more accurate and inspiring. We can picture ourselves working at different locations along a river bank. Some of us work upstream, near the headwaters, at the molecular and genetic level. Others work on anatomy, physiology, culture, psychological well-being, ethics, and even spirituality—all different places along the shore as we move down the river toward the broad and deep waters by the bay. But no matter what our location, we all work on water in one form or another. This forces us to come to grips with our interdependence as researchers and with far more complex notions of causation that have been popular heretofore. The riverbank metaphor promises a kind of cooperation, unity, and mutual appreciation that cannot be gained when we come to interdisciplinary meetings carrying our independently produced and prized puzzle pieces.

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