The Hidden Toll of Scholarly Pursuits

Why universities may be asking students to 'grow' through suffering

Apr. 9, 2026 at 12:53am

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An extremely abstracted, out-of-focus photograph of a student studying alone in a library, with only soft pools of warm light and color visible, conveying a sense of isolation and the emotional toll of scholarly pursuits.The cognitive demands of academic work may come at a cost to students' social and emotional capacities.Cleveland Today

A new perspective suggests that the rigorous analytical thinking required for academic work may come at a cost to students' social cognition and empathy. Researchers have found that the cognitive demands of scholarship, from precisely identifying differences in prior research to systematically searching for counterarguments, can suppress the brain's default mode network responsible for social processing. This 'analytical mode bias' may help explain why some students report feeling disconnected or even pained by the scholarly enterprise, despite its educational necessity.

Why it matters

As universities increasingly emphasize 'personal growth' and 'transformative learning,' this research raises questions about whether the cognitive demands of scholarship could be inadvertently diminishing students' social and emotional capacities. If academic training chronically weakens empathy and social cognition, it may be important to re-evaluate how we structure higher education to support both intellectual and interpersonal development.

The details

Yuki Kubota, a Japanese science communication researcher, candidly described the 'painfulness' of scientific thinking, noting that the daily cognitive operations of eliminating subjective expressions, separating one's own ideas from prior literature, and rigorously examining experimental conditions would be 'exhausting' in everyday life. Kubota suggested that this is not limited to the sciences, as the same cognitive load is present in academic work across disciplines, running counter to natural human cognition.

  • In 2021, Yuki Kubota posted a candid thread on X (formerly Twitter) about the painful nature of scientific thinking.
  • In 2013, a team at Case Western Reserve University used fMRI to demonstrate an instantaneous trade-off between social cognition and analytical problem-solving in college students.

The players

Yuki Kubota

A Japanese science communication researcher who has focused on the cognitive demands of scientific work and its impact on students.

Anthony Jack

A researcher at Case Western Reserve University who led a team that used fMRI to study the trade-off between social cognition and analytical problem-solving in college students.

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What they’re saying

“I've realized that the reason I can no longer empathize with science communication — even though I think it's educationally necessary — is that my own conviction has shifted toward: science is, at its core, a painful enterprise.”

— Yuki Kubota, Science communication researcher

“If you tried to do all of this [scientific thinking] in daily life, it would definitely be exhausting.”

— Yuki Kubota, Science communication researcher

What’s next

Further research is needed to directly test whether academic training chronically weakens students' social cognition and empathy, and to explore potential interventions to support both intellectual and interpersonal development in higher education.

The takeaway

This research suggests that the cognitive demands of scholarship, while necessary for academic rigor, may come at a cost to students' social and emotional capacities. As universities emphasize personal growth, it's important to consider how the structure of higher education might be inadvertently diminishing key interpersonal skills.