Technically-minded people can do anything?!

Recently I’ve finished my first “fat” book in unadapted English. That fantastic book is called “Surely you are joking Mr. Feynman” (And now I know many terms in nuclear physics area though have no idea what I will do with that :) )

It was an American physicist known for his tremendous contribution to science, especially to theoretical physics. He received the Nobel Prize in Physics in 1965. But Feynman was not only physicist, he didn’t set limits for himself – so he became an artist, a musician, a biologist, a safecracker all-in-one. Somebody could say “He is just naturally gifted”.. Well, may be.. but reading that book you are being persuaded how much he used to work. And it didn’t look like work actually but like game he used to play.

One more exciting theme in this book concerns education. He found a huge problem in Brazilian education when he thought there – and when I proclaim it you will understand that that’s what we also have here in Russia. The problem is our lecturers generally give so complicated theory and tell nothing about what to do in practice with that. For example students of radio department can study radio engineering without having an idea how transistors and other things look like. So they can explain what does transistor mean and give you some complicated definition but can’t make any practical examples. Theory without practice is being forgotten in a short period of time and so..  I suppose only about 5-10 percent of graduating students is really able to do something (it’s 5 years of studies!). And only a few can work applying knowledge they have gained.. And I believe it only thanks to their own curiosity and persistence.

Some lines about me. I work as a computer programmer. If someone had told me (When I was finishing the school) that I will be able to program one day I wouldn’t have believed. Because I always thought I was a “humanist” who can apprehend some literary, philosophical and so on things but can’t imagine examining some technical things, learning how it works. Entering the technical university I have tried to challenge myself and now I’m sure we are really able to accomplish whatever we want – that’s the main thing I have learned at the university. During my studies I have been feeling my mind is being put in order, I has began to feel the systematic character of many things. It does not concern only computer and other technological sciences, it has also to do with any aspects of our life (and learning languages “a fortiori”). If we want to know or to do something we just should learn how it works.. to immerse in the sea of information and read and figure out.. to try to derive pleasure from that, at least from learning new things. The more we know, the more we understand this world. It’s very important to keep the mind open and curious.

I shall be glad to know at first hand how it goes on in other countries, how the process of education looks like, do other states have that kind of problem? It’s more interesting to learn such things from native people of other places :) And also perhaps Russian people know some universities which give real knowledge.