Diligence and isolation are key elements in the formation of revolutionary ideas. Can our classes prepare students accordingly?
Diligence and isolation are key elements in the formation of revolutionary ideas. Can our classes prepare students accordingly?
The anticipation has begun. Every year, on the first Monday of October, the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine is awarded, followed by the Physics, Chemistry, Literature, Peace and Economics prizes. The Nobels are so prestigious that they have become a byword for excellence – if there was something like a “prize” it would be a Nobel Prize in these fields.
It’s not like people actually work For Prize – CV Raman, the apocryphal story goes, was an exception and truly believed he would be decorated. Some people shy away from giving prizes because of the publicity around them. However, some discoveries go beyond the rewards and rewards and actually shift the gears of the machinery that is the field itself – such as Albert Einstein’s notable papers on relativity, Establishing the Foundations of Quantum Mechanics by Erwin Schrödinger and Werner Heisenberg. , Charles Darwin’s theory of evolution etc. There are some who went even further and stood head and shoulders above the rest, such as Srinivasa Ramanujan or Isaac Newton.
In this spectrum of achievements, considering only those who revolutionized one field, it is perhaps not surprising that the authors of these revolutions had to undergo a virtual transformation of their bodies and souls before they were able to think differently and be able to come with you. Brilliant idea.
The novel by the Chilean writer Benjamin Labatt when we stop understanding the worldtranslated from spanish Adrian by Nathan West, takes away from the lives of extraordinary mathematicians and scientists, and pretends to bring to the fore many aspects of the process of discovery and the pain and extreme limits of living scientists can go to paper , and with some clarity, thoughts are sprouting in his mind.
Heisenberg’s example
The story of German physicist Werner Karl Heisenberg’s self-imposed exile in Helgoland, an island in the North Sea, where he pushes himself to endure extreme trials before an extraordinary idea – the uncertainty principle – as a set of equations Turns out on paper. The world can be told. Yes, he still had to work on them to bring them up to publishable quality, but the germ of the idea came out once he was on the island. Would Heisenberg have been able to bring this idea to the fore if he had lived a so-called ‘normal’ life and conformed to the routines of living a nine to five life?
From the example of Heisenberg, and there are other such stories, it appears that truly revolutionary ideas require a life of isolation and abstinence, even an extraordinary physical exertion before emerging from the depths of the mind. .
Even in everyday situations, some detachment and calm thinking can help the process of discovery. To complement this allowance of silence and isolation, intelligent questions approaching one can also help. Nobel laureate Kip Thorne describes this way of working in his book Black holes and time warps: Einstein’s outrageous legacy, He stresses the importance of time when he is alone, not disturbed by any telephone calls or conversations that may disrupt the smooth flow of thoughts. Again, he also points out that relevant questions and ideas coming from others can really help ideas flourish.
in class
Such insight begs the question, are our lives and classrooms designed to fuel this creative urge that is within most young people? A good place to start this inquiry is with the school. There is no doubt that education is an essential and constructive element in the building of society; However, there is something within a person that ‘knacks the shackles’ that the school imposes on the free-flowing soul. Classes should be designed to encourage inquiry and nurture free-flowing spirits, as much as they emphasize discipline and learning outcomes.