(no subject)

[moonwise]

Someone once asked me a question. I hesitate to say that it was a silly question, because of the adage that there are no stupid questions, but it did stop me dead in my tracks for a few seconds.

Years ago at RU, I was on a stepstool jury-rigging our cantankerous rotary evaporator when S, a rather hapless chem student, came around the corner looking visibly upset. I was too busy pulling tubing around to pay much attention at first, and then she spoke up. "Arafel," she said, "do you know how to take a UV spectrum?" (no that's not the silly question.)

"No," I said, "but why don't you go ask J? She certainly knows."

"Um... okay," she said. I went back to fooling with glassware until S spoke up again.

"Arafel?"

"Yes?"

Tears brimming in her eyes, she asked, "How did you ever learn all the things you know how to do?"

Thunderstruck, I sat there for a moment and said the first thing that fell out of my mouth, "By doing them."

The exchange has stayed with me over the years, and I think about it every time I learn to do something new. There is no other way to learn but to jump in there and get your hands dirty. It's fine and good to look at a book, to listen in class, to think about doing - but in the end it's what you do that shapes your life; it's the skills you gain by getting out there and skinning your knees. It's the difference between theory and practice. Endless hours of pontification, debate, and "well how do you feel about that" can be resolved with one swift action. Reminds me of buying our airline tickets - all our rumination about "when might we like to leave" and "how much do you think it would cost" was ended with one little visit to the airline site.

Auntie Mame had it right, god bless the playwright: "Life is a banquet, and most poor suckers are starving to death! You've got to live, live, live!"

You get one go at this mortal life, kids - I don't know about you, but I'm gonna try to make the most of it.

Comments

[hidetomatsumoto.livejournal.com]

*offers contract as motivational speaker*

[arafel.livejournal.com]

;P Wiseacre. :)

But silly as that exchange was, it stayed with me...

Re:

[hidetomatsumoto.livejournal.com]

*guilty smile*

[caoin.livejournal.com]

Tis very true! Reminds me of a man I help out with his computer from time to time who's 67 and always want the "list of steps" to do something. He has this peculiar block about computers and will never just jump in and fiddle around to learn how to do things. It seems that until people like this make the jump to exploring for themselves, they're never quite at ease or learning well.

Personally, I'm a curious monkey who has to find out about things and I find this attitude a bit mystifying.

[arafel.livejournal.com]

*grins* I guess we're the same species of monkey then, because I can't leave anything well enough alone.

As you say, just following a list of steps doesn't get you anywhere, because then you only know how to do what's on your list. You learn more from your mistakes than anything else. :)

[ssilverfish.livejournal.com]

I've had a whole series of lab related phobias over the years that I've had to get over, and I've gotten over them by doing exactly what you said: I jumped right in. I pinched my nose, closed my eyes, and threw myself off the high dive... and found that it wasn't all that bad. I still feel for S, the hapless chem student though. It's tough when you're starting out, but the learning curve is pretty damn steep those first few years in grad school.

As for theory vs. practice, I agree that doing something rather than thinking about it all day will definitely help you move forward faster (especially in grad school), but this is a theory I do not put into practice often enough. :)