Monday, April 21, 2008
He's not an ANGRY kind of Mad Scientist
| About two months back I got an email from Chris with a very simple question in it: Neither is Dr. A. Many years ago while I was still at Mercer my fraternity was running rampant without any sort of advisor. As you can probably imagine, a group of college fraternity men without ANY adult supervision can be a dangerous thing. That's probably why, at least for ATO you're not allowed to have a chapter without advisers. I am unsure where the suggestion originally came from (oddly enough I think it may have been a different Chris) but Dr. A wound up being our advisor for about a year. During that time I got to know him and his wife, Pam, very well. Dr. A has the coolest job ever. Looking back after so many years, I realize that I, too, have perhaps the coolest job ever. I get paid to be a geek, and hopefully interest and entertain people with my geekiness. And maybe, just maybe, I can convert some people into geeks, too. The reason Chris was asking was that he'd had lunch with Dr. A that afternoon and found out that Dr. A had been at Mercer many years ago. Why was Chris having lunch with Dr. A? Well Chris works for a school system up in Atlanta and had the opportunity to film one of Dr. A's lectures. Go here and click on Dr. A'a Science Show Please be aware the entire video is about 75 minutes long, but entertaining from start to finish. Obviously Dr. A is kind of a nerd. But he is one of those rare scientists who can speak the language of the common man, or more specifically, the common child. I am often asked why I like to teach. The explanation isn't really that easy. I can explain it in scientific terms easily. At a point in time, we'll call n my student doesn't know/understand something. At another point in time, we'll call n+1 he does understand. Good Old Newton's First Law of Motion essentially says: An object at rest stays at rest and an object in motion continues in motion unless acted upon by an outside force. This is often called the "Law of Inertia." If we tweak this a bit and think about the student. His mind was essentially "at rest" at time n and in motion at time n+1. The "outside force" that acted upon him was me, the teacher. I am the "agent of change." You often hear about a metaphorical "light bulb" coming on when someone "gets it." While you don't usually see an actual light bulb, I assure you that you CAN see the moment when someone "gets it." It shows in their eyes, in their posture, in their energy. It is an incredible event to witness and even more incredible to be involved with. I just can't seem to get enough of that moment. That's why, much like Dr. A, I see every moment in life as an opportunity to learn and an opportunity to teach. I have said for years that if "You live and you learn" then the moment you stop learning, you die. Or taken another way, if "you learn something new every day" then any day you don't learn something new, you never really lived that day (and you've lost that day forever.) Obviously I am a big fan of life long learning. You don't "get old" because the calendar drags you through time. You get old because you willingly let go of your childhood curiosity, wonder, and thirst for knowledge. (But always wear your safety glasses, just in case!)  |
