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Post by Kunjo Naorem on Feb 21, 2014 21:19:08 GMT 5.5
We create Position holders, good markers, ... but no INNOVATORS, NO DISCOVERERS OR INVENTORS. We are lacking behind others in this field. Innovations are far more important than getting a job.
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Post by Thoithoi O'Cottage on Feb 22, 2014 9:39:09 GMT 5.5
My emphasis is on knowing your trade, the whole of it—its history, its current status. Then you do not repeat history, but see fresh areas to invest your energy in. It may take just these two sentences to cover the whole story, but when you live it, it’s a lot—a lifetime may not be enough, but yes every piece of contribution made by un/known, un/named or even unrecognized and recognized individuals goes invaluably into the thing/product, be it car, airplane, computer, printing machine, state, democracy, etc.
If what you make is not a repetition, like say, a microphone (if you don’t know microphone is already there, you may spend the whole of your life in an attempt to invent a microphone only to find shockingly at the end of your journey that microphone is already there, and you just did not know it), doing something new (be it creating a new thing, or conceptualizing a new idea, etc.), if you are not lucky, is a lifetime thing requiring you to know and do a lot before you can lay your first hand on what can be a new thing. So, any meaningful discovery or invention is a fruit of a lifetime of studies and research and investigation, not a chance occurrence of some student taking out a chip from a phone, another piece from another phone, another chip from a radio, putting them together and making something that works as something. That’s not an invention--that’s just an act of assembling. Many of what we call chance and luck for the lack of a right word to describe them are chances/lucks only to those who know their trade exceptionally well. No dream/luck of a benzene ring would have hit a Kekulé (if I remember the name correctly) without his preparedness. Preparedness is a great deal.
The point I want to make is while it may be too early for us to expect our school children to invent/discover anything while in school, we should instill the spirit of doing new things in them. Once the spirit is in them, it will keep propelling them, and nothing will tire them. The sincere ones will live their life with this spirit, and there will come a time when they have learned their trade, the whole of it, from beginning to their own moment. Then they know the area where they should work on, the area which is not yet fully understood, or fully developed, etc. There, they may be able to complete the project successfully, or it may take another generation of people who will work in this field they have opened up, or even several other generations.
Innovative thinking is a way of life. It’s not something you voluntarily do now while in a laboratory and then forget all about it once out of it. It all starts at home/school. People should have made this way of life in childhood, at home and school. Usually what people go with to colleges and universities is the way of life they have cultured while at home and school. Colleges and universities cannot make much of somebody beyond preparing him/her for a nice job (at best), without him/her coming with a way of life that leads to inventions and discoveries. |
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Post by Thoithoi O'Cottage on Feb 22, 2014 10:40:34 GMT 5.5
Knowledge is the precondition for creating something new, be it in the sciences, humanities and the arts, and what not. However, as knowledge does not just happen in the head by chance like elements that occur in nature (even these elements need scientific processing before they become valuably usable), we need to nurture our children/students in the ways of knowledge. Reading a lot of what is already there (let alone the whole substance of your trade/discipline already out there, which is really essential for some) is not an easy thing, but it is relatively very easy against creating, discovering new things which are not yet there. In this sense, whatever piece of knowledge out there already is something others have already thought out, done, used, processed, and if you pay enough attention all these things should reasonably be absorbable/understandable to your mind. They are things which were done by humans like us, and we should also be able at least to understand these. We should encourage our students, and tell them that reading may be time-taking, hence tiring (they cannot do without reading, whatever their trade), but understanding what’s there, what others have already done should not be too daunting for them—it (even the most difficult thing) should be reasonably understandable. (And it’s only after they have read and known a lot that they will be able to deal with the idea of the new meaningfully. Without knowing what’s already there, you are never sure what’s already there and what’s new.) Students are implicitly intimidated by the sheer volume of things (already there) for them to read. However, while I agree that there are lots for them/us to read, we have to make them understand that they think what’s already there is more voluminous than it really is. The world of education is full of noise, which is of course necessary. For example, the original Theory of Relativity was the idea/concept of, and written by, Albert Einstein. After him there have been millions of materials produced by hundreds and thousands of other people explaining, analyzing the Theory of Relativity, creating a noise. My take is, don’t be intimidated by the volume of the noise. Just see the single original Theory of Relativity by Einstein, and read this original version. Then to help yourself understand it more, and to know what developments have been there based on this theory, read a few very well-chosen books around the topic. Then you can get rid of the Theory of Relativity noise of millions. The same is true for any other theories, and scientific concepts, be it Newton’s Law of Motion, etc. Once you know the alphabet (A, B, C, D…Z), you don’t have to be intimidated by how many alphabet books there are circulating in the world. Though there are differences, the principle is basically the same for humanities and the arts as well. If you want, revisit some selected texts whenever you want and need. Now with the Internet there, you will get most of the material you need for keeping up with the world free of cost online. There are several websites which carefully archive human knowledge over the centuries, from which you can download materials. One is Internet Archive at www.archive.org. Some important online research techniques will help you a lot and enable you to find a lot of material from several sources, both old and new. You can download them, read them on your own (no teacher will teach you all you need to know in life—you have to do it on your own), and if you need help, you can look around for teachers. There should be people who can help you. If you do not find help near you, that’s good in a sense, and you can always look for distant help, from other parts of the country and even from across the world. There are people who will do that gladly. There are also online forums for specific subjects, and you can join them and put your queries. Many do that as a means of research. Sometimes your questions can lead to the opening up of new areas, which is good. Kakching is very small. We should not be a bonsai tree. |
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Post by Dr. Lalit Pukhrambam on Feb 22, 2014 18:35:51 GMT 5.5
Innovation = improve the working model and make things easier and apply your knowledge to the real world. It may be an advancement of an existing knowledge or technology, e.g., how to improve the bullock cart - its wheels and the body - at Kakching/Manipur - so that the burden on the bulls can be lessened and more goods can be carried.
Another example is that someone desperately needs a device to pull up my car from the ditch, so how can it be done without damaging the car further. Can you devise an attachment to fix in the back or front of the car so that it can be attached to a pulley or to another truck to pull up slowly? There are many innovative inventions for this kind in the US for different kinds of cars and sizes. If you need this devise and invented one method, you then think that others may also need this device. You go for commercialization of the idea and the product. Your need will be shared by many as well in a society. That is innovation. Sometimes, this does not come from the text book, it originates from the real world experience. So, the system that allows individual innovation and experimentation (garage workshops, not laboratories) and opportunities to commercialize the product progress. Another example may be that a teacher finds his or her students learn better in a particular subject if he or she teaches in a certain way different from the routine method. The teacher may experiment his or her style to a different set of students. If that works, the teacher can write down the instructions and make a video tap and sell it to other schools. If proven its effectiveness, it is innovation which benefits many.
In our society, the education system was geared toward or is still aimed at producing teachers, politicians, lawyers, sociologists, bureaucrats, etc., to run a state or town, which was needed when India got independence. Manipur joined the same formula as needed. India took the socialism route in a democratic system. Socialism is a ideal word/world but it kills the individual spirit and innovation. It does not allow someone to express or experiment his/her full potential. There are the majority socialites who will not appreciate individual achievement or skills. They will always bring down such individual success, implying that it is selfish and not social minded. That is India, Manipur, and more so in small towns like in Kakching. (Who can argue that Bill Gates is not social minded). There is no path to individual experimentation and success in socialism. Communist China now adopt Capitalist model rather than Socialism. There are no marketing opportunities for you ideas in a socialist system. Nonetheless, the mindset of India is changing, so does Manipur and Kakching. However, the government is not paving the path of an innovator to success. It is still an adventurer trekking the thick forest with a knife, making its own way. Long way to go but slowly coming in bigger cities in India. Business opportunities have to be created and the Government and the society in general has to encourage innovation. For Kakching, the best thing to start is small business ideas, already existing but improvement. Or let us say, how to make Kakching a tourist destination for Manipur people, Indian visitors, Myanmar visitors, Foreign visitors, and so. What innovative ideas need to be incorporated by the local MLA, KMC, think-tanks, civil societes, chamber of business and commerce, local individual business owners. We know most visitors will go from Imphal to Loktak Lake. Some will visit Khongjom war memorial and Moreh. In between how to make sure that everyone has an itinerary to visit Kakching. What is so special about Kakching that a visitor must not miss this town. INNOVATIVE IDEAS are needed and action to show on the ground visually.
Under these circumstances without seeing the path to success or jobs from the innovation, the parents and teachers guide their students to a safer path that is to get a government job, ether at the state or national level. Book worms are rewarded well at the national level (goodi) and bribery, connection and corruption get you to a government job in Manipur. Government jobs are limited. Slowly they will be outsourced to private enterprises and companies to take up most Government works.
For now, its seems appropriate for our students to concentrate on books at Kakching. But, they can be taught about Innovation in classes as well so that when they go out to major cities in India or Abroad where such opportunities exist and a chance arises, our people will not be alien to such ideas of innovation. They can apply their teaching and book knowledge to business, teaching, and real world activities/societies.
Those are some thoughts on Innovation. It is not just discovery and inventions, but improvement of existing methods and making life easier through commercialization processes also counts. The later is more appropriate for Kakching.
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Post by Kunjo Naorem on Feb 22, 2014 19:28:07 GMT 5.5
I agree with you Bro Lalit Pukhrambam, here in my Hometown guardians, and teachers like their students score more and the students also like to score more by cheating or somewhat like that or by their own talent. No student has done experiments or activities, so they are weak when they are interacting with other students (outside Manipur). Actually, I am in firm believe that, if we teach them by doing/experiments, their future may be brighter than we have seen today. I strongly support the teaching of science by experimentation/acitivity ... not by heart or by hook or crook. I would like to give one example simply, ... One of my neighbour's child ask a very simple question to his parents. The question goes like this (not exact/actual) : 'Papa, Why should you glycerine now?' The father says,'It's winter'. 'Why don't in summer?', the baby says. The baby got a kick from his own father. Who is the PERSON responsible for this act?
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