I have an older brother. Ten years and 33 days older to be exact. This was always a hurdle that was hard go to over in our relations, but to me, it meant and still means a lot to have hints and traces, a sneak peak on what's going on ten buss stops from where I am.
Now that I am in my 20s and he is in his 30s we don't get much chances to talk about random stuff, but before he started working and before I grew up there was a time when we talked a lot and fought even more. My fucked up shoulder and two teeth and his broken nose are proofs of brotherly love.
But today I won't be talking about that special day when most of the injuries happened. No... Today I will talk about what he helped me understand during a period that I took my first steps on a road called educational system.
I was always ahead of other kids in everything related to school, classes, knowledge, but I had one weakness. I couldn't care less about numbers. Before I went to the first grade I was already solving all kinds of mathematical issues related to geometry but not via knowledge of what the length is this or that side of the triangle, but what is their relation to the other parts of the object. Kids are not limited by the info they receive and thus are better at some forms of abstract thinking. Who else would believe in imaginary characters as Santa, Easter Bunny and such.
In the first week of school we started doing our letters, numbers and other things that were foundation for the future of learning. The basis of written language, the language of math and so on.
On the weekend I got a chance to talk to my bro and once he asked me what did I learn in this week I jumped of joy because I had a chance to show of my progress. I am learning how to write [I knew to read, but I hated writing with my hand] and how to count to one hundred, I shouted.
To prove to him I learned properly and that I don't need to write down the numbers to do it right I started counting [see... I really didn't want to use my hands for writing pointless stuff].
1, 2, 3, ... ,54, 55, 56, ... ,97, 98, 99, 100!
To this he said ~ Continue. I was puzzled! Continue?! What does he mean by that! He is older and knows more and wants to show me I still don't know anything? Can't he congratulate me?!
"Continue!"
~I don't know how...
~How can you not know how... Didn't you see the logic in how the numbers went so far? Think!
~I don't know, we didn't go as far in the school, but I learned a lot in this neat subject that...
~Continue the counting!
~How?
~Figure it out... See what happens to the numbers as they grow and apply it.
~So... One hundred one?
~One hundred AND one? But that's only for some numbers. Go one, you got it
~102, 103, ... 143, 144, ... , 198, 199 ... two... hundred...?
~Yes, go on...
~201 ... 332 ... 457 ... 895 ... 999... ten hundred?
~No, that's a thousand. Keep counting, but skip some numbers, we don't have all the time in the world.
Thousands, tens and hundred of thousands, millions, billions. I was dealing with numbers I couldn't have thought I could imagine just an few hours ago!
~Count to ten, my ass... Cause the teacher told you you only know to count to ten... Don't be an idiot! You see that's nothing compared to what you can do.
Tomorrow, in the class, I officially became a smart ass and a scourge that will bring plight to many teachers during my next twelve years of basic schooling.
And I learned to draw a logical line from this and apply it onto logical subjects as well. If France borders Germany, then Germany borders France. Remembering this moment of my youth allowed me to stop learning as I am told and how I am told. It enabled me to learn as I wanted from the information I could find where ever. It also taught me that information is connected and logical rather then a linear concession of lectures in books.
To this day, I am not sure how much this even influenced me and liberated me, but I am sure that my memory of it indeed did all that.
Now, get off, go to your little sons and daughters, brothers and sisters, nephews or neighbors and teach them the basic logic that you can perceive from your present knowledge in a way that they can understand. This will enrich both you and them and more importantly, the upcoming generations. Gods know they will need it with our present education system.
Be well.
Now that I am in my 20s and he is in his 30s we don't get much chances to talk about random stuff, but before he started working and before I grew up there was a time when we talked a lot and fought even more. My fucked up shoulder and two teeth and his broken nose are proofs of brotherly love.
But today I won't be talking about that special day when most of the injuries happened. No... Today I will talk about what he helped me understand during a period that I took my first steps on a road called educational system.
I was always ahead of other kids in everything related to school, classes, knowledge, but I had one weakness. I couldn't care less about numbers. Before I went to the first grade I was already solving all kinds of mathematical issues related to geometry but not via knowledge of what the length is this or that side of the triangle, but what is their relation to the other parts of the object. Kids are not limited by the info they receive and thus are better at some forms of abstract thinking. Who else would believe in imaginary characters as Santa, Easter Bunny and such.
In the first week of school we started doing our letters, numbers and other things that were foundation for the future of learning. The basis of written language, the language of math and so on.
On the weekend I got a chance to talk to my bro and once he asked me what did I learn in this week I jumped of joy because I had a chance to show of my progress. I am learning how to write [I knew to read, but I hated writing with my hand] and how to count to one hundred, I shouted.
To prove to him I learned properly and that I don't need to write down the numbers to do it right I started counting [see... I really didn't want to use my hands for writing pointless stuff].
1, 2, 3, ... ,54, 55, 56, ... ,97, 98, 99, 100!
To this he said ~ Continue. I was puzzled! Continue?! What does he mean by that! He is older and knows more and wants to show me I still don't know anything? Can't he congratulate me?!
"Continue!"
~I don't know how...
~How can you not know how... Didn't you see the logic in how the numbers went so far? Think!
~I don't know, we didn't go as far in the school, but I learned a lot in this neat subject that...
~Continue the counting!
~How?
~Figure it out... See what happens to the numbers as they grow and apply it.
~So... One hundred one?
~One hundred AND one? But that's only for some numbers. Go one, you got it
~102, 103, ... 143, 144, ... , 198, 199 ... two... hundred...?
~Yes, go on...
~201 ... 332 ... 457 ... 895 ... 999... ten hundred?
~No, that's a thousand. Keep counting, but skip some numbers, we don't have all the time in the world.
Thousands, tens and hundred of thousands, millions, billions. I was dealing with numbers I couldn't have thought I could imagine just an few hours ago!
~Count to ten, my ass... Cause the teacher told you you only know to count to ten... Don't be an idiot! You see that's nothing compared to what you can do.
Tomorrow, in the class, I officially became a smart ass and a scourge that will bring plight to many teachers during my next twelve years of basic schooling.
And I learned to draw a logical line from this and apply it onto logical subjects as well. If France borders Germany, then Germany borders France. Remembering this moment of my youth allowed me to stop learning as I am told and how I am told. It enabled me to learn as I wanted from the information I could find where ever. It also taught me that information is connected and logical rather then a linear concession of lectures in books.
To this day, I am not sure how much this even influenced me and liberated me, but I am sure that my memory of it indeed did all that.
Now, get off, go to your little sons and daughters, brothers and sisters, nephews or neighbors and teach them the basic logic that you can perceive from your present knowledge in a way that they can understand. This will enrich both you and them and more importantly, the upcoming generations. Gods know they will need it with our present education system.
Be well.
26 comments:
this is exactly why i'm doing computer science... it's the math in which you must not limit yourself and your thinking. nice story, and nice blog :)
Great post, thsi was a good read :) nice to have a brother
sweet brotherly story
This is so true. Thanks a lot :).
Over the last few weeks I have taught my 4 year old sons to count to 100, the hard part was teaching them the words forty fifty sixty etc... Most kids in their preschool are still working on 1 - 10
I wish my brother cared about me when I was younger and did to me what your brother did to you.
nice story :)
T'is logic :D
lol that was a great story!
Good story, and impressive writing skills
I was a major smart ass in elementary school. I progressed and learned things much faster than the other kids. I was always top of the class. But come high school I graduated almost 2 years late because it wasn't a challenge. I always got 100% on my tests but never did the homework.
You live you learn.
Haha, interesting story. Logic ftw :)
Thanks for such a good story.cheers.
awesome post
nice story !
Never thought of it this way but it's so obvious now you've mentioned it, wish I took this approach a long time ago.
I learned to read when i was 3 years old, and learned to read Latin characters when i was 5 :) I was the first one who knew reading fluently in my class :)
but in the world we have contradiction everywhere, they give you the tools to go further, the knowledge and our brains to learn beyond, but at the same time you are catalogued and tagged as geek and smart-ass, for some of us that doesnt matter and we go on, but many fall to these harrassment and give up being part of the mass again
I see... Interesting way of looking at it. Public education, kind of gets in the way, doesn't it? :P
Took me a long time to read but it's a nice story
great story... I think a lot of school is too formulaic and prescribed - school needs to teach you to think not just learn facts etc...cool post
My dad was the same for me. I could spell Archaeopteryx and Tyrannosaurus Rex at 4 years old.
To be honest, I can't even remember how I learned numbers at school Oo
I am a big brother myself and I am trying my best to give everything I know to my younger brothers. Why I do this is to be read in this nice story above.
Awesome story. I was a pain in the rear to many or my teachers two.
Hooray for big brothers everywhere!
Smarty pants :P
Post a Comment