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| | Post New Topic | | Can education stop you from trying ? | Views: 58 | | Oct 17, 2009 6:29 pm | | Can education stop you from trying ? | # | 
Surajit Ray | | I came to ask this interesting question when I saw something at the neighbourhood mechanic shop. I was siting there waiting, as a mechanic labored over the car. As usual he wanted to replace “everything” so I had to keep fighting the good natured debate of “why not to replace that” every now and then. And while I was doing this a small boy arrived at the shop with a “lari” of lights.
A “lari” means a string of lights (LEDs / Bulbs etc) on a wire, used mostly during Christmas and Diwali, in India. The function of this four foot length of blinking wire (usually deployed on the balcony) is to show the people around your house – that you subscribe to this latest festival and need to get his/her attention to that fact ! So now that we know what is a lari, let us remove the quotes from around that word.
Coming back to the topic at hand, this small boy had a torn lari. A little technical snippet : the lari usually has lights on three lines controlled by a small chip which blinks the lights in various patterns. The wires has come off the controller board so obviously there was no light. The intention in the boys mind was to solder the wires back on and get the lights to work.
He knew where one of the three electrical lines went on the board. About the other two he did not have a clue. Neither did my college educated self. The board had no indications of where goes what (in typical “Chinese goods” fashion). I soldered the one I knew and then wondered if I would blow the thing if I got the other two wrong. I was trying to examine the minuscule writing on the board for some enlightenment ! But alas it looked “Chinese” and the boy was in a hurry !
Noticing my hesitation the little fellow just stuck the wire on to two points on the board, where the solder was looking a bit ragged ! I soldered it in (as the mechanic believed I was the best person to that in his shop). It did not work on connecting to the mains. I got a 250V jolt as well while trying to figure out the problem, on-line ! So we disconnected it and stuck the other two wires the other way on the same two points on the board – and voila ! The little fellows face lit up as did the lights on the wires ! And then saying “genius”, he disappeared in a blur.
After he left I was just wondering. The lights on the wire could cost around a dollar at the electrical store. So definitely from my perspective it was not worth fixing. As for the little fellow – well he did not look too well off and maybe the effort was justified. But then if the effort was justified for him – then the lights would have definitely have considerable worth for him. However he did not hesitate to try. If he had blown it – he would have been disappointed. But if never tried he would never have had had the chance to rejoice !
I tried to think his position from my perspective. Lets say I have something which is proportionally valuable to me. Would I take this risk of blowing up the gadget. I was hesitant to take the risk even with the little Chinese made board. I guess I would have been much more difficult for me to take a risk like that. My education told me that wrong wires going in wrong place could blow things up. I imagined smoke and sparks. The boy imagined just his next move !
Did my education come in the way of some harmless experimentation ? (Can this experimentation be called harmless ?). I will let the reader decide that for me !
blog : http://surajitray.com
website : http://rareindianart.com
Private Reply to Surajit Ray | | Oct 18, 2009 1:54 pm | | re: Can education stop you from trying ? | # | 
Tim Flowers | | Interesting post!
It reminds me of my job. We have drivers who haul gasoline and other fuels to stations across the region. It's far more complex than it appears to an outsider. Suffice to say that if the driver simply falls back on his training and follows company policies, he'll get it right. Unfortunately, the human ego causes many drivers to think they know better, so they try to do it their way instead of the prescribed way. Their way works most of the time, but then something will go wrong and they will load the wrong product, wreck their truck, go to the wrong station, or overflow a tank which creates an environmental incident. Almost any mistake they make costs the company thousands of dollars. Yet, if they would simply follow the rules and not try to "out-think" the task at hand, all would go well.
So yes, we can be educated to the point that we actually perform more poorly than someone who has no education!
Tim Flowers
Join. Share. Profit. Enjoy!
http://www.ForeverBusiness.info
Private Reply to Tim Flowers | | Nov 06, 2009 5:48 pm | | re: Can education stop you from trying ? | # |
Mikelina West | | My vote is harmLESS.
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