Another school year-why?
John Cialdi.
Let me tell you one of the earliest disasters in my teaching career.
It was 1940 1 month. I just graduated from graduate school and started my first semester at the University of Kansas City. Among the students, there was a tall and thin man with hair on his head. He came into my classroom, sat down, crossed his arms and looked at me as if to say, "Well, teach me something.
"Two weeks later, we started Hamlet. Three weeks later, he walked into my office with his hands akimbo. " "Listen," he said, "I came here to be a pharmacist. Why should I read these things? He didn't have his own book to refer to, so he pointed to mine on the table.
Although I am a new teacher, I can tell this specimen many things. I could have pointed out that he was not registered in a pharmacy technical school, but in a university. At the end of the course, he was going to pick up a scroll with "Bachelor of Science" written on it. ?
It won't say: qualified pill crushing technician. This will prove that he specializes in pharmacy, but it will also further prove that he has been exposed to some ideas produced in human history. In other words, he did not enter a technical training school, but entered a university, where students should receive both training and education.
I could have told him all this, but obviously he won't stay here for long, so it doesn't matter.
However, I am still young and have a high sense of responsibility. I try to say this: "For the rest of your life," I said, "your day will average about 24 hours.
When you are in love, they will be shorter, when you are lovelorn, they will be longer, but the average will remain the same. For eight hours, more or less, you will fall asleep. "
"So, I hope you have about eight hours of useful every working day. Suppose you have finished school of pharmacy-or engineering school, or law school, or whatever-and you will use your professional skills in these eight hours. Make sure cyanide is not in aspirin.
The bull will not jump over the fence, or your client will not be sent to the electric chair because of your incompetence. These are all beneficial pursuits. They include skills that everyone must respect, and they can bring you basic satisfaction.
Like other things, they may become food on your table, support your wife and raise your children. They will be your income, and hope it is always enough.
"But after finishing a day's work, what do you do for the remaining eight hours? Suppose you go home and reunite with your family. What kind of family are you raising? Will children be exposed to a reasonable and penetrating idea at home?
Will you run a family that keeps in touch with great democratic intellectuals? Will there be a book in the house? Will there be a painting that a very sensitive person will not shudder at? Can children hear Bach's music?
That's what I said, but this particular pest is not interested. "Look," he said, "your professor educates children in his own way; I will take care of myself. Me, I am out to make money. "
"I hope you can make good use of it," I told him, "because when you don't sign a check, you will get into trouble and find nothing to do."
Fourteen years later, I am still teaching. I am here to tell you that the mission of a university is not only to train you, but to expose you to the best ideas of mankind. If you don't have time to see Shakespeare, the foundation of philosophy and the continuation of art.
For the lesson of human development, we call it history-then there is no reason for you to stay in college. You are becoming a new species of mechanized barbarians, Neanderthals who pressed the button. Our university has inevitably graduated many such life forms.
But it can't be said that they went to college; More specifically, the school passed them-no contact was made.
No one can be a person without help. There is not enough time in my life to invent everything I need to know to be a civilized person.
For example, suppose you want to be a physicist. You pass by, for example, the huge stone hall of MIT, and the names of scientists are engraved on the stones. Few of you will leave your name engraved on the stone.
However, any one of you who stays awake in high school physics class knows more about physics than those great scholars in the past. You know more because they left you what they know, because you can start with what you learned from the past.
Human technology is like this, so are human spiritual resources. Most of these resources, whether technical or spiritual, are stored in books. Books are unique achievements of human beings. When you finish reading a book, you increase your life experience.
When you read Homer, your thoughts contain some of Homer's thoughts. Through books, you can at least get fragments of the thoughts and experiences of Virgil, Dante and Shakespeare-the list is endless. Because a great book must be a gift; It gives you a life that you don't have time to experience for yourself.
It takes you into a world where you don't have time to travel in real time. In essence, a civilized mind contains many such lives and many such worlds. If you are too hasty or too proud of your limitations and don't accept some ideas of Aristotle, Chaucer or Einstein as gifts for your human beings, you are neither a developed person nor a useful citizen of a democratic country.
I think La Rochefoucauld said that most people would never fall in love if they hadn't read it. He may say that no one can become human if he has not read books on this subject.
I'm sure that when I say that a university has no real existence and real purpose, unless it successfully brings you, whether as an expert or as a person, into contact with those human minds that your human mind needs to include, I speak on behalf of all the teachers in the college of arts and sciences and all the teachers in professional schools.
This ability, as far as its existence is concerned, implicitly says: "When we try to make ourselves a warehouse of some kind of human experience, we have been helped by many people and many books.
We are here to do our best to provide you with professional knowledge.
Another school year.-For what?
John? Chardy
Let me tell you about the earliest difficulties I encountered in my teaching career. It was January of 1940. I just graduated from graduate school and started my first semester teaching at the University of Missouri-Kansas. A tall and thin student came into my class, sat down and looked at me with his hands crossed, as if to say, "OK, teach me something quickly.
Two weeks later, we began to learn Hamlet. Three weeks later, he walked into my office with his arms around his waist. "Look," he said, "I'm here to learn to be a pharmacist. Why should I read this? " He didn't even bring his own book, and pointed to the one on my desk.
As a new teacher, I could have told this student with personality a lot. I could have pointed out that he was admitted to a university instead of a pharmacy school. It means that he should get a bachelor of science certificate when he graduates, not a degree certificate of "qualified drug researcher".
This certificate will prove that he is a pharmacy major, and it will further prove that he has studied some thoughts produced by human beings in the long history. In other words, he entered a university instead of a college, which requires both training and education.
I could have told him this, but obviously, he won't stay long, and it's no use talking.
Nevertheless, I am still young and have a strong sense of responsibility. I tried to say to him, "For the rest of your life," I said, "the average day is twenty-four hours. When you are in love, you will feel that you are not enough; When you are lovelorn, you will feel that your heart is willing but your strength is weak. But the average 24 hours remains the same. You will spend about eight hours sleeping. "
"You will spend about eight hours every working day, and I hope you can make effective use of them. Suppose you graduate from a pharmacy school-or engineering school, law school, or any other school-and you will use your professional skills in these eight hours. As a pharmacist, you should ensure that cyanide is not mixed with aspirin; As an engineer, you should make sure that everything is under your control. "
"As a lawyer, you should ensure that your client is not electrocuted because of your incompetence. These are useful jobs with skills that everyone respects and can bring you basic satisfaction. No matter what other industry you are engaged in, these skills are probably your ability to support your family. They will bring you income, and I hope they will always be enough. "
"But what will you do with the remaining eight hours after a day's work? Suppose you spend it on your family. What kind of family will you build? Will children have a good tutor? Will the family atmosphere be enlightened and democratic? Will there be books at home? Will there be comfortable paintings? Will children like wonderful music?
That's almost what I said, but this creep is not interested in it. "You see," he said, "you professors raise children in your way, and I raise children in my way. I, I would rather spend time trying to earn money. "
"I hope you can earn a lot of money," I told him, "because you have nothing to do when you don't write checks."
14 years have passed, and I am still teaching. I want to tell you here that the duty of a university is not only to cultivate you, but also to expose you to the essence of human thought. If you don't have time to read Shakespeare's works, to understand the basic philosophy, to appreciate the existence of art, and to study the course of human development that we call history-then you will accomplish nothing in college.
You are becoming a new mechanical barbarian, a caveman with buttons. Our university inevitably shaped a large number of such life forms, but it cannot be said that they went to university; But universities once existed in their lives-leaving no trace.
Without outside help, no one will grow into a civilized person. If you want to be a civilized person, you must acquire the knowledge and culture that a civilized society needs. And life is too short to get all the precious property in the long river of human history.
For example, you want to be a physicist. You pass the magnificent stone hall of MIT, where the names of scientists are engraved on the stones. Chances are, none of you will be engraved with your own names. But as long as you don't sleep in high school physics class, any one of you knows more about physics than many great scholars in history. You know more because they pass on what they know to you, and because you can start with what they already know.
With the development of human science and technology, so does the accumulation of human spiritual wealth. Most of the information about these technologies and spirits is stored in books. Books are a unique achievement of mankind. When you read a book, you enrich your life experience. When you read Homer's works, some of Homer's ideas will blend into your mind. Through books, you can get the thoughts and experiences of at least some great men, such as Virgil, Dante and Shakespeare-endless.
Because a good book is a gift; It shows you a life that you don't have time to experience personally, and it takes you into a world that you don't have time to visit personally in real life.
In essence, a civilized person should know a lot about this life and world. If you are too hasty or complacent about your ignorance to accept some ideas of Aristotle, Chaucer or Einstein as gifts of your quality, then you are neither an advanced person nor a useful citizen of a democratic society.
I remember Larochefoucauld said that most people would not fall in love if they hadn't read books about love. He may also have said that no one can be a real person without reading books about human beings.
When I said that a university will have the meaning of existence and the real purpose of running a school only if you, whether as a professional or an ordinary person, are exposed to those human thoughts that your mind should have, I was really speaking for the liberal arts department and the junior college department.
The existence of teaching staff implies this point: in the process of trying to make ourselves a treasure house of human experience, we have been helped by many people and books. Our teacher's task is to try our best to make you acquire those professional knowledge.