That’s it. I’m sad. I’m mad. You wanna know why? Ok, I’ll tell you. In my last Algorithms class, my teacher was talking about the basics about language semantics and syntax. Then he said: “And all this is the compiler’s job“, so I asked: “But how?”, he answered: “It just does it“, so I asked again: “Yes, but how?“, then he told me: “Don’t worry kid. Compilers do their job very well and for now, that’s everything you should care about“. So, I said: “But I wanna know how it works” and then he said it: “You do too many questions, kid“.
I got so mad that I left the classroom. Can you believe it? I mean, What’s the reason of going to class if you can’t make questions? What’s the role of teachers but explain what students can’t understand?
I must admit I’m so confused. Maybe college is not my place, maybe I should study on my own, like my little friend Mathew does. Yes, I know… Mom would kill me.
As usually when I get depressed, I started to browse around the Internet and then, I found something very interesting: “The Hacker Manifesto“. I guess you already know it, but honestly, I didn’t (until today). It was written after the author’s arrest in 1986 (I didn’t born yet but the text is awesome!) and I found it very interesting, but don’t get me wrong; I know the difference between a Hacker and a Cracker (although mainstream media never does it). What I found pretty cool about the Manifesto, was the honest sense of pride for the pursuit of knowledge. The pure need of teenagers (MY need!). I must say this was so beautiful for me.
Just right now, I wonder about the educational systems around the world. What’s the right way to teach? What’s the right way to learn? What’s the role for us, the new generations? I just want to understand the world, I just want to make it a better place… I love to learn but the only thing I got from college is a huge wall with a big message: “You do too many questions, kid“. Fortunately, I got Internet, I got search engines, I got Wikipedia, I got myself. Learning isn’t a matter of my teachers, now, learning is a matter of myself… now, _I_ define the questions and _I_ find the answers. Quite simple.
Today, in my class, I forgot that I can figure out “how a compiler works” by myself, I forgot that everything depends on me. Maybe that’s the new educational system (What do you think?), maybe teachers aren’t teachers anymore, maybe everyone’s a teacher. What if the knowledge building is a collective process without leaders, without red lights? What if this is a new age for education? I’d like to know what other young people think about it. I’ll appreciate your comments, because I’m still sad.
I feel guilty and I don’t understand why. Yes, I am a criminal. My crime is that of curiosity… and I’m not going to stop.
Bed time. See you.
Tags: Cibertito, Technology
