RMJ Mailbag – Ask Ryan 3

What is your largest take-away from this experience?

I’ll take this question in 2 parts. First, I’d like to write a little bit about what I’ve gained from my English literature studies, then I’ll move on to the Britain bit.

Throughout my entire career as a student, I would say my primary focus has been mathematics & sciences – from early honors and magnet programs through my degree program at the College of Engineering. However, probably like most students, I’ve recognized that I have additional interests across the academic landscape, and have been fortunate enough to have had opportunities to cultivate those areas outside of this “primary focus”. I think the entire Roger M. Jones program contributes greatly to the vision of collaboration across fields and holistic education. Personally, I am honored and humbled to be a part of such an outstanding (and internationally unique) organization.

In my time studying a subject largely different than my own background, I have been able to reflect on the education process itself – similarities and differences in analyzing, communicating and retaining information. But most of all, I feel that in English studies I have developed a much more acute understanding of what it means to create an idea. This is not to be confused with the analysis of other’s ideas, although that is a critical element of education – and often the idea-creating process as well. This is also not to say that other fields are wholly uncreative, but that it is more evident in the “artistic” fields.

Once I was eating breakfast at the Pink Pony on Manhattan’s Lower East Side, and among eclectic works of art, the phrase “Please hold me the forgotten way” was painted on the wall. Even such a short phrase (come on, this is a blog, not Shakespeare’s First Folio) carries a significant amount of thought (what is a “forgotten way”?), semantic context, and emotion. The anonymous author successfully created an idea for others to enjoy, discuss, or use to reflect on additional ideas or perhaps their own lives. An even simpler example occurred in one of my Shakespeare & Jonson discussion sections. Another student was describing the language of one of the plays and used the term “highly stylised”. The phrase caught my attention and I wrote it down in my notebook, until the assonance hit me over the head. Small linguistic ideas such as this don’t have to be in verse to be effective. Although literary ideas are most commonly developed through the framework of poetry, plays, novels, etc – language is ubiquitous. The more we understand these ideas and cultivate them, the deeper our culture becomes.

As I wrote earlier, the creation of ideas is not limited to the “artistic” fields. I think this perception comes from how we are taught subjects like mathematics and science. We learn that a system of laws exists (2 + 2 = 4, “an object in motion stays in motion…”) and we are given problem sets that use these rules to come to one correct answer. Of course, these laws are only ideas themselves, and at the research level, all bets are off. Nevertheless, I think there is a tendancy to focus on the implications of an scientific idea and not the idea itself. It seems much easier to understand composer Aaron Copland as he appreciates the “musical idea” of a specific melody, versus mathematician G. H. Hardy describing Euclid’s theorem of infinite primes as a beautiful “mathematical idea”. However, I believe that as I have studied literary ideas during this term, my appreciation for this process in all fields has grown, and I am grateful to have been able to develop this valuable insight.

However, there was also a twist in this phase of my education – not only was a studying a “foreign” subject, but I was in a foreign country. To be fair, Britain shares a number of similarities to the US, but I think that the level of difference is just enough to appreciate the comparison and not be overwhelmed. Rather than seeking out things I found familiar (e.g. McDonald’s, Physics textbook – okay, I’m not that much of a nerd), I felt energized exploring and building new experiences. Coupling this mentality with my studies, I have recognized that all ideas come from experiences. Although it may be perceived as so, there is no such thing as spontaneous inspiration; and 1,000 monkeys with 1,000 typerwriters and 1,000 years cannot outdo Shakespeare.

Now, this is not to say that every idea directly reflects some experience in the originator’s life. And for many, the “experience” may simply be the act of studying another’s ideas. The more depth and diversity we can come across in our lives, recognize, and thoughtfully reflect upon, the more we can contribute back to society. Yes, more often than not we will carry the label “critic” or duplicate each other’s ideas. But if we can expand our world by creating something unique – bridging a meaningful synapse that didn’t exist before – what greater ambition could we have in our lives?

Advertisement