Recently I've been teaching my daughter how to play checkers. You can imagine a five year old's mind has a difficult time focusing on a game with structure and rules to gameplay, as there are no unicorns or random thoughts being generated on the game board. My daughter's imaginary ...
Recently I've been teaching my daughter how to play checkers. You can imagine a five year old's mind has a difficult time focusing on a game with structure and rules to gameplay, as there are no unicorns or random thoughts being generated on the game board. My daughter's imaginary adventures happen so fast often it's difficult for me as a rational adult to keep up. I find myself consistently lost in our conversations, and her short term memory and random comments often overwhelm my cognitive abilities.
I learned something today though from teaching her how to play checkers. I had noticed immediate improvement from the last time we had played, as she had been practicing by herself on how the pieces moved about the board. She actually jumped one of my pieces when I wasn't paying attention, and this surprised and delighted me. I asked her how she suddenly became so good, and she told me she had been practicing when she was playing by herself.
After a fairly difficult match involving a number of Kings on the board though, the match Ended as it often does with myself being the victor. Expressing obvious frustration, she became upset and said "Daddy, you're too good. I'll never win at checkers."
I immediately stopped and corrected her. I told her that she was better this time than the last time we had played, and that I was impressed with how she was learning the game. She asked me how she could get better, and an epiphany dawned on me that I felt I needed to share with the world, because I truly believe I may have just answered the ever-elusive question of what is the meaning of life.
In the famous science fiction, The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy, there is a reference to a story told about a computer designed by beings millions of years ago to calculate the answer to the meaning of life. After millions of years, it developed the answer of 42, but nobody remembered the question. I personally believe after my Epiphany that the answer was not 42, but three.
I told my daughter that to get good at checkers, it involved three things. The first, is to learn how the game is played. The second involves experience, and lots of practice. And the third aspect is Imagination. Using cunning and wit to outsmart your opponent requires imagination, as you often have to calculate your opponent's moves prior to them actually making the moves. This calculation involves imagining and using reason to guess.
Learn, practice, imagine. Realistically these three steps apply to everything we do in life. You cannot practice something you have not learned, but you cannot Master something without putting your own touch on how it is done. This applies to everyone from Craftsman to musicians, designers and engineers. You cannot design a space station without the knowledge to do so, the experience to know what works, and the imagination to combine various elements to improve efficiency.
On a personal note, I encourage all Asgardians to take this into consideration. Not having come from an aerospace educational background, I honestly feel lost sometimes in regards to what Asgardia is about. Who am I to contribute anything to this nation? I don't know anything about space. None of my formal education was based around any kind of space industry. So what can I contribute?
If nothing else, then I can impart wisdom. As our nation grows and develops we will be faced with many challenges. Many of those challenges are different, because nothing like our nation has ever existed before. What we are trying to do has never been done. There are many unknowns, and one thing that mankind is very predictable on is being afraid of the unknown. But we don't have to be afraid. We can learn. We can use this network to seek experience. And we can use our imaginations to help it grow and flourish.
Knowledge. Experience. Imagination.
Learn. Practice. Imagine.
And I believe the irony lies in the fact that it was one of the simplest acts of my day-to-day life that I came across this concept. While our nation expands and grows, do not lose sight of the small experiences of everyday life. They have much to teach us if we are willing to listen.
