Curious Things
Friday • July 9th 2021 • 9:54:02 pm
The philosophy related to your interests,
is very important, because it can help you learn in extremely powerful and meaningful ways.
After High School I had an idea about putting MP3 files,
on a CD, and turning CR-ROM drives into Car MP3 Players.
Looking back, I can see that the MP3 player patent was filed few years back,
but my idea was still really good.
I made the mistake of contacting a company advertising on TV,
they sat down with me, and said patent would cost 10,000 dollars, with weasel words.
If that was an honest company and they only took 10% of sales,
and invested some money upfront to get this thing rolling, maybe something would come out of it.
But, what really needed to happen, is me taking matters in my own hands,
instead of playing with weasels, I needed to learn Electronics.
You see what the problem was, I misinterpreted my interest my curiosity,
this was a call to learn Electronics along with Programming.
Not for a job, or money,
just to know how it all works.
Just to have,
more knowledge.
And today I sat down after my workout,
and I sketched out a small MP3 player that I need.
I need it to have buttons, that I can feel though my pocket,
so that I don't have to look at the darn thing to skip to the next song.
I sketched out a device based on a Raspberry PI,
I really like the ability to connect to it with a computer and phone, and upload music or change settings.
In that way it does not really need a screen,
it just needs to be an Aluminum Enclosure with room for 9 buttons that I will drill and program in different ways.
That is what I should have done in 1998,
I should have been searching aluminum enclosures and fancy potentiometers with beautiful aluminum knobs, and some way to decode MP3 music.
Back then there was no Raspberry PI Zero,
so the project wasn't as interesting, but lesson learned.
I had an opportunity to begin learning electronics,
and I ruined it, because I needed to get a job in Web Design.
We must ignore what people are telling us to do,
and focus on doing what we feel strongly about, because that is bound to expand our knowledge.
And the thing about Knowledge is that it doesn't matter what you are learning,
so as long as you are creating that library of knowledge.
The bigger your library the more new things you will be able to approach,
by subtle analogy to what you already know.
And this is one of the problems with school,
it teaches little un-integrated things, breadcrumbs, where what we need is vast cities, cross connected by highways of curiosities.
But there is more, you also have to do things in the correct sequence,
and if you feel like it, do the things that make most interesting results first.
Instead of looking for Raspberry PI UPS and Batteries,
I put my sketches away, hosed my elf down with bug spray.
And mumbled "Maybe, I can fix my first Fat Tire bicycle, and have two Fat Tire Bicycles, by day's end",
my first Fat Tire bicycle seemed to have a damaged tire, there was visible damage around the rim.
But, it turned out that the damage wasn't affecting the tire,
that years ago, I simply didn't know how to properly inflate tires, and my first Fat Tire bike wasn't broken at all.
So both of them are operational now, I tested the newest repairs with a ten mile run,
and it worked perfectly.
The bicycle seat broke on me, so I had to get a new one, and I got a big and comfy one,
I suffered two paper cuts, and two mosquito bites, and initially when I got on it the chain fell of, and I had to fix it on the sidewalk.
But it was worth it, both of them are parked in my living room,
where I did majority of the repairs and they look really fun.
If I didn't prioritize fixing my bicycle,
I'd have nothing to ponder this evening.
So even though, great inventions or magnificent patents call to us,
it is probably better to create a little road of lessons and small achievements on our way there.
Going to school is not about graduating,
but learning useful things, things that for example would help me make my MP3 player.
We have to learn to move in a way that grants us these beautiful colorful little achievements,
not just a job, diploma, and a patent, but a vast highway of countless curiosities satisfied.
We can't cram for a test, and we can't call memorization and education,
and when we do stand up for real education...
We can't allow the teachers to convince the class that we are just gifted,
because entire classrooms have to stand up for real education.
It should be that all the high school students, have their own MP3 players,
some with 4G modems, others with synthesizers that can sample sounds and crank out mean hip-hop.
The paths that we take should consist of real things,
that add up to grant us real powers, real talents.
For those who think that it would be impossible to roll Math education into Electronics and Programming,
because High School is only four rears, then know that school shouldn't be cut up into pieces.
Our education lasts a life time,
and institutions that clam to teach should be ready to support that; and not give reasons why that won't fit.
The road of small and colorful achievements,
is also the path of self education.
All it takes, is reminding ourselves to slow down,
that it is better to expand our knowledge in 10,000 ways, than just one.
Especially when prioritizing a job or carrier, or some patent,
over 10,000 lessons that really call to us, that make us more of who we are, that feel like a great adventure.
Call it a Jack of all trades, and a master of some,
call it genius, call it early retirement, call it achievement, call it prioritization of the most fantastic things.
But don't let anybody push you away from the things that are calling-out to you,
because no school could ever possibly match the education that you get from satisfying your most meaningful curiosities.
Above all, know that there is a sequence to your beautiful road of achievements,
you can't leap into being passionate about Music, Art, Philosophy, and you can't squeeze a decade of pondering something, into just reading another book.
We have to let things grow in us, I am pretty convinced that if I didn't have my little MP3 player idea in 1998,
then I wouldn't be so interested in building it now out of a Raspberry PI Zero, and other fancy 2020 technologies.
I am certain that I would not be able to fix my old bike,
if I don't continue riding, and slowly learning on my own how to fix and teak bicycle things.
You can't leap into knowing how to restore a bicycle back to life,
you have to spend a few years dancing around with it.
Answering curiosities, is self education, this is real functional education, that creates real and lasting results, that solves problems that you really do have,
it is not possible for a school to enlighten you this way about all your 10,000 curiosities, for one, it takes a life time.
And most importantly, at the end of the day, we end up, with a pile of stuff that we really like, will never get tired of, and we are proud of,
all our diagrams, bicycles, computer program, electronic circuits and inventions, adventure photos, drawings, paintings, sculptures, music, poetry.
Don't let people push you into a diploma and a career,
walk your own way and become an unstoppable and timeless Force Of Nature.