Surely You’re Joking Mr Feynman

“There is pleasure in recognising old things from a new viewpoint” - Richard Feynman

Richard Feynman was a world-class scientist. He was mainly known for his contributions in physics in such fields as quantum mechanics, quantum electrodynamics and physics of the superfluidity. In his lifetime he represented an unconventional way of thinking. His interests lied not only in physics or maths but also in art (he took art lessons with renowned Californian artist Jirayr Zorthian) and social behaviour to name a few.

Mr Feynman is a kind of a role-model in this essay as a multidisciplinary mind and an unconventional intellectual. This is the attitude that Polish (and not only) educational system is lacking. Last few years Polish media and the government are intensively promoting studies at Technical Universities. To put it briefly — the most important reason being emphasised is shortage of qualified engineers. People are lured to study science in order to fulfil lack of qualified staff on the market that is underscored by the government and media in general. Let’s look a bit closer on the subject.

Nowadays job market changes rapidly. In Europe, shortage of engineers is widely known and those professions are, usually, thought to be the best paid jobs there are — apart from the top management and executive roles. But can you really be 100 percent sure that after five years of hard and demanding studies you’ll get a well paid job ? I don’t think so.What is more, I have known some people, graduating from a Technical University, that really struggled for a long time to get a job in their field of study. Some of them failed and had to retrain for another profession. Jobs in engineering don’t give you that much room for maneuver as, for instance, jobs in management.

Of course, that does not mean that they are of worse kind. I have studied management and electrical engineering and I really loved both. What I am trying to say here is that promoting one over the other — science over humanistic field is not the way to go. Let people study what they love and what they truly feel like doing and they will achieve the best there can be. If they don’t know what they want to pursue — let them try to find their way by trying both or offering a multidisciplinary field of study that gives a holistic view on the subject.

Not everybody should study math or physics. On the other hand, not everybody should study psychology or management as well. Study what you like and not what somebody dictates you to learn. If you graduate from studies which you hated all 3-4-5 years then would you like to work in the profession you despised for the rest of your life ? I guess the answer would be “rather not” or “never”.

“ You have no responsibility to live up to what other people think you ought to accomplish. I have no responsibility to be like they expect me to be. It’s their mistake, not my failing. ” — Richard Feynman in “Surely You’re Joking, Mr. Feynman!”

You can earn as much or more if you finish any other faculty on any other University. With sites such as Coursera or edX you can fill some of your knowledge gaps for free from the world renown Universities in a variety of topics such as public speaking, programming, medicine, game theory and many others. As important as the knowledge you have or will have is your attitude, passion and willingness to develop. Try reading “Pytaj głupio. Zmienisz świat” (“Ask stupid questions. You will change the world”) by Piotr Cieśliński (translated by Google here). It sheds new light on the topic of education and building your “sensitivity of the world”. One other thing is also worth remembering:

“All the time you’re saying to yourself, ‘I could do that, but I won’t,’—which is just another way of saying that you can’t.” — Richard Feynman

Thus, next time when you think of something you want — ask yourself: What is it that I already have and need to have (or need to change) to accomplish this goal and what value does it have for me ? Write it down on a piece of paper and start from there.