So one of my professors gave us an assignment today, before he dictated the assignment, i was full of curiosity, anxiously waiting for some sort of brain tweaking assignment that would make us think creatively before solving (because the professor in question is well known to give us such interesting assignments in previous encounters with him). Needless to say, i was disappointed when the assignment turned out to be a 3 page essay on the life and works of one famous scientist named "Claude Elwood Shannon" and to make matters worse, the essay is to be submitted through turn it in (a plagiarism checker), meaning no chance to copy and paste. yuck!!
Grudgingly, i searched for and started reading up on the guy in question, and as it turns out, the man was not just another scientist but an extremely talented and brilliant genius. The whole digital revolution started with him, he is the one who came up with the fundamental theory of information communication and coding (Meaning that all our sending of pictures and videos, encryption and modulation started with his works). He was also noted in his biography to be a workaholic who loved and enjoyed what he did.you can find the full biography here http://www-history.mcs.st-and.ac.uk/Biographies/Shannon.html
As i kept on reading about him, one of the things he said while he was alive really stuck with me and i took some time to reflect on it. Shannon said "The harder a problem seems, the better the chance of finding something new". I then remembered another quote i read earlier today by Thomas Edison "Opportunity is missed my most people because it is dressed in overalls and looks like work".
Thinking about these two quotes prompted me to write this post, as i realized that what these two geniuses said are entirely true, because Claude Shannon was able to create the numerous amount of theories and inventions he did because he approached his everyday looking for a new problem to dive into and solve, such cannot be said of our current generation, as most people(both old and young) just go about their business trying to avoid as many problems or challenges that come their way either in school or at work, thereby missing out on the beauty and joy of making new discoveries and solving the many issues plaguing our society today. I couldn't agree more with Thomas Edison, opportunities are truly dressed in overalls and look like work. Enough said.
So I'm making a commitment today to approach each new day and its problems(be it in maths class or how to improve the WiFi connection in my hostel) with renewed curiosity and interest, in the hope of discovering and creating something of value to be added to our society.. I can only hope that you decide to do the same also..
Have a problem filled day everyone..(LOL)
Ayodeji.
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