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Einstein on Teaching — Parallax Forums

Einstein on Teaching

ercoerco Posts: 20,261
edited 2011-05-30 18:04 in General Discussion
"I never teach my pupils. I only attempt to provide the conditions in which they can learn."
Albert Einstein
US (German-born) physicist (1879 - 1955)

A great quote and pretty much the essence of Mike Green's many well-worded and thought-provoking replies to many desperate questions asking "how do I do X?".



See also "Give a man an inch, and right away he thinks he's a ruler."
Maxwell Smart
Control Agent 86

Comments

  • davejamesdavejames Posts: 4,047
    edited 2011-05-26 11:54
    As an instructor, I find it a thought-provoking statement.
  • jazzedjazzed Posts: 11,803
    edited 2011-05-26 12:12
    Michelangelo did not carve David. He simply released David from the rock.
  • vaclav_salvaclav_sal Posts: 451
    edited 2011-05-26 12:54
    Modern American folklore corollary on Albert Einstein:

    Give a man a fish and you will feed him for a day.
    Teach him how to fish and he will spend whole blessed day in the boat drinking beer.
  • Oldbitcollector (Jeff)Oldbitcollector (Jeff) Posts: 8,091
    edited 2011-05-26 13:00
    Former Vocational Instructor here: No doubt the man was a genius...

    OBC
  • ercoerco Posts: 20,261
    edited 2011-05-26 13:16
    vaclav_sal wrote: »
    modern american folklore corollary on albert einstein:

    Give a man a fish and you will feed him for a day.
    Teach him how to fish and he will spend whole blessed day in the boat drinking beer.

    the best!
  • bill190bill190 Posts: 769
    edited 2011-05-26 21:45
    Do consider *who* his students might have been...

    Probably not like the guy I hired to help me pour a pad of concrete at my back door. I spent 10 minutes explaining to this guy why it was necessary for the concrete to slope away from the door, so when it rained, the water would drain away from the door. (He had it sloping TOWARD the door!)
  • RossHRossH Posts: 5,549
    edited 2011-05-26 21:51
    vaclav_sal wrote: »
    Modern American folklore corollary on Albert Einstein:

    Give a man a fish and you will feed him for a day.
    Teach him how to fish and he will spend whole blessed day in the boat drinking beer.

    Give a man a fish and you will feed him for a day.
    Hit him with a fish, and he'll go away and stop bothering you!
  • HollyMinkowskiHollyMinkowski Posts: 1,398
    edited 2011-05-27 01:28
    erco wrote: »
    "I never teach my pupils. I only attempt to provide the conditions in which they can learn."

    A great quote and pretty much the essence of Mike Green's many well-worded and thought-provoking replies to many desperate questions asking "how do I do X?".



    "Give a man an inch, and right away he thinks he's a ruler."

    I love that Give a man an inch quip, I'll be stealing that and using it often :-)

    Mike Green gives the absolute best replies...this forum would not be what it
    is without this smart and generous man.
  • Phil Pilgrim (PhiPi)Phil Pilgrim (PhiPi) Posts: 23,514
    edited 2011-05-27 01:38
    HollyMinkowski wrote:
    Mike Green gives the absolute best replies...this forum would not be what it is without this smart and generous man.
    Not to mention patient -- far beyond the capacity of most mortals.

    -Phil
  • RossHRossH Posts: 5,549
    edited 2011-05-27 02:18
    Phil Pilgrim (PhiPi) wrote: »
    Not to mention patient -- far beyond the capacity of most mortals.

    -Phil

    Mike Green is mortal?!?!
  • homosapienhomosapien Posts: 147
    edited 2011-05-27 04:32
    Forget the fish -

    "Build a man a fire, he will be warm for the rest of the day. Set a man on fire, he will be warm for the rest of his life."

    I know, it's a little sick...
  • PJAllenPJAllen Banned Posts: 5,065
    edited 2011-05-27 05:50
    Probably not like the guy I hired to help me pour a pad of concrete at my back door. I spent 10 minutes explaining to this guy why it was necessary for the concrete to slope away from the door, so when it rained, the water would drain away from the door. (He had it sloping TOWARD the door!)
    Did he take an attitude? "Hey, look, I took an O-level in Concrete Pouring and an A-level in Buttcrack and I don't need none of your 'advise', sir."
    Anyway, Phooey.
    They're here in droves - "just gettin' started, gonta make a 'bot with a milled aluminum skull, just need a few questions answered, lol, not much to this stuff, lol, I'll be as smart as you once you tell me what I need to know, and i've seen of optoisolators, lol, so i'm gonta need lots of optoisolators, right?..."
  • ElectricAyeElectricAye Posts: 4,561
    edited 2011-05-27 06:01
    PJ Allen wrote: »
    ...
    They're here in droves - "just gettin' started, gonta make a 'bot with a milled aluminum skull, just need a few questions answered, lol, not much to this stuff, lol, I'll be as smart as you once you tell me what I need to know..."...

    You forget to mention thermite. They always want help with something involving DIY thermite, high voltage, and high velocity. I wonder how Einstein would have fared with students in the age of Mythbusters and video games.
  • davidsaundersdavidsaunders Posts: 1,559
    edited 2011-05-27 07:39
    Well it seems that Albert knew how to effectively teach. It seems to me that we should follow this method, though I am definitely not a teacher (Experience tells me so).
  • skylightskylight Posts: 1,915
    edited 2011-05-30 07:41
    RossH wrote: »
    Give a man a fish and you will feed him for a day.
    Hit him with a fish, and he'll go away and stop bothering you!
    It seems to depend on the size of fish http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=-2002541459944162494#
  • HumanoidoHumanoido Posts: 5,770
    edited 2011-05-30 14:01
    One day a student asked Albert Einstein why he never wore socks. With mathematical precision and logic he responded that it was pointless because his big toe always wore a hole in them.
  • ercoerco Posts: 20,261
    edited 2011-05-30 18:04
    What's all this Persistence of Fishin' that people keep talking about? Anything like Conservation of Natural Racehorses ?

    Emily Latella
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