A ONE Institute
May 29, 2024
Today, we might discuss a somewhat random topic, “The most efficient way to move the Statue of Liberty.” Behind this topic is a consideration of what capabilities are necessary for our students living in modern society. I hope you will join me in this discussion.
What is the most efficient way to move the Statue of Liberty?
If you were asked by an interviewer to think of a way to move the Statue of Liberty from Manhattan to Washington D.C. within 5 minutes, what would you answer?
Perhaps the answers might be:
Move it by helicopter
Rebuild the Statue of Liberty in D.C.
A somewhat creative answer might be to swap the names of the two cities.
In fact, like these kinds of questions, the answer is not set. Which applicant would the interviewer select based on their answer to such an open-ended question? If I were the interviewer, I would choose the interviewee who raises their hand and asks why the Statue of Liberty needs to be moved. We live in a modern society characterized by a flood of information beyond the sea of information. In this vast amount of data, the ability to find the necessary purpose and properly adjust any data to use it appropriately will create high added value.
The list above is the Best STEM Job, and the occupations colored in yellow are directly dealing with data, while the rest are indirectly dealing with data. Among the numerous data, the ability to adjust the data that fits the purpose is important! It becomes a person who creates high added value.
All students learn the function of logarithms during their school days. The inverse of the Exponential function, the Logarithm function, has a graph like the one in the image above, and it has various characteristics, so they teach various ways to solve logarithm problems, but in fact, there are no students who ask why they have to learn such logarithm problems. It would be good to be curious about why we learn logarithm problems. The way to solve such logarithm problems is directly connected to the ability to determine which data needs to be adjusted according to a certain purpose.
An image is given inside the image, and x, y values are given. If you represent this as a graph, it will look like the one on the right, and the x value is distorted.
If you attach this distorted X value, it will look like the one below. If you take the log, the large y value becomes smaller, the data changes, and the graph is expressed like the image above, and the distortion of the data disappears.
Ultimately, you take the log because you can see the data well without the distortion of the scale. This is the first reason to learn logs. The graph of the log becomes gentler as the x value gradually increases. Taking the log of the Exponential graph makes it a straight graph that is easy to see, so it becomes easier to compare and analyze the data.
This is the second reason to learn logs, to see the data clearly. Knowing why we learn what we learn is very important. There is often a saying that if you know the intention of the questioner, the probability of getting the correct answer increases.
The problem in the image above is a problem that came out in AP Physics 1. When there is a slope and a block on it, It is a problem comparing the speed of the block when the slope is fixed and the speed of the block when there is no friction on the slope. Ultimately, it is a problem comparing No friction and fixed, without friction and when it is fixed. What needs to be done first when solving such a problem is to think about why the premise was given in what way. If you reach the thought that the slope can move, it is an easy problem to solve, and this problem-solving ability is the reason for studying.
Then, what activities in childhood will help develop this ability? What are good activities to develop the ability to modify and use data well and to use it according to the given purpose? In fact, the ability to understand the worldview of others is of great help to this ability. For this, no matter how much you emphasize it, it is not excessive to read! Understanding the author’s worldview is very helpful. Lego assembly in childhood. The process of making it by looking at design drawings, etc. is helpful for improving the ability to understand the purpose because you have to clearly understand the intention of the manual.
There is an organization called the National Association for Gifted Children.
This organization offers various programs In Model UN, YMCA Youth and Government activities, you will cooperate and debate. In Key Club/ Eco Club, they also do Problem Solving about environmental problems. Through Cultural Clubs, they conduct activities to expand students’ awareness. These various activities consistently cultivate the ability to understand the purpose well and to extract and use data that fits it well. Today, we started the conversation with a somewhat random topic, “The most efficient way to move the Statue of Liberty,” but in the end, it was a talk about the ability to extract and utilize any data that fits the purpose.
No matter what you do, I hope it was helpful to tell you what activities you should do to understand the purpose well and how to understand it when studying.
Thank you.