Kalau Tak Kenal Maka Tak Cinta

It's written in my profile that my Favorite Books are Thermodynamics, Fluid Mechanics... some might think "arhh! What a tech geek!" or "Just kidding right? who on earth would find those books interesting?" It's normal for ppl to think that way as the titles that ended with "ics" are usually serious stuffs and does cause headache to some people.

The fact is, if this happen to you when reading the “-ics” stuffs (you feel headache), it’s because you failed to relate what you read (the contents) to the real life phenomena. That is, when you can’t see the physical meaning of what you read, and are trying to memorize each fact, statement (of theorem) or equation, blindly.

This happened to me when I’m doing my certificate (General Mechanical) in polytechnic, my “study” is nothing more than mere memorization. I managed to score good grade though (very good indeed), but found my study stressful and boring.

I realized there must be something wrong in the way I study (in spite of my good grades), because the “knowledge” that I acquired is mere memorized facts; they can’t be applied to solve the real life problems as there are no real understanding.

So when I’m doing my BSc, I’ve resolved to go for knowledge, not grade. When reading, I try to visualize (or you may call it using the imagination) the subject matters in order to see its physical meaning and try to relate it to the real life phenomena. For instance, when I read the definition of density, I won’t simply memorize the fact density equaled to mass per volume, instead, I would try to visualize there being some objects that is containing in a volume. This is what I mean by seeing the physical meaning. Then I would try to visualize how molecules of water containing in a volume are more pack to each other when compare to the molecules of oil. This is what I mean by relating it to the real life phenomena. Once you “see” the subject matters CLEARLY and EXACTLY (in your mind) then you can say you have learned it.

So the “actual” study is reading exercise that involves a lot of mind activity like this. Memorization that didn’t involve the mind to venture deep into the subject matters is not real study, because there is no real learning take part – you just memorized some facts but you didn’t see the subject matters yet!

There is a malay saying:

“Kalau tak kenal maka tak cinta”

This is true in almost all expects, including study. So don’t worry if you think that study is boring, or that you don’t like the courses you are taking, it’s just that you haven’t get to know your subject matters well. All you have to do is to put efforts into knowing your subject matters, once you did, you’ll find them fascinating! I know how frustrating and how interesting study may be, because I’ve been through the “using memorization” and “using imagination” stages, so I know.

So this is just a sharing based on my own experience. By the way, how about stuff like this:

…In daily life, the concepts of Mr. Right and Ms. Right are also idealizations, just like the concept of a reversible (perfect) process. People who insist on finding Mr. or Ms. Right to settle down are bound to remain Mr. or Ms. Single for the rest of their lives. The possibility of finding the perfect prospective mate is no higher than the possibility of finding a perfect (reversible) process. Likewise, a person who insists on perfection in friends is bound to have no friends.

Yunus A. C. and Michael A. B. “Thermodynamics”, Fifth edition.

Are them really boring stuff?