Marie Curie Got Her Start at a Secret University for Women
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Marie Curie Got Her Start at a Secret University for Women
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Re: Marie Curie Got Her Start at a Secret University for Women
#2The one-person stage play "Manya - A Living History of Marie Curie" is fantastic incidentally.
There's a clip here; I don't know if a full recording is available. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r8GTXNkkFPs
Re: Marie Curie Got Her Start at a Secret University for Women
#3I cannot imagine doing this today, although there are still places that need a secret university. However, I wonder if we have the solution, at much less risk.
I wonder if, 30 years from now when a whole new generation has grown up, we will discuss poor countries (or, say, people under the Taliban, or in North Korea) learning from the Khan Academy, Coursera and the like in the same way.
"What was it like, mom?"
"Well, kid, they didn't have these fancy holographs. First you had to find a really good 'connection' ..."
Re: Marie Curie Got Her Start at a Secret University for Women
#4I cannot imagine doing this today, although there are still places that need a secret university. However, I wonder if we have the solution, at much less risk. I wonder if, 30 years from now when a whole new generation has grown up, we will discuss poor countries (or, say, people under the Taliban, or in North Korea) learning from the Khan Academy, Coursera and the like in the same way. "What was it like, mom?" "Well…
Unlikely. Those people don't have the luxury of time needed to put any serious efforts towards their education.
Re: Marie Curie Got Her Start at a Secret University for Women
#5I cannot imagine doing this today, although there are still places that need a secret university. However, I wonder if we have the solution, at much less risk. I wonder if, 30 years from now when a whole new generation has grown up, we will discuss poor countries (or, say, people under the Taliban, or in North Korea) learning from the Khan Academy, Coursera and the like in the same way. "What was it like, mom?" "Well…
Unlikely. Those people don't have the luxury of time needed to put any serious efforts towards their education.
That's a very good point.
I suppose they would spend most of their time looking for work or a way to make a living.
There might be a thin slice of people, just below the wealthy but above the desperately poor who just need the opportunity.
Re: Marie Curie Got Her Start at a Secret University for Women
#6I cannot imagine doing this today, although there are still places that need a secret university. However, I wonder if we have the solution, at much less risk. I wonder if, 30 years from now when a whole new generation has grown up, we will discuss poor countries (or, say, people under the Taliban, or in North Korea) learning from the Khan Academy, Coursera and the like in the same way. "What was it like, mom?" "Well…
These "clandestine courses" certainly exist in rich nations, and are secretly held during lunch and in private homes. For example, to avoid bosses knowing.
Skilled human tutors, free from school/university bureaucracy, can get into your head and figure out effective ways to inspire learning. Leads to faster and surer learning, for those lucky enough to have it.
Re: Marie Curie Got Her Start at a Secret University for Women
#7I cannot imagine doing this today, although there are still places that need a secret university. However, I wonder if we have the solution, at much less risk. I wonder if, 30 years from now when a whole new generation has grown up, we will discuss poor countries (or, say, people under the Taliban, or in North Korea) learning from the Khan Academy, Coursera and the like in the same way. "What was it like, mom?" "Well…
Unlikely. Those people don't have the luxury of time needed to put any serious efforts towards their education.
Anthropologically speaking their was a lot of free time in ancient agrarian societies. I wouldn't be surprised if their is in fact a fair chunk of time that could be diverted to education if the resources were both available and accessible.
From a study of modern Asian and Pacific "free time" [1]:
"People in Cambodia (note the caveat of age – the sample is of those 5 years and older) and Pakistan have the largest amounts of free time (Figure 1.4). Cambodians have more than 16 hours of free time per day (1 000 minutes), whereas in Mongolia, which is the country where people work the longest, people have only 13 hours (800 minutes) of free time. Generally speaking, men have slightly more free time than women (Figure 1.5), reflecting longer total working time for women (Figure 1.1)."[2]
[1]: "Free time" is defined as time not spent working, and can be subdivided as "personal care time" and "leisure time". Furthermore, personal care includes time spent sleeping and accounts for > 3/5 of "free time" usage in most cases.
[2]: https://www.oecd.org/els/soc/49306957.pdf
It's a really interesting article. It leads to the corollary of "How and why do people in poorer countries spend their leisure time differently then those in wealthier ones". My personal opinion is that the differences between both demographics where narrow down over time such as "Both poor and rich spend an average of 2hrs/day on Netflix".
Re: Marie Curie Got Her Start at a Secret University for Women
#8I cannot imagine doing this today, although there are still places that need a secret university. However, I wonder if we have the solution, at much less risk. I wonder if, 30 years from now when a whole new generation has grown up, we will discuss poor countries (or, say, people under the Taliban, or in North Korea) learning from the Khan Academy, Coursera and the like in the same way. "What was it like, mom?" "Well…
Unlikely. Those people don't have the luxury of time needed to put any serious efforts towards their education.
You'd be surprised. A good friend of mine is an Afghan who grew up sleeping on a dirt floor alongside his 5 siblings. When he was 15, his parents sent him off to their family village in order to fight the Taliban.
I first met him at our PhD program orientation in the US. He speaks four languages and and is one of the most well educated people I've ever met. Granted, he's an exceptional person but by no means of a unique one.
Edit: can't help sharing something that just happened last week, I was with my wife in Athens, where she had just started her thesis research, interviewing Afghan refugees in one of the big Greek refugee camps. She befriends a 17 year old Afghan kid named Javad, no family or money, speaks nothing but Dari, and one of the first things he asks her is "can you send me a PDF of an intermediate to advanced level mechanical engineering textbook?" We're planning on sending him an ipad with a bunch of PDFs and sci hub articles.
I realize these are just two personal anecdotes but they have definitely changed my mind on this subject. Curious people tend to be curious regardless of their life circumstances.
Re: Marie Curie Got Her Start at a Secret University for Women
#9I cannot imagine doing this today, although there are still places that need a secret university. However, I wonder if we have the solution, at much less risk. I wonder if, 30 years from now when a whole new generation has grown up, we will discuss poor countries (or, say, people under the Taliban, or in North Korea) learning from the Khan Academy, Coursera and the like in the same way. "What was it like, mom?" "Well…
Interesting. I see this going on all of the time; YCombinator is a great parallel example of, while not exactly clandestine, non-institutional education collecting great minds and educating young people in an environment of relative obscurity and non-intervention from the greater culture that hosts it. I expect _more_ of this in the future.
Re: Marie Curie Got Her Start at a Secret University for Women
#10Earlier quoted context omitted.
Unlikely. Those people don't have the luxury of time needed to put any serious efforts towards their education.
Anthropologically speaking their was a lot of free time in ancient agrarian societies. I wouldn't be surprised if their is in fact a fair chunk of time that could be diverted to education if the resources were both available and accessible. From a study of modern Asian and Pacific "free time" [1]: "People in Cambodia (note the caveat of age – the sample is of those 5 years and older) and Pakistan have the largest amo…
> their was a lot of free time in ancient agrarian societies
Isn't it disappointing that with all the automation and advanced technology we have today, people on average have less free time?
I changed jobs recently, and at my new company, my team consistently works from 9 am to around 7pm. I feel pressured to stay as I don't want to be the only one walking out the door at 5:15pm (and since that'd be frowned upon). My commute is one hour each way, so I'm not free from 8am to 8pm.
I really wish I had more free time for intellectual pursuits and personal projects. :(