e pur si muove

This little conversation appeared in Karel Čapek’s R.U.R. This otherwise obscure play¹ is universally recognized as the etymological source of the word robot.

A* > Jsem hrozně zpátečnický, paní Heleno. Nemám ani trochu rád tenhle pokrok.
H* > Jako Nána.
A* > Ano, jako Nána. Má Nána nějaké modlitby?
H* > Takhle tlusté.
A* > A jsou v nich modlitby pro různé případnosti života? Proti bouřce? Proti nemoci?
H* > Proti pokušení, proti velké vodě -
A* > A proti pokroku ne?
H* > Myslím, že ne.
A* > To je škoda.

A* > I’m a dreadful reactionary, Mrs. Helena. I don’t like this progress one bit.
H* > Like Nana.
A* > Yes, like Nana. Does Nana have a prayer book?
H* > A big fat one.
A* > And are there prayers in it for various occurrences in life? Against storms? Against illness?
H* > Against temptation, against floods -
A* > But not against progress, I suppose?
H* > I think not.
A* > That’s a shame.

- Karel Čapek, “R.U.R”

As a fan of Isaac Asimov, it is striking to see how the fictional R.U.R. corporation (acronym of Rossum’s Universal Robots, the robot-making company in the play) parallels Asimov’s equally fictional corporation U.S. Robots and Mechanical Men, albeit minus the socially subversive subtexts. It’s not hard to see how the 1920s would have been enthralled with the notion of technology’s ability to subvert the existing world order - it’s a mystery why it’s not more popular today.

Further reading

1. P. Kussi, ed., Toward The Radical Center: A Karel Čapek reader, Catbird Press:  North Haven, CT, 1990.

1. Obscure today, at least - it was apparently enormously popular in its day.↩

This quotation rings so true for graduate school.

The myth of epiphany has a long history because it’s appealing to believe that there is a short, simple reason that things happen. The myth has staying power because there is a tiny core of truth within it.

“But as soon as you dig into what happened five minutes before that magic moment, or a day, or a week, or a month,” [says Scott Berkun, author of The Myths of Epiphany], “you realize that there is a much more complicated story in the background.”

THAT more complicated story most often begins and ends with a determined, hard-working and open-minded person trying, and failing, to find a solution to a given problem.

Reference

Janet Rae-Dupree, New York Times, Eureka! It Really Takes Years of Hard Work