...it's about what you do with what you know. We are a highly privileged group of people. Obviously, we aren't completely homogenous, but as Dr. Shahi said the very fact that we're graduate students at USC says that we all have access to the same level of education at a specific kind of institution. It seems to me that historically, knowledge has always been revered--the recognition goes to the person who knows the most stuff. That's one of the reasons physicians command such respect (in some countries more than others). But nowadays, most of us have access to the internet, and there's not a tremendous difference between your knowing, say, all the letters of the Greek alphabet, and my looking them up in seconds using Google.
What our challenge will be is to figure out how to use all that information. Of course, we have to be knowledgeable; we can't use information without first being aware of its existence and content. But after that, the people who will do the most good, I think, are those that look for--or even just stumble on--the hidden ideas and solutions buried in all that data. Einstein's thought experiments and Muhammad Yunus' bottom-up approach, both brought to our attention by Dr. Shahi, are two great examples of people who changed the way we think by keeping their eyes and ears wide open to what others took for granted. Hopefully, we can learn from their approach and remember that the solutions are out there--we just have to tease them out and bring them to life.
Some of the world's greatest feats were accomplished by people not smart enough to know they were impossible. -Doug Larson
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I would add, it's also who you know. One of the things that I really admire about Dr. Shahi, and I think we should learn from, is that he's made connections with people and organizations outside of the typical public health sphere.
Nice quote at the end. So my question to you is what are you going to do with what you know?
kat:
short answer--i don't know yet =)
long answer--i think the approach i suggested is something that can be applied every day. whenever you formulate an idea, process information, write a paper, design a research study or an intervention, evaluate a program...you can apply this. it's a way to approach life in general.
i don't know what i'll do with what i know, but i figure if we're patient & humble, and if we keep our eyes & ears wide open, we'll see opportunities!
If you watched American Ideal last night you could similar to what you have mentioned in your blog. I absolutely agree with you, Its not what you know but its also how you use your knowledge makes you, YOU!
The 17 years old girl from Texas in American Idol, worked so hard the night before performance but she couldn’t remember her word while singing the next day. The result was that she got cut out of the program. So this completely make sense, we should learn and mean while be able to put our knowledge in to action in order to have improved future! Really nice and indepth blog Farah :)
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