Earlier this week, while fastening new shoelaces I was reminded of the fact that, during my life at my parental home, we (seemingly) never used to run out of shoelaces. I think one of my parents was smart enough to consider that kids always seem to break shoelaces at any time of the day any year. There used to be a plastic container full of spare shoelaces in one of the cabinets in the kitchen.
Shoelaces also reminds me of a short story (by longtime Internet friend Alan Corre) properly titled ‘Shoelaces’.
Last week, the BBC sported an article by Bill Gates (nonetheless!), who gave his views about which skills you need to succeed. I generally agree with his remarks, especially the following sections:
Beyond that, however, I don’t think you can overemphasise the importance of having a good background in maths and science.
[…]
Having that kind of curiosity about the world helps anyone succeed, no matter what kind of work they decide to pursue.
Curiosity and critical thinking go hand in hand: I was fortunate that my dad (who was both firmly set in religion and science) was willing to give us space to explore and discover things on our own and question everything that was around us that didn’t make sense. In many of these cases, the local library offered solutions. If you’re a kid, there’s only one advice I’d give: Read a lot of books, from novels to scientific books.