Great inventions despite nonsense in education
An organic compote project that made it to the finals on a show on the state-run TRT called “Do you have an idea?” has caused commotion in the last couple of days.
I must confess that the first time I read the news I also wanted to attend the competition with some of my ideas. For example, I could offer the pleasure of a flat bread specialty of mine throughout the season to people with my “Ramadan specialty flat bread” project, which cooks in a microwave in a couple of minutes.
Among my ideas is the “İskender Kebab Kit,” which can be prepared at home with ingredients consisting of frozen döner kebab, flat bread, tomato sauce, yoghurt and butter. Another project of mine is season-oriented. Why should we not turn one of our indigenous and national habits of sun tanning with olive oil and coke dabbed on our skin, and afterwards treating the sunburns with yoghurt, into a business and reinforce it in a stylish packaging and even support it with scented by-products? In this context, the trio of “Rose-scented, olive oil, and sugar-free coke- condensed yoghurt with aloe vera” can very well be sold as a summer special beauty kit.
These are my original ideas; if anyone uses and commercializes them, my lawyer will give you a hard time, let me warn you from now!
If we take a look at the organic compote project again; first let’s make one thing clear. It is not the compote that came first in the competition but it is the speed-controlled road bump project which came first.
The reason people criticize the organic compote is not that it came first, but that it made it to the finals by eliminating the portable physiotherapy machine for Alzheimer patients, is the thing. The managers of the competition made a press statement with a rather offended attitude. They underlined in their statement that this show was “not a scientific but an entrepreneurship competition.”
Although turning compote into a fast consuming product by extending its shelf-life without pasteurizing it sounds interesting, we can argue of course its entrepreneurship value on a world scale. On the other hand, it is indisputable that portable physiotherapy business is an important need in the country. So it means that the jury considered this ranking appropriately with regards to entrepreneurship.
If we return to science, miracles are happening without the compote and speed bumps. A handful of well-educated young people are doing wonders in the country despite all the nonsense in the education system.
The genius and talented students, educated at the Science and Art Centers (BİLSEM) in Antalya, were awarded both the second and grand prizes in a robotics competition held in China, where 50 countries took part. Our “vehicle control intelligence” robotics project became world champion.
In this project, developed for the physically disabled, control of the vehicles can be made with mind control and without depending on anyone else! Of course, let’s commercialize the compote with its long shelf life, speed controlled road bump, physiotherapy machine and shake the world with the brilliant robotics project. Count me in all these projects!
But count me out if the bright ideas are separated according to their political opinions and are given preferential treatment to one and oppresses the other!
In recent years, partisanship, prejudice, and “yours vs. ours” schisms is a cultural engineering effort that is hitting the top.