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Vol.55
What's Wrong with Foolishness |
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Dec. 04,2019 |
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I was born in Tokyo in
February 1944. However, I had to
be evacuated to a country town
in Chiba during the war and was
returned to Tokyo when I became
a 6th grader. I still remember
when I was transferred to an
elementary school in
Suginami-ku, Tokyo. I was
utterly shocked by the fact that
all classmates were bright.
The Chiba town where I
lived was located near the Tone
River, so I had so many
activities to do throughout the
year, such as fishing, swimming,
mushroom hunting, and bug
hunting such as crayfish, pond
loach, and dragonflies.
Since
both of my parents were busy
working - my father as an
assistant village master and my
mother as a tatami-mat factory
owner, they never told me to
study. That is why this new
school was a tremendous culture
shock to me.
When I
advanced to a junior high school
next year, I was further
devastated by finding that new
classmates from uptown
residential areas were so
intelligent. Many of them later
went to elite universities.
In my opinion, there
are three types of smartness:
(1) Memory, (2) Judgment skill,
and (3) Creativity. People who
have all three are the best.
I
am not being modest or humble,
but I think that my memory and
judgment skill are less than the
average. This is because there
were so many experiences that
made me aware of my foolishness.
Nevertheless, I have
still managed to survive in the
research business with my
positive attitude - no
surrender, no hesitation, and no
regret.
When I looked
back, I think I studied the most
in my college days. I had great
teachers then who told me to
always ask why, which helped me
have positive thinking.
As
"God doesn't give with both
hands" suggests, it must be
important to carefully develop
"one gift," which is given to
everyone.
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