The straight line, yes, that humble geometric shape, is one heck of a human achievement. A giant leap forward in abstract thinking. Because, there is no straight line in the real world. A straight line had to be imagined by a human mind. In nature, there are all kinds of jagged and curvy objects and shapes. But, no straight line. As the cave-dwelling ancestor picked up that piece of carbon, she then approximated the shapes outside via curves and lines. How phenomenal!
A straight line, as we now understand in middle school via geometry, provides us with the shortest distance between two points. Any other way to reach point B from point A will be longer.
In human creations, we find straight lines everywhere. Buildings have straight lines. Highways have straight lines. The laptop with which I am typing this has straight-line-edges.
Straight lines are efficient. The shortest distance between two points means that it will be a lot more effort to take any other path, and that is inefficient. Straight edged boxes stack up well and do not leave space in between.
It is, ahem, a straight line that connects the birth of the straight line and our understanding of efficiency. If we were fascinated with curves and irregulars, then we would never have focused on efficiency.
But, the older I get, the more I seem to think that life is not about efficiency. Life is not about straight lines.
When I started driving in the US, I loved taking the freeways--they provided that shortest link between points A and B. I wanted to do other things with the time it saved me--even if it was watching reruns of Mork and Mindy. But, now, I seem to want to avoid freeways whenever I can. I take the freeway route only if it will be quite a hassle if I don't take it.
It is rare anymore for me to take the freeway when I commute from home to work. I like the winding roads, which meander the way rivers do. I am thankful that the roads were built to go with the flow. There is a lot more charm and life in the commute even though it might not be the most efficient way.
When I walked around in New Delhi, I did not enjoy walking along those modern straight and broad boulevards. On the other hand, it was a pleasure walking through the narrow and winding streets of the older Delhi. It was a similar story the last time I was at DC, which was my third visit to that city--and perhaps my last, if I had a choice. The lack of curves made my experience not only a boring one, but a tad painful too.
Even my cooking is no longer about efficiency. It is no longer about creating something edible in the shortest amount of time. My mind wanders through the ingredients that I have in the kitchen and often I change the recipe even as I am cooking through. It might, and it does, take more time. But, there is that intangible benefit that cannot be factored into any concept of efficiency.
I recall asking in a graduate school seminar why we focus on efficiency so much, and why we give that way more importance than most other criteria. I tell students in my classes that education is not about getting things done in the most efficient manner--there is a lot more to learning than a straight line approach. But, perhaps, I am increasingly coming across as a caveman myself!
1 comment:
Interesting philosophical discussion. I have never associated efficiency and straight lines , but I see your point.
Maybe its the way it is because even a straight line on the surface of the earth is not straight - its curved after all.
On the point of caveman - its impossible to ignore whatever million years of evolution and expect to change ourselves in a century. If not literally, at least figuratively, we are cavemen indeed.
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