My college training in my junior year irritated me. I didn't feel it was "real" training to teach. I turned 20 at the time and I realize a 20 year old probably isn't all that good a judge of much. After teaching for 4 years, I found out that my state required a master's degree after 10 years of teaching so I had only 6 years! I remembered my earlier irritation and thought a master's in educational research would be what I wanted. I found that not many places offered degrees in educational research methods but the University of Maryland had just started a doctoral program. The program offered financial support, thanks to Sputnik and worry and fear.
Lately, I have settled on something of a roughly scientific stance or posture toward both positive adventures and negative mishaps and unpleasantries. I am now more than 4 times the age I was when I got irritated at the teacher preparation curriculum and I am ever so much wiser. What I have found is that many of the choices that life offers can be comfortably looked at as experiments. Of course, my whole life is an experiment and it is one that I don't expect to repeat, which gives me only a number of cases of 1, not enough to be impressive. But still, I find noting how it turns out if I try route A instead of my usual route, I am interested in the time it takes, the scenery to be seen, the dangers and risks of that route, all the while seeking the best route. Similarly, with authors, channels, activities, etc: what seems most satisfactory, least costly, most inspiring, …
Two authors that gave me a lift during teen years and early adulthood were C.S. Lewis and Jacques Barzun. When thinking about advocating a personal "scientific", "experimental" attitude, I remembered that Barzun wrote the book Science: The Glorious Entertainment. I went to some effort to borrow a copy from the university library and have begun looking through it. Barzun wrote as much or more about science as a cultural force and the basis of institutional operations so I may not find the book extending my thinking much.
If I try one route and then another, I can note what my satisfaction level using each. If I try one 6 times, and the other 6 times, I might count which route seemed to produce more satisfaction. So, counting and averaging and seeking other ways to judge the routes than using my feelings, I could test the two (or more routes) for a very long time.
