The Diary
of
Anne Ku

27 December 2000 Wednesday

MAKING YOU WANT TO READ IT

My professor friend told me that in his academic world, "publish or perish" is really true. He doesn't care if nobody reads it or understands it as long as it's published.

Unfortunately, it doesn't work for newspapers and trade magazines. You have to write such that people will want to buy and read. Similarly, well-written content on web sites will attract traffic.

If two sources are both accurate, I would choose to read the one that is easier and more interesting to read.

This concept of "making you want to read it" can be applied to education. Nobody likes things forced down their throat. Good teachers make learning fun. I was so used to the phrase "no pain no gain" that I think anything fun would be playing and not seriously working or learning. If I didn't learn, it was my fault. I should have studied harder.

My attitude changed after I started working. When I returned to full-time education after three years of full-time employment, I was shocked by my own transformation.

If I didn't learn anything, it wasn't my fault. It was the teacher's. If I daydreamed or fell asleep during the lecture, it was because the teacher was speaking monotone. It wasn't my fault that I didn't learn. I'm the customer. And the customer is always right.

Yesterday

Tomorrow