On Balance

Why am I so keen on making things that balance, particularly those that seem precarious?  First of all it is fun. Because it surprises.  Things that, at first glance, appears that it should fall.  And yet it doesn’t.  Even when you disturb it, it may sway back and forth.  Yet it soon sways less and less, and sits still again.  Even though I have watched them so many times, I never get tired.  

When you understand the principle, it seems so reasonable.  And so elegant.  It is gravity.  That seems to explain everything.  However, when I think deeper, I realise that I do not understand gravity at all.  What exactly is it?  What causes it?  How does it actually work - even in a vacuum?  Why does it have to be this way?  I understand, yet I do not fully understand. 

Above all, it is simply beautiful.  

And it happens not only with physical things.  The same happens with my job - teaching, service-learning.  

Just this afternoon, I listened to a great presentation by Prof. Emily Chan, a professor from the Chinese University.  She teaches students to go to places to help people who suffer from disasters and other problems. She is very good at it, teaching, researching, organising, and a lot more. It is very impressive. For that she was given a University Grants Committee Outstanding Teaching Award.  She does not use the term service-learning.  But what she does is very similar to what we do.  

She made a point that resonates with me.  She said you have to treat the people that you serve as equal.  You are sending your students there to learn - you are using the people, the local environment and their problem as training ground to teach your students.  You have to really give them help with their problems, to be fair to them.  I cannot remember her exact words, so I am trying to paraphrase here.  That resonates because it is also what I believe - you have to balance the benefits to us (our students) with the benefits to them (the people you are helping).   If our students are not learning, we cannot justify it to the university.  If the local people are not benefiting, we cannot justify bothering them.  

If the relationship is not balanced it is not sustainable.  The side that is not receiving a real benefit despite the effort put in tends to drop out. Hence if it is a well-structured project lasting many years, the relationship tends to be healthily balanced and stable.   It is just like my bird that is properly balanced.  It may swing back and forth for a while.  But if it is properly designed, it will settle into a balanced and stable position.

The need for balance is more important if it is a hefty project, requiring significant effort and making a meaningful impact.  When a hefty project is properly balanced, it can be very stable, not easily disturbed by problems and challenges, and lasting a long time. Interestingly, the same applies to my bird and other balancing installations.  Light weight installations can be easily blown off balance by a small breeze.  A weighty installation, on the other hand, tend to be much more stable. 

When there is real learning for our students, and real benefits for our friends in Mainland China, Cambodia, Rwanda, Myanmar, Vietnam, Indonesia, …, it is beautiful.  

Balancing seems to pop up everywhere.  It is certainly also extremely important in life, but this post is running long enough.