Da wird der Geist Euch wohl dressiert,
In spanische Stiefeln eingeschnürt,
Daß er bedächtiger so fortan
Hinschleiche die Gedankenbahn,
Und nicht etwa, die Kreuz und Quer,
Irrlichteliere hin und her.
Dann lehret man Euch manchen Tag,
Daß, was Ihr sonst auf einen Schlag
Getrieben, wie Essen und Trinken frei,
Eins! Zwei! Drei! dazu nötig sei.
Your spirit's then well broken in for you,
In Spanish boots laced tightly to,
That you henceforth may more deliberately
keep
The path of thought and straight along it
creep,
And not perchance criss-cross may go,
A - will-o'-wisping to and fro.
Then you'll be taught full many a day
What at one stroke you've done alway,
Like eating and like drinking free,
It now must go like: One! Two! Three!
Once again we have here the critique of the academic life.
Although Mephistopheles says this, he can separate his
opinion from his principle. In the German classicism an identity of form
and style was demanded, which means style is also content.
The works that are written for the university are style
without content. What the author wants to express, is
that the style of that, what's written, is more important
than its content. Always one, two and three has to be
respected. One has to write in an introduction, what one
guy said or the other something different. And therefore
the scientific question arises from this difference. Then
comes the main part with lots of quotes, that sound scientific
(of course it is important to quote correctly). Then comes
the summary and in this summary, in which is said that
this work is only the start of large investigation, because
one does not know yet, whether the author wrote his verses
because his wife could not get pregnant or because he
was in love with another girl. Once accepted this one,
two, three, one can pass any exam. Basically this game,
financed by taxes, does not interest anybody. But it is
done this way for the last 200 years and it will be done
for the next 200 years, if not the state decides to stop
this nonsense.
In fewer words we here have once again a description
how the normal (not yet deformed by academic routine)
brain works. The human brain works in a associative way;
it can establish relations between many things and create
new things. Many people believe that it is such an efficient
apparatus, because man can think systematically. Howevery, actually the power of the human
brain does not consist of the systematic thinking. Any computer is able to "think" more
logically, more systematically and above all faster. The
strength of the human brain does not exist in working
algorithms, this any computer does better. But the human
brain is able to establish new relations between things,
for instance the one that permits the human brain to create
computers. The description by Mephistopheles, that the
ideas go criss-cross, if not put into restraints, is very
precise. But again only the criss-cross-thinking makes
it possible for human beings to be creative. Not to be
misunderstood, the author is quite able to think logically
(he gives classes in programming at a quite high level).
Nevertheless Mephistopheles is right.
