Reinvent the Wheel I say!

Why "discovering" (someone else's) theory is actually a good thing!

I grew up learning that a² + b² = c² (the Pythagorean theorem) was invented by Greek mathematician-philosopher Pythagoras (c. 570–500/490 BCE). But recently I learned that it is actually far older. Four Babylonian tablets from circa 1900–1600 BCE suggest some knowledge of the theorem. Meaning: different people across time and land mass might have been asking the same questions, thinking through the same ideas.

Photo by Drew Beamer on Unsplash

I find that knowledge comforting. I mean sure, it might be cool to invent something new. In television and film, let alone in education, there is definitely some shine in having one’s name attached to a world-changing idea. BUT there are also countless shows about doctors and lawyers…versions upon versions of them. So is there also something to finding oneself in a community of shared ideas? I think yes.

And I’m not the only one. After being introduced to some seminal work by educational theorists like Nel Noddings or Gert Biesta I have heard grad students and colleagues alike say something to the effect of:

“This! This [insert theory] is what I’ve known in my gut for years!”

It’s as if having their gut feeling explained in academic language makes them feel seen.

Photo by Thiago Carlos Machado on Unsplash

And who doesn’t want to feel seen?

I do.

Creating something from scratch can be lonely work. Artistic ventures like writing are so often solitary. And competitive. But if considered from a different vantage point, how might that competition be reframed as inspiration? And what if iterative is actually the goal? Instead of new and shiny, how about duct taped and reshaped? Instead of untested and unverified, maybe our words and ideas will be better served in the good company of those who have gone before.

In grad school I remember reading the term “discourse community.” It was shared with me by a senior scholar via email and I liked it so much that I tried using it in an early draft of my docutoral work. When a committee member read it and guffawed “What does that even mean?” I felt silly. But I also remember feeing a little sad — for them. Here I was, early in my career, working to build a community of words and there they were, years into the process, laughing at the possibility of such a thing. I determined then that I did not want to grow up and be that way.

Photo by Alessandra Caretto on Unsplash

Let’s reinvent the wheel! Let’s try again and again at something “tried and true” but make it new…or newly ours by joining the discourse community. The ongoing work of meaning making.