Цветы для Элджернона
PROGRESS REPORT 11
Theuniversitylibraryismysecondhomenow.They’vehadtogetmeaprivateroombecauseittakesmeonlyasecondtoabsorbtheprintedpage,andcuriousstudentsinvariablygatheraroundmeasIflipthroughmybooks.
Mymostabsorbinginterestsatthepresenttimeareetymologiesofancientlanguages,thenewerworksonthecalculusofvariations,andHinduhistory.It’samazingthewaythings,apparentlydisconnected,hangtogether.I’vemoveduptoanotherplateau,andnowthestreamsofthevariousdisciplinesseemtobeclosertoeachotherasiftheyflowfromasinglesource.
StrangehowwhenI’minthecollegecafeteriaandhearthestudentsarguingabouthistoryorpoliticsorreligion,itallseemssochildish.
Ifindnopleasureindiscussingideasanymoreonsuchanelementarylevel.Peopleresentbeingshownthattheydon’tapproachthecomplexitiesoftheproblem—theydon’tknowwhatexistsbeyondthesurfaceripples.It’sjustasbadonahigherlevel,andI’vegivenupanyattempttodiscussthesethingswiththeprofessorsatBeekman.
Burtintroducedmetoaneconomicsprofessoratthefacultycafeteria,onewellknownforhisworkontheeconomicfactorsaffectinginterestrates.IhadlongwantedtotalktoaneconomistaboutsomeoftheideasIhadcomeacrossinmyreading.Themoralaspectsofthemilitaryblockadeasaweaponintimesofpeacehadbeenbotheringme.
