"Rigorous reasoning is crucial in mathematics, and insight plays an important secondary role these days. In the natural sciences, I would say that the order of these two virtues is reversed. Rigor is, of course, very important. But the most important value is insight--insight into the workings of the world. It may be because there is another guarantor of correctness in the sciences, namely, the empirical evidence from observation and experiment"
The moment the clock strikes six pm, the lights go off. Oh how I despise load shedding. For three nights in a row, the Electricity Company of Ghana has targeted my neighborhood as the victim for the daily load shedding exercise. With a heavy sigh, I light a few candles before heading out to switch on the emergency generator.
I wedge myself in between the wall and the ginormous machine and stretch for the switch. The generator hums to life, sputtering noxious fumes from the exhaust pipe before dying off. That's weird. I try again, this time turning the switch slowly, as if to lend it some of my energy. I hear the engine vibrate, but nothing else.
I roll up my sleeves, getting myself into "household electrician" mode. From past experiences and observations, it's only logical to say that some air got into that yellowish pipe from the fuel tank. So I get to work. But no success.
I try again, this time filling up the tank with diesel-nothing. Jump start the battery? Nope. Add a bit of oil to the engine? Very funny Leiya. I collapse onto the grass in surrender and gawk into the darkness in bewilderment. How is it that my reasoning has failed to this extent? Do I have to resort to phoning my dad, only to be scolded that my logical thinking is mediocre?
Suddenly, I hear a rustling from inside the generator. A wild gecko perhaps. But I was wrong. It. Was. A. RAT. That was the culprit! The little pest had chewed one of the pipes to a stub. My reasoning pointed me so stoutly to one direction, that I failed to digest the full situation. If I had been more insightful I would've succeeded in gleaning a better understanding of the problem at hand. Our minds are so easily deceived by insufficient information...
I am so embarrassed by this essay...it's one of my worst pieces. No coherence. No direction. Just all over the place. Please lend me some of your word magic, and help me make this an amazing essay!
