Be a Machine, or Be a Creator
Doing is difficult, even if it is as simple as a Bottle Rocket experiment. I know the importance of learning by doing, and I understand that it is difficult to do something rather than just think about doing it. However, it is still possible to underestimate this in certain situations, as I did in this case while performing a high school chemistry experiment.
A little backstory before I jump into explain what happened. In my childhood, I read a lot of science books, like Young Scientist, but for some reason, I never actually conducted those experiments. There were likely several reasons for this: I knew we were poor, and requesting a budget for my science projects would almost certainly result in rejection; I didn’t even know we could do those experiments at home; and I wasn’t aware of the culture of experiments for high school students. I must have assumed that such activities were reserved for higher-level studies.
Now, that I am an adult with a job to cater some budget for some of my indulgences, I decided why don't I do some simple chemistry experiments to start with. I did some googling and bought The Joy of Chemistry by Cathy Cobb and Monty Fetterolf. The first experiment suggested in the book is Bottle Rocket using vinegar and baking soda. It sounded very simple when reading. All I needed were vinegar, baking soda, tissue paper, a one liter bottle and a cork. I felt adventurous, watched some youtube videos and decided to do a modified version of the same experiment. Instead of making the cork fly, I wanted to make the bottle fly by turning the set-up upside down. Additional items needed were three pencils and a tape to stick the pencils to the bottle and make the bottle stand using pencils as it's legs. Once I drop the tissue filled with baking soda, shove the cork, place the set up and run, it should blow the bottle into the air with in minutes. WHY ? because acetic acid in vinegar and sodium bicarbonate in baking soda react and form lots of carbon dioxide, which starts filling the bottle and eventually the gas needs more space and pushes the cork down with so much pressure that cork is forced out and bottle will fly as Newton's third law suggests. I can even write the equation
So, it is simple right. I quickly got into action. I ordered corks on amazon. I ordered vinegar on Swiggy instamart. I already had baking soda, pencils, tape and other items needed. I waited for my orders to be delivered.
It was D-Day, I quickly read the instructions once again, since I know, If the measurements go wrong, food and experiments, both will leave a bad taste. The measurements were - for 120ml of vinegar, mix 120ml of water and two spoons of baking soda. Good, I thought. I am confident now. I have the knowledge in the back of my hand.
I did exactly as the instructions told me to, poured the mixture of vinegar and water into the bottle, dropped the tissue with baking soda. This was challenging since the tissue I chose was little soft and already some soda fell out of it while forcing the tissue into the bottle. I was already scared if the bottle would blow in my face, since I never did this experiment and didn't know the intensity of it. I was also skeptical if the dropped out soda will be the reason of failure for my experiment. But, I managed it and ran away and started imagining the end result, the sound of the beautiful explosion and how high it would fly etc. I waited for two minutes, some gas bubbles started appearing, I got excited. After another two minutes, the quantity of bubbles increased. I went and shook the bottle and ran away and waited for the explosion. After another two minutes it became evident that it was not gonna fly. The bubbles died down. I felt disappointed. How ? I did exactly as per the instructions. I felt like an imposter. How can I go back to my home and eat with a failed high school experiment in my history that too in my adulthood ?
But this was not a problem for me since I already faced lot of failures. I am already shameless. One failed high school experiment is not going to hurt me. Quickly my mind returned to the dropped baking soda while pushing the tissue into the bottle. I decided, I would double the ingredients. Now, I used 240 ml of vinegar and 240 ml of water, 5 tea spoons of baking soda. This time I wanted vengeance. Still, the experiment won. It did not fly. I doubted my entire engineering college degree. Was it a lie ? It was painful. It was lunch time, I went and ate two KFC chicken zinger burgers. I wanted something spicy. I slept like a pig and woke up after one hour.
I wanted to try again. I am really shameless, I thought to myself. But the vinegar bottle was over. I started staring at the empty bottle, then something stuck me. The ingredients. It was there. Clearly there. Ingredients : Acetic Acid + Water. Ahhhhhaaaa, Now I know what went wrong. I didn't have to mix water again.
Now with renewed confidence and equipped with new knowledge, went to a supermarket near me and bought a vinegar bottle, read the ingredients and chuckled when I saw acetic acid and water. Repeated the same experiment, the only change was no additional water. IT WORKED. It was a blast.
The point of all this is just to remind myself that until I do something by myself, I will never truly understand its nuances. In the AI era, where automation and algorithms can execute instructions flawlessly, the ability to learn by doing—experimenting, failing, and refining—is more important than ever. Simply following instructions without deeper understanding reduces us to mere executors of predefined tasks.
A machine follows instructions. It does not think, question, or innovate—it merely processes what it has been given. If we limit ourselves to passive learning, blindly consuming information without application, we risk becoming no different from machines. But what sets us apart is our ability to create, adapt, and think critically. True learning happens when we engage with the process, make mistakes, and push beyond the boundaries of what is already known.
So, the choice is clear: be a machine, or be a creator.