Al-Yamama bint Saud Al-Shabibi
Student, College of Arts and Social Sciences
As Blaise Pascal once said: “All of humanity’s problems stem from man’s inability to sit quietly in a room alone”.
A quote I once heard from one of my literature professors that lingered on my website page for several months. Its claim, however, invites scrutiny in regard to its breadth and comprehensiveness. The act of sitting alone in a room may seem, at first glance, somewhat passive. Yet it is precisely this stillness that compels the mind to ultimately transform what is called “ordinary” to be “extraordinary”. It is what creates beautiful chaos in the world beyond; a chaos of embracing thoughts, critiquing theories, and establishing newness. As university students, we create our own spheres of thoughts that lead us to discover new doors, whether to knock on them gently or push them open with determination. In these moments of solitude, students sharpen their ability to explore, question, and reshape the very fissures of knowledge. It is in sitting quietly alone that one learns not only to observe, but to understand, adjust, and ultimately transform the structures of science.
As a result, one might argue that some of humanity’s problems are not merely obstacles, but necessary catalysts that illuminate broader paths in life. Difficulties shouldn’t be perceived solely as detrimental forces shaped by someone’s thinking; rather, they can serve a constructive purpose. When individuals activate and trust their potential, such challenges often bring forth something valuable to the surface. University dorms are more than walls that shelter students; they are spaces designed to offer both safety and possibility. While students retreat to them for rest, they also cultivate a kind of “golden loneliness”, a solitude that invites deeper engagement with notebooks, digital platforms, slides, and books. Far from discouraging intellectual activity, these spaces foster it. Within their quiet, students are encouraged to think critically, explore ideas, and identify gaps in knowledge that call for inquiry and understanding.
Dorms are also shelters for questions which challenge what we are taught and told. In the Island of Knowledge (2014), the scientist Marcelo Gleiser discusses that as the island of what we know grows, the shoreline between knowledge and the unknown also grows. In this sense, the more we know from university classes, the more complex and intricate our questions should become in our dorms. Questions for problems, and problems for transformations. This means that knowledge is infinite. The resulted chaos is not a sign of failure; it is a sign of expansion. The expansion of meanings, messages, and responsibilities. This corresponds with Jacques Derrida’s theory of Deconstruction, often studied in courses such as “Modern Literary Criticism”. We tend to confine ourselves to a single, fixed meaning of a word, sentence, or phrase; yet, upon closer examination, we discover an abundance of possible interpretations. At the heart of this theory lies the practice of questioning what is given, allowing for the extraction of multiple, evolving meanings from texts, ideas, and assumptions.
This is the “beautiful chaos” mentioned above, one that quietly takes shape within dormitory spaces. Brilliance is not finding a new fact; it is finding a connection between seemingly chaotic points that others have overlooked. From within these university rooms, we cultivate the productive tension of questioning what we learn, ultimately expanding the scope and significance of the issues that demand to be addressed and understood. That anybody might have a character of wit, who could give themselves the liberty to say what would shock others to think.