Can you believe it's almost summer?

Im genuinely so excited for summer break! I’ll finally have time to take on a new project: I’m going to learn how to think(!)

Journalist: Trygve Bø Kongsbakk

Photographer: Eline Marie Alm

Translator: Ida Jystad

Fttingly enough, given what I consider to be my lacking ability to think, I struggle to explain why and how I’ve spent four years at university without doing much of it. I haven’t even started using AI yet, so in order to keep my place as a student, something must have been going on up there in my head. It might therefore be more accurate to say that it is deep thinking that has been absent. During my time in Ås, I’ve learned how to do quite a lot of things. But if you ask me the slightly more advanced question of what one ought to do within my discipline, I’m left speechless. On a good day, I might be able to mention a few overarching concepts, but if you ask me to tackle the bigger problems we as a society are facing, you’ll quickly see my brain short-circuit. In my defense, it’s not exactly simple.

The fact that I have to go on summer vacation in order to learn how to think deeply is hardly a glowing endorsement of higher education in 2026. That the conditions do not exactly foster this kind of learning is, however, not solely the universities’ fault. There is a whole cocktail of reasons behind it, with constant stimulation being one of the main ingredients. Drinking it down has been pleasant enough, but after a few too many glasses over a few too many years, the bitter aftertaste has become difficult to ignore.

Short, Shallow Thoughts

I doubt anyone would object if I dared to say that this is not the age of long thoughts. In that regard, I’m tempted to refer to the Belgian intellectual historian Anton Jäger’s concept of “hyperpolitics,” but since I have, of course, not actually read anything he has written, I’ll leave it to the dying breed known as readers to decide whether that would have been appropriate. I do actually read quite a bit myself as well, but I haven’t really absorbed much from the written word over the past ten to fifteen years. It has resulted in a rather limited intellect, but perhaps thinking itself might be able to do something about that. One can always hope.

In any case, I’m curious to see what kind of world might open up if I manage to discover these deep thoughts I’ve heard so much about. Perhaps it will turn out to be quite wonderful. And imagine if it also makes everyday academic life even more rewarding! If so, I shall celebrate with both buns and soda. Yes, the very thought of thinking really is marvelous stuff. Summer truly cannot come soon enough.