Eu sei, é dia do professor e você não recebeu nem um “bom dia” do porteiro da faculdade. Pior ainda, agora eu venho falar de professores…de Economia. Ainda dá tempo de fugir. Caso contrário, apresento-lhe dois falecidos professores de Economia (um que conheci e cujas aulas assisti, como ouvinte) que sempre me servem de inspiração. Não são os únicos, mas estes especiais em um aspecto.
Bom, primeiro, conheça Gordon Tullock.
Gordon Tullock had a unique teaching style. He wasn’t well organized and class notes from his courses were not exemplary, but he was endlessly curious and he thoroughly enjoyed interesting thoughts, regardless of where he found them. He was very loyal to students who reached his merit level, but went out of his way to pretend he was not loyal. If one went to the student union in the evening, one would be likely to find him sitting at a table holding court and taking on all challenges to his ideas if he found a student to be interesting enough to argue with. I was privileged to have been a part of a number of these “after hours” encounters, and learned a great deal about thinking effectively from those encounters. [Ireland, T. R. (2016). Gordon Tullock as a teacher and mentor. Journal of Bioeconomics, 18(2), 107–111. doi:10.1007/s10818-016-9220-0]
Agora, Jack Hirshleifer.
Jack was a superb colleague. He came to his office regularly and kept its door open, inviting colleagues and students to come chat about their problems and tap his broad ranging knowledge of economics, biology, and history. Manuscripts given him to read were read without much delay and critiqued thoughtfully. He had great skill in participating in a discussion, perhaps instigated by him, in so friendly a way that the critical points he raised never antagonized those whose statements and logic they refuted. What is undeniably true is that Jack enjoyed – loved is not too strong a word – the life of an academic intellectual. He had little interest in committee work or in administrative tasks, and in this one respect he may have disappointed some of his colleagues. His comparative advantage clearly called for him to theorize, and his time was given to this task. He did not engage in job search nor seek positions in the administrative hierarchy. He polished only the knob on his own office door. [Demsetz, H. (2005). Professor Jack Hirshleifer (1925–2005): A Life Remembered. Journal of Bioeconomics, 7(3), 209–214. doi:10.1007/s10818-005-4634-0]
Como se percebe, ambos dividem várias características típicas de pesquisadores/professores, mas destaco uma que é a curiosidade intelectual.
Hirshleifer era realmente notável e, como diz Demsetz, apenas sua porta estava sempre aberta (e foi assim que conversei com ele pela primeira vez, em 2002).
Tullock, por sua vez, era famoso por seus interesses diversificados, sendo nisso bem parecido com Hirshleifer (e humor para lá de sarcástico).
Sei que vou morrer sem alcançar o nível de Tullock ou Hirshleifer. Ainda assim, eu persisto (para a sorte ou azar dos alunos). Com o passar dos anos, confesso, não sei mais que racionalidade existe em insistir nesta profissão do ensinar. Acho que há um elemento de rigidez junto ao meu cálculo racional. Deve ter a ver com Botchan, sobre o qual comentei animadamente certa vez. Como eu disse naquela ocasião, a frase de abertura do livro ainda é uma das minhas favoritas: 「親譲りの無鉄砲で子供の時から損ばかりしている。」Em inglês: Ever since I was a child, my inherent recklessness has brought me nothing but trouble.
Acho que o professor deve ser teimoso em sua curiosidade. Inarredavelmente teimoso em sua curiosidade.
Caso você comemore o dia dos professores, este é meu modo de saudá-lo.