Radical is a word Masahiko Sato positively adores. He says its etymology lies in the word radish or root, both of which signify the concept of origin. According to the 46-year-old professor at Keio University's faculty of environmental information, living the concept results in the original and the previously unimaginable.
"Doing something extremely basic gives birth to things that are zany and radical," Sato said, citing the achievements of Albert Einstein, which resulted from simply asking something new: "What is space?"
But, he says, the concept is lost on many young Japanese today and on the education system that has led them astray. Sato is in a sense a radical himself as his forays into the media world are hardly typical of a respected educator.
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