Borehole drillers would tell us that the deeper the drilling penetrates into the soil, the smoother and less stressful the sinking, especially after reaching the level of underground water. This observable principle applies in every human engagement which demands diligent application of ability and volition. Initial stress and strain in the process of any activity are normal and meant to separate worthwhile need and aspiration, from desultory prospecting or gambles. The old cliché saying that “the higher you go, the cooler it becomes”, is quite correct. Same the deeper also.
Aeronautic engineers would also tell us that it takes a greater thrust power for an aircraft to take off from the ground, than required for cruising. In academic learning engagement, this same principle also applies, such that those who do not have dogged persistence and zeal to learn, often drop out from the endeavours. Dogged persistence and zeal can be translated to mean making some personal sacrifices which sociologists call deferred gratification. The concept of deferent gratification means investing in a worthwhile future goal by foregoing present comfort.
Academic culture includes the personal discipline of remaining focused, persistent and committed to the task at hand. The tag of “withdrawal for academic failure” (WAF) can be quite traumatic, but it is a tag depicting unseriousness on the part of any student dropping out from academic engagement.
Like borehole drilling, academic culture seeks to drill students up to the point of reaching the level of underground water, through the discipline of dogged persistence. Without such discipline or impetus, it would be difficult to get to the point of cruising independently on self-grown wings. There is a common flaw in the academic culture, just at the point of reaching the zone of underground water. It is not commonly recognised that there are underground spring flow of water, and then the common pool or basin.
It is a great joy to reach a cruising level and even a greater joy to converge at an assembly pool where one can romp and rest. Very rare drillers of the academic hue seek to recognise the source of the spring water, rather than remain in the common pool or basin. The result of this complacent attitude is seen quite visibly in the products of academic endeavours. Getting high-sounding certificates requires demonstrating that the academic driller has interacted with and absorbed the knowledge from the custodians of the pool of wisdom. A fitness test of diligent drilling!
A 180-page scholarly thesis or dissertation would be richly adorned with a long bibliographical references of 140 citations, made up of books, journals and every proof that one has read vast volumes of literature. Without such academic ritual it would be difficult to impress and convince board of examiners that one is fit to be admitted into the hallowed chamber of academic gurus. So, long bibliographical references make the wise academia.
Yet, there is a danger of missing out something quite vital. Drillers recognise the truth that beyond the first level of underground water, there are various other mansions and springs of purer water. Yet, beyond all water resources, there are other rarer gems rarely known to majority of humans. This is where the issue of automatic writing comes in. despite many books on every conceivable area of knowledge and activity available, we cannot say that every knowledge comes from books or ends in books.
The academic culture of debating and arguing forward and backward, often called brain-storming, gives the impression that no one knows it all. It is also true that the concept of knowledge does not place any limit or boundary on the knowledge bank. Yet, dogmatic assertions and arrogance are common traditions of the academic industry, whereby camps exist for the custody and preservation of theory-based knowledge. For certain aspects and limits of knowledge there can be camps and absolute claims, but wisdom flows irrespective of such claims.
Like a vast and limitless ocean, there is a spring from which endless water of wisdom flows and also accessible to a few people who recognise the mechanism of its dynamics. Like the borehole driller, drilling stops when there is enough water-yield, but that limit does not define total volume of underground water. Neither can anyone exhaust the contents of the fountains of wisdom. The most any one can do is to take according to need and ability.
A few people who meet the necessary requirements find that when deeply absorbed in the exploration of some values, the brain gets open to absorb some radiations. As they sit down to write down ideas flowing into their consciousness, the pen they hold and their hands merely flow freely and automatically but effortlessly. During such moments, they would neither consult any literary material nor want to be distracted. The pen flows on paper automatically as ideas flow in their consciousness. Once this automatic flow is disrupted, the flow of ideas ceases, neither can a reconnection resume immediately, until another session, or the ideas vanish.
Similarly, once there is the urge to consult some authority or literary sources, the free flow of ideas would stop. In many cases, the automatic writer would wonder how and where the ideas which he writes with much ease, come from. Going through the written work, many of the ideas, even though quite logical, would appear strange and uncommon. Then there can be the temptation to reshape and re-cast the script, so that it would be agreeable to a mundane public. This is how inspired writings come about.
The automatic writer can be described as a medium who merely writes down ideas dictated to his consciousness from some rarefied channels of wisdom. Time and space often vanish in this process, making it possible for events of remote past, in distant places, to flood into the mind as if they are being experienced. There can also be a glimpse into future events.

Dr Amirize is a retired lecturer from the Rivers State University, Port Harcourt.