The speech of the Secretary of National Security Council in connection with September 1, at the Armenian-Russian (Slavonic) University

01 / 09 / 2018

“Dear Mr. Rector, Your Excellency Mr. Ambassador, dear teachers and students,
I wish to congratulate everybody on the occasion of the Day of Knowledge and the beginning of the new academic year. I am sure that each of you appreciates the day with a particular inspiration, for knowledge and science occupy a special place in our life.
Dear students,
I agree with the idea that science is a way of mentality and not just a collection of facts. Moreover, we have added a sixth sense, science, to our natural five senses and through those six senses we discover the world around us.” A vivid example of this is that the human eye sees only seven colours of the rainbow while the equipment created by science enables us to discover the whole spectre and palette of the ray of light.
Science is high culture as well which claims to fill our life with meaning. To be more precise, I would say our life acquires new meaning and new shades due to science. Science, like a good film or novel, like a good picture or music, enables us to look at the world in a new way, to evaluate our place in the society, in the world and in the universe. So when we devote our time to education we do it in order to get in touch with the high culture of science.
Science is also interesting in another way. It does not accept absolute truths or dogmas. And this is why our perceptions are invariably doubted as soon as we step into the sphere of science. The search for new knowledge, new understanding takes us into new worlds, helps us understand other people’s perceptions and outlooks, be in touch with the world of others.
It is not accidental that we, as a nation, establish ties with our friends through educational centres and we strengthen our intercultural ties through the high culture of that very science. A vivid example of this is the establishment of the Armenian-Russian (Slavonic) University, the American University in Armenia, the French University, etc.
As the world around us and the universe are sometimes more surprising than we could imagine, science helps us to continually discover versatile and incredible phenomena of nature.
The well-known statement “Knowledge is power” having been tested through ages has become a general truth. In any situation knowledge gives us power and skills to find solutions. People sometimes tend to present science, by mistake, as a phenomenon isolated from life. As a matter of fact, science is an inseparable part of our daily life. Most of modern conveniences providing our welfare today are based on scientific discoveries. And future belongs to those countries, which evaluate science properly and make significant contributions to the progress of science.
Knowledge is kind of inoculation matter to face various challenges of the surrounding world. If you are armed with proper knowledge you can consider yourselves protected against those challenges. The more knowledge we have in our arsenal and the more versatile is that knowledge the stronger our security will be, the better protected we will be as a society, as a state, as a nation.
The more knowledge you gain, the closer you are with the culture of science, the more colourful and brighter your life will be. Dear students, the moment you step on the threshold of this university you ought to set a goal for you to excel your teachers and exemplary scientists. To reach this goal you need two important features. The first one is diligence. No matter how gifted you are, no matter how bright your memory or how vivid your imagination is, you will not succeed in this sphere without hard work. The only pledge of success is diligence. The second important feature is freedom. I mean first and foremost freedom of thought.
Freedom of thought is a vital necessity for its development. If the buttress of freedom of speech is the press, then the buttress of freedom of thought is the university. Universities are the chief guarantors of freedom of thought. Feel free within this building and develop your minds. You are students and students are defenders and developers of free thought.
I am sure you like Pushkin, are fond of freedom and by your lifestyle you will impart a new shade to the concept of freedom. And when like Michael Nalbandyan, you feel that this world is too narrow “for freedom-lovers”, raise your heads and see that the world actually is not limited by those horizontal lines drawn on the map. It is the perpendicular infinity that stretches upwards, to the sly, to the stars, to the unlimited Universe. There you will find freedom, a kind of freedom, which does not know and does not accept any physical or mental boundaries.
And when on the way of searching for new depths in the “universe” of science you feel the need of inspiring precedents open the biography of Alenush Teryan and you will make sure how one can conquer “worlds” “with the help of the sun”. Study the life of Zapel Yesayan who gained the right to express her inner freedom by breaking the solid social barriers with her love of freedom.
The next necessary factor that is basically important is the ability to ask questions. One should acquire the skills of formulating questions and searching for their answers. The ability to formulate questions will increase the chances of learning new things. Besides, it will develop your abilities of appreciating life. One should get to such a level as to be able to formulate esoteric questions, for the process of seeking for the answers to these questions will enable you to re-evaluate your place in the society, in the world and in the universe.
Asking questions promotes discovery of reality, while acceptance of reality gives you freedom. Therefore, freedom also means seeing and accepting reality.
Dear students, I am sure you will make such vivid individualities that will impart new colours to the world illuminated with inventions, deeds, sounds and colours of Marie Curie, Diana Abgar, Arno Babajanyan, Andrei Sakharov, John Lennon, Gayaneh Khachaturyan, Alexander Michaelyan, Taron Ajemoghlu.
I would like to finish my speech with the words of Humphry Davy, an outstanding chemist: “Nothing is more dangerous or fatal for the progress of human thought than the mentality that our scientific achievements are final, that there are no mysteries in nature, that our triumphs are complete and there are no worlds to be discovered.
So get down to work in the name of new achievements, new discoveries and new triumphs”.