Whitman: (some passage that had some vague reference to the changing of creatures, and thence evolution)
Prof: "Well, I don't know much about evolution, but it seems to be a reference to it. Does anybody know more about evolution, and whether it applies to the text?"
Student: "Well, evolution is a need or a response to a change in the environment. So [giraffes] will grow longer necks to reach the leaves on the trees, or developing opposable thumbs to better hold objects."
Prof: "well, that's more than I know about evolution"
student: "well yeah, I took a course on it."
me: "and what, did you fail it? Unless you were being imprecise about your description of evolution because this isn't a biology class. Otherwise, what you were describing was Lamarckian evolution, and Lamarck's theory was most emphatically disproven by his own peers in his own time."
</end fantasy>
Well, the only fantastical element was my own response, although it was pretty real in the sense that those lines were running through my head at the time. Yeah, it's an English class, so they shouldn't care too much, but why compound the ignorance of science among the arts?
2009/01/16
2009/01/14
Blogging
I really wish I had more time to blog. It forces me to organise my thoughts, and gives me the opportunity to gain some input from both close friends and complete strangers. Unfortunately, I've recently been spending more time (on average) either in bed, or zoning out between classes, so my overall productivity has gone way down. I wonder if it has anything to do with the weather? Somehow, I never thought of myself as being susceptible to SAD, but who knows? These things can be acquired, after all. But I really do have many moments in any given day where I'll end up thinking "I should make this a blog post." Too bad I never take the time to write them down or remember them though. So no long post for today.
But, to give a quick update on the progressing new winter term, my courses are all proving to be interesting, and my profs are all showing themselves as being highly competent as well as being very engaging. This means that they know their subject matter well (which should be a given at the university level, but unfortunately not always the case), and that they also know how to entice the student into being interested in the subject at hand as well. This skill is particularly rare among profs, probably in part due to the lack of standardization in university pedagogy; it's left entirely to the individual researchers/PhD-holders to develop the social/rhetorical skills to give effective lectures. If only this could be my last term, I would be so happy! Unfortunately, I still have another term after this, and I can only pray that my profs will be half as informed and engaging as the ones this term.
Alright, that's all you'll be getting out of me for now. 'Til next time!
But, to give a quick update on the progressing new winter term, my courses are all proving to be interesting, and my profs are all showing themselves as being highly competent as well as being very engaging. This means that they know their subject matter well (which should be a given at the university level, but unfortunately not always the case), and that they also know how to entice the student into being interested in the subject at hand as well. This skill is particularly rare among profs, probably in part due to the lack of standardization in university pedagogy; it's left entirely to the individual researchers/PhD-holders to develop the social/rhetorical skills to give effective lectures. If only this could be my last term, I would be so happy! Unfortunately, I still have another term after this, and I can only pray that my profs will be half as informed and engaging as the ones this term.
Alright, that's all you'll be getting out of me for now. 'Til next time!
2009/01/09
Kennen und Machen
...and the reader responses were astounding! I guess that means I don't really have the 5+1 readers that I thought I had. Which is fine, it gives me more freedom to write whatever I want. :)
Recently, I've been sacrificing certain hours of my sleep for entertainment (in the form of streaming TV shows online). On Tuesday night, this meant watching 5 episodes of My Own Worst Enemy. Last night, it meant nearly the entire first season of Natsume Yuujinchou. Meanwhile, there are still two Shakespeare plays and a long Whitman poem waiting to be read. I think the problem is, I'm still in vacation mode. But all my courses are turning out to be pretty interesting though.
The extraordinary thing is, the entire time that I was watching episode after episode (a process that wasn't passive at all) and looking at the clock, I kept telling myself that I should be sleeping, or at the very least, doing the readings for my courses. And yet I was lying in bed, filling my mind with fantasies of espionage and the supernatural. Did I know better? Sure, of course. And yet, although at every moment between 10:00pm and 5:30am, why isn't it that I didn't turn off the lights and fall asleep? Surely there must be a reason.
I find that there is a huge difference between "knowing better" and having the strength or discipline to actually follow through with one's knowledge/wisdom. In fact, I have nothing but the highest respect for people who are able to discipline themselves to a mechanical level. (Although sometimes it freaks me out when they'd turn everything into a routine.)
My point though, is basically that although most of us have a fair amount of knowledge on how things should be done, most of us don't necessarily go through with them. I would even go so far as to argue that this is in itself a form of intelligence. After all, pragmatically speaking, what use is your knowledge unless you use it? I think this has clear applications beyond the maintanence of one's health as related to sleep, or the regular readings for school. I find that it also applies to the interactions between humans, where we *know* it's better to, say, seek immediate contact for a quick apology and patch things up, and yet history is rife with examples where fathers have died at odds with their sons, or couples permanently separated by pride and obfuscated misunderstandings.
So why don't we smarten up and actually follow through with this obvious wisdom? Why do we find it so difficult to employ our knowledge towards creating healthier lifestyles, healthier relationships, and a healthier planet? Why do we get so blinded by greed and pride that we fail to take responsibility for our actions against ourselves, against others, and against the planet? I think this is the point that separates true proponents of alternative ways of thinking from those who spout nonesense just for the sake of intellectual individuality. Sure, it's easy to say "there is no God" when the dominant ideology is God-fearing, but how easy would it be to espouse the same view when your response could lead to the potential deaths of millions? When the stakes are high, most fall silent.
Semi-heavy post, I guess. But if you know better, do it! Help contribute to the overall intelligence of the human race. :)
Recently, I've been sacrificing certain hours of my sleep for entertainment (in the form of streaming TV shows online). On Tuesday night, this meant watching 5 episodes of My Own Worst Enemy. Last night, it meant nearly the entire first season of Natsume Yuujinchou. Meanwhile, there are still two Shakespeare plays and a long Whitman poem waiting to be read. I think the problem is, I'm still in vacation mode. But all my courses are turning out to be pretty interesting though.
The extraordinary thing is, the entire time that I was watching episode after episode (a process that wasn't passive at all) and looking at the clock, I kept telling myself that I should be sleeping, or at the very least, doing the readings for my courses. And yet I was lying in bed, filling my mind with fantasies of espionage and the supernatural. Did I know better? Sure, of course. And yet, although at every moment between 10:00pm and 5:30am, why isn't it that I didn't turn off the lights and fall asleep? Surely there must be a reason.
I find that there is a huge difference between "knowing better" and having the strength or discipline to actually follow through with one's knowledge/wisdom. In fact, I have nothing but the highest respect for people who are able to discipline themselves to a mechanical level. (Although sometimes it freaks me out when they'd turn everything into a routine.)
My point though, is basically that although most of us have a fair amount of knowledge on how things should be done, most of us don't necessarily go through with them. I would even go so far as to argue that this is in itself a form of intelligence. After all, pragmatically speaking, what use is your knowledge unless you use it? I think this has clear applications beyond the maintanence of one's health as related to sleep, or the regular readings for school. I find that it also applies to the interactions between humans, where we *know* it's better to, say, seek immediate contact for a quick apology and patch things up, and yet history is rife with examples where fathers have died at odds with their sons, or couples permanently separated by pride and obfuscated misunderstandings.
So why don't we smarten up and actually follow through with this obvious wisdom? Why do we find it so difficult to employ our knowledge towards creating healthier lifestyles, healthier relationships, and a healthier planet? Why do we get so blinded by greed and pride that we fail to take responsibility for our actions against ourselves, against others, and against the planet? I think this is the point that separates true proponents of alternative ways of thinking from those who spout nonesense just for the sake of intellectual individuality. Sure, it's easy to say "there is no God" when the dominant ideology is God-fearing, but how easy would it be to espouse the same view when your response could lead to the potential deaths of millions? When the stakes are high, most fall silent.
Semi-heavy post, I guess. But if you know better, do it! Help contribute to the overall intelligence of the human race. :)
2009/01/05
Reading and Readership
As an English Lit. major, I'm expected to read a certain amount per course. That makes sense. Sometimes it'd be around 5 novels, or perhaps 10 plays, or a novel and 20 short stories, etc. And the thing is, I used to read a lot as a child. And yet, nowaways, when I have spare time, even if I have a book I've been meaning to read, I'll more likely err on looking stuff up online, or reading less literary narratives like shoujo manga. Oh, the shame. What can I say, I'm a sucker for sappiness at times.
Sometimes, I worry about whether the amount of popular Japanese entertainment I intake has some warped affect on my ability to analyze "real" literature -- ie, that which we're studying in class. And also, to a greater degree, how it affects my arguments and my constructions in my essays for those courses. So, this term I'll try a little experiment and see if by dutifully doing my readings and abstaining from irrelevant junk, whether my grades will show a marked improvement.
As to the other half of my title, I sometimes wonder about how many people actually read this blog (or even my other blog -- the grammar/linguistics one). That one is specialised though, so I kinda leave it to its own evolution. But as far as this particular blog is concerned, where I generally talk about things in my personal life, or intellectual issues that are inspired by personal events, who is my readership? Aside from the people who know me personally and already have some sort of personal interest in my daily happenings and general well-being, why would a general stranger bother reading the conceited ramblings of an undergraduate?
Not that I'm trying to chase my dear readers away -- I actually find it neat that others would take to time to even work through what I have to say. At present, I can think of two readers whom I don't know personally (at least, I'm pretty sure I don't know them personally), who have made themselves known to me. One of them was fairly googleable though, and according to facebook, we share over ten mutual friends, most of whom are from my hometown or univeristy circuit. The other one also maintains a blog, but I wonder if the only connection is the fact that my blog is named in french. (Aside: Originally, I had wanted to name it "Le Nouveau Naissance," but my francophone friend advised against it. That's one grammatical bullet dodged!)
So, dear readers, as I count the minutes until my first lecture of the new year (which will be in 36 minutes), I would humbly request a short but sufficiently detailed comment explaining what about this blog you find remotely interesting (in other words, what makes you keep coming back for more?). It probably won't change how I do things around here, but it's cool to see how different things interest different people. ....Well, I suppose that's a generous assuption that my blog here is so multi-faceted as to be able to appeal to different kinds of people. :P So, comment away! :D Sometime later, I'll make a post or two about my christmas holiday. =)
Sometimes, I worry about whether the amount of popular Japanese entertainment I intake has some warped affect on my ability to analyze "real" literature -- ie, that which we're studying in class. And also, to a greater degree, how it affects my arguments and my constructions in my essays for those courses. So, this term I'll try a little experiment and see if by dutifully doing my readings and abstaining from irrelevant junk, whether my grades will show a marked improvement.
As to the other half of my title, I sometimes wonder about how many people actually read this blog (or even my other blog -- the grammar/linguistics one). That one is specialised though, so I kinda leave it to its own evolution. But as far as this particular blog is concerned, where I generally talk about things in my personal life, or intellectual issues that are inspired by personal events, who is my readership? Aside from the people who know me personally and already have some sort of personal interest in my daily happenings and general well-being, why would a general stranger bother reading the conceited ramblings of an undergraduate?
Not that I'm trying to chase my dear readers away -- I actually find it neat that others would take to time to even work through what I have to say. At present, I can think of two readers whom I don't know personally (at least, I'm pretty sure I don't know them personally), who have made themselves known to me. One of them was fairly googleable though, and according to facebook, we share over ten mutual friends, most of whom are from my hometown or univeristy circuit. The other one also maintains a blog, but I wonder if the only connection is the fact that my blog is named in french. (Aside: Originally, I had wanted to name it "Le Nouveau Naissance," but my francophone friend advised against it. That's one grammatical bullet dodged!)
So, dear readers, as I count the minutes until my first lecture of the new year (which will be in 36 minutes), I would humbly request a short but sufficiently detailed comment explaining what about this blog you find remotely interesting (in other words, what makes you keep coming back for more?). It probably won't change how I do things around here, but it's cool to see how different things interest different people. ....Well, I suppose that's a generous assuption that my blog here is so multi-faceted as to be able to appeal to different kinds of people. :P So, comment away! :D Sometime later, I'll make a post or two about my christmas holiday. =)
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