"In every generation, and now more rapidly than ever, the things which it is necessary that somebody should know are more and more multiplied. Every department of knowledge becomes so loaded with details, that one who endeavours to know it with minute accuracy, must confine himself to a smaller and smaller portion of the whole extent: every science and art must be cut up into subdivisions, until each man’s portion, the district which he thoroughly knows, bears about the same ratio to the whole range of useful knowledge that the art of putting on a pin’s head does to the field of human industry. Now, if in order to know that little completely, it is necessary to remain wholly ignorant of all the rest, what will soon be the worth of a man, for any human purpose except his own infinitesimal fraction of human wants and requirements? His state will be even worse than that of simple ignorance. Experience proves that there is no one study or pursuit, which, practised to the exclusion of all others, does not narrow and pervert the mind; breeding in it a class of prejudices special to that pursuit, besides a general prejudice, common to all narrow specialities, against large views, from an incapacity to take in and appreciate the grounds of them. We should have to expect that human nature would be more and more dwarfed, and unfitted for great things, by its very proficiency in small ones."
- John S. Mill, Inaugural Address Delivered to the University of St. Andrews, 1867
---------------------------
To this end, I am reminded of the problems that the practice of reductionism causes. The whole is, more often than not, greater than the sum of its parts. Reductionism simply strips meaning away from what each part was meant to contribute within its roles and functions.
Take, for instance, an obsession with wanting to figure out what love is all about. Rigorous reductionism will reduce love to chemical reactions in the brain. Does that tell us anything at all in the end? Economics is blatantly guilty in this sense too. Everything eventually can be boiled down to the outcomes of cost and benefit weightage. While it might be true that that often pans out in reality, the sanctity and virtues of the actions of agents are totally stripped from the equation. One thing that always gets to me where reductionism is concerned is food and eating. A few decades ago scientists thought they had revolutionized methods to achieve good health by fragmenting food right down to its constituent nutrients and calories, riding on the assumption that if you consume the good chemicals and remove the bad, people will be better off (somewhere along the lines of being healthier). But is that true? Nutritionism has completely taken the fun and joy out of eating, and we've observed all sorts of nutritional obsessions that are still largely unfounded, such as calorie-counting, adopting all sorts of diet plans (carb-free, Atkins, etc) and consuming pills that can supposedly supplement or even replace one's meal. Are people healthier? Maybe. Are people happier and better off? No. Social activity and bonding from eating proper and good meals are on the decline. A multitude of eating disorders has arisen from these nutritional obsessions, such that books and policies are starting to spring up to encourage a return to more primitive and wholesome ways of eating.
This also calls to mind an idea I had discussed sometime towards the later part of 2008, where our existence in a world obsessed with instantly gratifying specifics and accuracies makes us forgo thinking about the "inconvenient truth". We are more concerned with the next decimal point than what infinity is all about.
By and large I think this might also cultivate the self-centredness and self-obsession that afflicts many individuals today, because of various consequences of living in a modern and advanced capitalist world. Capitalism and liberalism necessarily entails specialization, which fragments communities as people are plucked out of their social groups and made to know, as far as possible, how to do only one thing and do it well. To facilitate this, widespread pluralism is encouraged through tolerance, as liberalism holds that every opinion should be given equal weight and standing, so no one position is prioritizable over another. A form of subjective elitism results, as everyone then holds on to positions they belong to and believe what they hold to be true or right. And of course they do believe so; every position has its own history and story which validates its existence. But where then is the bridge between these solidified positions? What we see in the world today is a distinctive inability to come to terms with various conceptions of truth, as everyone holds opposing views that could be equally right. A failure to connect and engage in real argument and debate, resulting in assertions and counter-assertions with no real resolution to (important) issues, reflects how disconnected we are from each other in the world we live in today.
Can there be any more wonder as to how much distasteful political correctedness has grown because of this desire not to offend, when in the first place offensiveness can only be function of not understanding where the other party is coming from and not knowing fully the situation that befalls all parties? Bringing it right back to the opening point, it is a condition that is encouraged, during education, by the replacement of general understanding with specialization.
Showing posts with label education. Show all posts
Showing posts with label education. Show all posts
Wednesday, 31 March 2010
Wednesday, 10 March 2010
Education Through Storytelling
In political philosophy class today, my professor gave what I thought was a brilliant account of how an education system or curriculum should be designed, or at least how kids should be taught by parents or teachers.
Drawing on the argument by Plato (and, subsequently, St Aquinas' lex est magister) that education shouldn't be considered merely as an imparting of information but a thorough 'shaping of the soul', children should spend a substantial amount of time being told stories from all over the world. Children should be read stories that make them feel sad or joyous, and attached to words and truth. Children should be taught particulars and specifics about the morals and fables in folklore and fairy tales first, rather than generalizations through rational science and mathematics. Theological virtues, such as hope and justice, should be inculcated and should be the responsibility of a good and virtuous education.
One can see how this appeals more to the heart than the intellect, and it makes so much frickin' sense. Only with heart can a child's sensibilities about the world and reality be formed, and only with heart can the rational information he/she is eventually going to be exposed to fit in the right manner.
Drawing on the argument by Plato (and, subsequently, St Aquinas' lex est magister) that education shouldn't be considered merely as an imparting of information but a thorough 'shaping of the soul', children should spend a substantial amount of time being told stories from all over the world. Children should be read stories that make them feel sad or joyous, and attached to words and truth. Children should be taught particulars and specifics about the morals and fables in folklore and fairy tales first, rather than generalizations through rational science and mathematics. Theological virtues, such as hope and justice, should be inculcated and should be the responsibility of a good and virtuous education.
One can see how this appeals more to the heart than the intellect, and it makes so much frickin' sense. Only with heart can a child's sensibilities about the world and reality be formed, and only with heart can the rational information he/she is eventually going to be exposed to fit in the right manner.
Sunday, 7 February 2010
Aiya One Year To Go Only!
My family had our Chinese New Year reunion dinner a whole week earlier because of crowd aversion. Also, we are well aware of the skyrocketed prices and potentially poor service during the maddening frenzy of CNY's eve, so everyone was in agreement to celebrate in advance.
One of the lingering conversation topics circled around university graduation. Whenever I reply to some aunt or uncle that I have a year left to go when asked of my graduation, I'm 'consoled' with something along the lines of "oh, aiya one year to go only, just hang in there lah, soon you'll finally be done with studying and then you'll be able to find a job and start work. Besides, the economy is picking up so it's good."
I am grateful for their good intentions because I believe that they truly mean well for me. But it is interesting how reflective this is of my family's socioeconomic background and class, and even further, how our particular socioeconomic background and class is especially embedded in very Singaporean attitudes.
For one, to my largely middle class family, education is a good to have, but work and money still walks the talk at the end of the day. The fees of tertiary education is something to be grappled with, sometimes even toeing the limits of tolerance. Now that I've even had a university education, it's time to cash in on the 'luck' of being endowed with some-whatever degree. Even more implicit is the idea that tertiary education is a bonus, because I'm not expected to enjoy my time studying. The common consensus is - who on earth likes to study this stuff anyway? The four years in university is most importantly a means to another end, not an end in itself.
This is corroborated by my other same-age cousins who talk about university in modest (or even deprecative) fashion, and can't wait to get it done with to embark on the real world out there, with the very honest intention of finally being able to prove one's worth (which has nothing to do with being academically inclined), support the family and repay what one has owed to the folks for so long.
In particular, I can sense the pride one of my uncles has, because his son and daughter have both finally graduated and are earning their own keep, even if their jobs aren't particularly very high-flying or promising in terms of wages or advancement.
I think this is a strongly Singaporean attitude because most of it can be found in our booming middle class. This seems like a circular argument where the issue often ends up being chicken-egg - did the booming middle class lead to Singaporean attitudes or vice versa - but whatever it is, education in our meritocratic society is regarded largely in very pragmatic terms by most of us. The middle class/the most Singaporean of the lot doesn't study to further causes, knowledge or ideas, he does so to ensure a 'decent' job, to keep himself safely away from the bottom of the competitve heap, and to avoid unnecessary troubles in life. This is, of course, a generalization. People do care sometimes if their jobs are prestigious, especially as one rises in social class. But once more, what the education was isn't quite the real deal ultimately.
With this in mind, I never let them in on my desire to further my education, because I can imagine the gasps of horror when this fella here states his psychotic intention of adding four more years of studying after finally graduating. What on earth could I possibly be thinking? Who in his right mind would want to repeat that school nonsense all over again? Explanation would be futile because no one would understand, and they'd gleefully team up to beat me into pulp and wake me up to my senses.
Hopefully the reality of the path I've chosen can speak for itself in a year's time. It does make me feel sheepish or guilty somewhat at times when I look at my aspirations in relation to others. But in the end, I do know what I really want at the end of the tunnel.
One of the lingering conversation topics circled around university graduation. Whenever I reply to some aunt or uncle that I have a year left to go when asked of my graduation, I'm 'consoled' with something along the lines of "oh, aiya one year to go only, just hang in there lah, soon you'll finally be done with studying and then you'll be able to find a job and start work. Besides, the economy is picking up so it's good."
I am grateful for their good intentions because I believe that they truly mean well for me. But it is interesting how reflective this is of my family's socioeconomic background and class, and even further, how our particular socioeconomic background and class is especially embedded in very Singaporean attitudes.
For one, to my largely middle class family, education is a good to have, but work and money still walks the talk at the end of the day. The fees of tertiary education is something to be grappled with, sometimes even toeing the limits of tolerance. Now that I've even had a university education, it's time to cash in on the 'luck' of being endowed with some-whatever degree. Even more implicit is the idea that tertiary education is a bonus, because I'm not expected to enjoy my time studying. The common consensus is - who on earth likes to study this stuff anyway? The four years in university is most importantly a means to another end, not an end in itself.
This is corroborated by my other same-age cousins who talk about university in modest (or even deprecative) fashion, and can't wait to get it done with to embark on the real world out there, with the very honest intention of finally being able to prove one's worth (which has nothing to do with being academically inclined), support the family and repay what one has owed to the folks for so long.
In particular, I can sense the pride one of my uncles has, because his son and daughter have both finally graduated and are earning their own keep, even if their jobs aren't particularly very high-flying or promising in terms of wages or advancement.
I think this is a strongly Singaporean attitude because most of it can be found in our booming middle class. This seems like a circular argument where the issue often ends up being chicken-egg - did the booming middle class lead to Singaporean attitudes or vice versa - but whatever it is, education in our meritocratic society is regarded largely in very pragmatic terms by most of us. The middle class/the most Singaporean of the lot doesn't study to further causes, knowledge or ideas, he does so to ensure a 'decent' job, to keep himself safely away from the bottom of the competitve heap, and to avoid unnecessary troubles in life. This is, of course, a generalization. People do care sometimes if their jobs are prestigious, especially as one rises in social class. But once more, what the education was isn't quite the real deal ultimately.
With this in mind, I never let them in on my desire to further my education, because I can imagine the gasps of horror when this fella here states his psychotic intention of adding four more years of studying after finally graduating. What on earth could I possibly be thinking? Who in his right mind would want to repeat that school nonsense all over again? Explanation would be futile because no one would understand, and they'd gleefully team up to beat me into pulp and wake me up to my senses.
Hopefully the reality of the path I've chosen can speak for itself in a year's time. It does make me feel sheepish or guilty somewhat at times when I look at my aspirations in relation to others. But in the end, I do know what I really want at the end of the tunnel.
Thursday, 15 October 2009
Knowledge Is Power
We can accept that food shouldn't be taken for granted and it is a sin to waste it, because there are millions starving all over the world. That moral line of thought isn't difficult. But what about education? I would liken it to food, and I would never take a chance to learn for granted, because out there, millions of people, particularly children, are denied this valuable chance to learn.
In any case, this story about Babar Ali, the youngest schoolmaster (at 16 years old), and his little unofficial school in India should make the idea a little more salient and heartfelt.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/south_asia/8299780.stm
To me, education and knowledge is so important because it liberates people. Enslavement of a people can only happen unchallenged when a population is illiterate and unenlightened. This dates back to past millenia, as language was only propagated exclusively among political elites so that everyone else could be easily utilised as unquestioning slaves. Without the access to language and knowledge, people are relegated to animals as their awareness is undeveloped and they can only rely on instinct and other people, which is dangerous because it then allows powerful men to elicit tyrannious acts at their whims and fancies. Only through an enlightened voice can an idea spread through communication, poetry, music, art and revolution, and only then will a tyrant begin to fear his people.
When idealistic liberals see utopia as the perfect society run by many rational men and a minimal state, this is the realistic beauty of the idea that everyone can think for themselves so that a whimsically intervening tyrant isn't necessary, unfortunately undermined by the reality that human nature doesn't often quite meet the cut because we are still quite flawed. A part of the problem lies with governments who do want their people to be muted, apathetic, fragmented and powerless, because traditionally, government is about power monopoly and consolidation and they thus rationally fear liberty.
And from what I've seen in articles like the Babar Ali story and other accounts of civil society in suppressed African and Middle Eastern countries is that people do thirst desperately for knowledge, sometimes even at the expense of their own safety. We have it here in affluent Singapore as a birth right.
What Babar Ali shows us indeed is that we can be the change we want to see. Let knowledge be the light, and seek it as much as we want to be free.
In any case, this story about Babar Ali, the youngest schoolmaster (at 16 years old), and his little unofficial school in India should make the idea a little more salient and heartfelt.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/south_asia/8299780.stm
To me, education and knowledge is so important because it liberates people. Enslavement of a people can only happen unchallenged when a population is illiterate and unenlightened. This dates back to past millenia, as language was only propagated exclusively among political elites so that everyone else could be easily utilised as unquestioning slaves. Without the access to language and knowledge, people are relegated to animals as their awareness is undeveloped and they can only rely on instinct and other people, which is dangerous because it then allows powerful men to elicit tyrannious acts at their whims and fancies. Only through an enlightened voice can an idea spread through communication, poetry, music, art and revolution, and only then will a tyrant begin to fear his people.When idealistic liberals see utopia as the perfect society run by many rational men and a minimal state, this is the realistic beauty of the idea that everyone can think for themselves so that a whimsically intervening tyrant isn't necessary, unfortunately undermined by the reality that human nature doesn't often quite meet the cut because we are still quite flawed. A part of the problem lies with governments who do want their people to be muted, apathetic, fragmented and powerless, because traditionally, government is about power monopoly and consolidation and they thus rationally fear liberty.
And from what I've seen in articles like the Babar Ali story and other accounts of civil society in suppressed African and Middle Eastern countries is that people do thirst desperately for knowledge, sometimes even at the expense of their own safety. We have it here in affluent Singapore as a birth right.
What Babar Ali shows us indeed is that we can be the change we want to see. Let knowledge be the light, and seek it as much as we want to be free.
Sunday, 4 March 2007
I'm in the office on a sunday cos I've got nothing to do at home and the office being based in town makes it quite convenient as a 'station' place for me to do my own stuff while waiting for meet-up plans to materialise. I'm meeting Wesley later anyway. I was supposed to be here at 1500h cos one of the temps under me wanted to work and we decided on this time, but I got quite carried away with the Pool - Man Utd repeat game and ended up coming here an hour late. And the poor sod doesn't have a handphone, so. *Shrugs. I have no idea where he is now either.
I've come to a compromise with my dad and I'm gonna try for the Marketing module in term 3B (June - July), which means I'll start earlier, but not as early as April.
I've said before that school's a good excuse to get by, cos parents get all sensitive and protective and leave you alone when you declare that you're studying, so you can actually just forsake everything and study cos that's the presumably responsible thing to do; unlike if you're a working adult. You can't tell the crying baby to shut up cos you're working.
Add this growing reluctance to work to the equation and that's a huge nudge in the direction of deciding to compromise and opt for the early enrolment as well. My work at Love Airways is exciting no doubt, as are the learning prospects and opportunities and all that 'working with the media' jazz. As a temp myself, I'm actually governing a lot of power here. But sometimes there are some things I'd rather not wanna be involved in, and at the rate we're going, I'm nose-diving right into the fray.
I think I can sum up my attitude towards this job as a one-week holiday where you'd like to be in day 3 or 4 and skip the rest.
Watching the Liverpool Vs Manchester United game, I can't agree any further with the commentator after O'Shea put the Red Devils in the lead at the death and exclaims, "isn't that the hallmark of champions!?"
I've talked to Eufai about this before over MSN one day. There's a significant difference between a 'classy team' and a 'class team'. Arsenal are a truly classy team and their search for the perfect goal is always a sight to behold when you watch it unfold in play. But that doesn't always mean they win games.
On the other hand, Manchester United are a true class act because they can grind out the results whether or not they are playing well and that really defines a true winner. And although there were hiccups, they have never taken more than 1 or 2 seasons to put their championship race back on track, and have been getting it right all the time. That kind of glory sends shivers down my spine and I'm not even a Manchester United fan.
Life's too short to be taken seriously.
Today's Listenables:
Metallica - Ain't My Bitch
I've come to a compromise with my dad and I'm gonna try for the Marketing module in term 3B (June - July), which means I'll start earlier, but not as early as April.
I've said before that school's a good excuse to get by, cos parents get all sensitive and protective and leave you alone when you declare that you're studying, so you can actually just forsake everything and study cos that's the presumably responsible thing to do; unlike if you're a working adult. You can't tell the crying baby to shut up cos you're working.
Add this growing reluctance to work to the equation and that's a huge nudge in the direction of deciding to compromise and opt for the early enrolment as well. My work at Love Airways is exciting no doubt, as are the learning prospects and opportunities and all that 'working with the media' jazz. As a temp myself, I'm actually governing a lot of power here. But sometimes there are some things I'd rather not wanna be involved in, and at the rate we're going, I'm nose-diving right into the fray.
I think I can sum up my attitude towards this job as a one-week holiday where you'd like to be in day 3 or 4 and skip the rest.
Watching the Liverpool Vs Manchester United game, I can't agree any further with the commentator after O'Shea put the Red Devils in the lead at the death and exclaims, "isn't that the hallmark of champions!?"
I've talked to Eufai about this before over MSN one day. There's a significant difference between a 'classy team' and a 'class team'. Arsenal are a truly classy team and their search for the perfect goal is always a sight to behold when you watch it unfold in play. But that doesn't always mean they win games.
On the other hand, Manchester United are a true class act because they can grind out the results whether or not they are playing well and that really defines a true winner. And although there were hiccups, they have never taken more than 1 or 2 seasons to put their championship race back on track, and have been getting it right all the time. That kind of glory sends shivers down my spine and I'm not even a Manchester United fan.
Life's too short to be taken seriously.
Today's Listenables:
Metallica - Ain't My Bitch
Tuesday, 15 November 2005
There was a segment on CNA about Deng Xiaoping earlier and I think my dad's a fan of his, and was like talking about DXP's idea of one-country-two-systems and how the poor-didn't-go-to-school-but-turned-into-a-national-leader-bloke called the world his university.
That led me to think that ironically, the modern privilege of going to school from young somehow stifles our children and enforces a systematic rhythm to society, and that's where all the social ills of a cold and failure-condemning world like Singapore comes about. The elusiveness of study and the harsh situations people like DXP had to endure gave them a passion for learning and a purpose in life. So, with all due respect to the honourable people who've went through a shitty childhood without proper education and became leaders, I guess maybe not being able to go through any form of institutionalised study can be a privilege in itself that many people now won't dare to risk taking.
I've always been one to advocate free learning in place of study drills, art instead of science and creativity rather than conformity. I think it's laughable to think that art can be taught the way they are now in schools. As a victim of conformity largely in part due to my folks, I've been going through my academic life via the science route, when it was obvious my inclinations are very much towards art. I was at my prime in lower secondary and even managed a top 10 placing due to general art and design technology studies, and when I embarked on the triple science journey that everyone else seems to wanna take, my results just hurtled downhill. Once again due to societal and familial pressures I went on to take maths, chemistry and physics in junior college, and emerged with pretty mediocre shit for my As. Unsurprisingly, GP was my best subject and paper, the only thing I'm proud to mention about after two years of slogging through. I've never been one to sit down and mug coz I really really detest reading for the sake of studying, and anyway I can't sit down just to swallow notes for nuts, so it's really no wonder now I feel so unfulfilled after all these years and I'm more than determined to go to perhaps mass com or take arts and social sciences in university. I'm always convinced that there really isn't a point ultimately to study something you don't believe in or lack a passion for because you're not gonna benefit from it other than getting that grade for a subject you actually find distasteful, so in the end I guess it's all about how true you wanna be to yourself.
I recently read an article by Colin Chee in the Newpaper and there was this quote which caught my attention: "... be a society that can stare failure in the face until it blinks." And he mentioned about a society that has individuals who dare to take the lead and show the way without having to look for someone more senior in age or appointment, and how very true that statement is. That article was about the rigidity of modern Singapore.
That led me to think that ironically, the modern privilege of going to school from young somehow stifles our children and enforces a systematic rhythm to society, and that's where all the social ills of a cold and failure-condemning world like Singapore comes about. The elusiveness of study and the harsh situations people like DXP had to endure gave them a passion for learning and a purpose in life. So, with all due respect to the honourable people who've went through a shitty childhood without proper education and became leaders, I guess maybe not being able to go through any form of institutionalised study can be a privilege in itself that many people now won't dare to risk taking.
I've always been one to advocate free learning in place of study drills, art instead of science and creativity rather than conformity. I think it's laughable to think that art can be taught the way they are now in schools. As a victim of conformity largely in part due to my folks, I've been going through my academic life via the science route, when it was obvious my inclinations are very much towards art. I was at my prime in lower secondary and even managed a top 10 placing due to general art and design technology studies, and when I embarked on the triple science journey that everyone else seems to wanna take, my results just hurtled downhill. Once again due to societal and familial pressures I went on to take maths, chemistry and physics in junior college, and emerged with pretty mediocre shit for my As. Unsurprisingly, GP was my best subject and paper, the only thing I'm proud to mention about after two years of slogging through. I've never been one to sit down and mug coz I really really detest reading for the sake of studying, and anyway I can't sit down just to swallow notes for nuts, so it's really no wonder now I feel so unfulfilled after all these years and I'm more than determined to go to perhaps mass com or take arts and social sciences in university. I'm always convinced that there really isn't a point ultimately to study something you don't believe in or lack a passion for because you're not gonna benefit from it other than getting that grade for a subject you actually find distasteful, so in the end I guess it's all about how true you wanna be to yourself.
I recently read an article by Colin Chee in the Newpaper and there was this quote which caught my attention: "... be a society that can stare failure in the face until it blinks." And he mentioned about a society that has individuals who dare to take the lead and show the way without having to look for someone more senior in age or appointment, and how very true that statement is. That article was about the rigidity of modern Singapore.
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