Quite a delay between entries, yes indeed. I have these bursts of thoughts where I have to let it all out and after I let it out I have to build up the thoughts again and sort through the garbage and then let it all out again.
Its really coming down to the wire. Sunday morning I ship out. Thats it. Probably won’t be back in Austin until atleast next spring if not later. Just have to do it, more I think harder it gets.
Today while I was at work my friend Ketan stopped by and we were just discussing the whole concept of graduation and what it means to each of us and a thought dawned on me that has me rather intrigued. I believe the education model in use today is fully outdated. People born post late 1970s have been raised in a society where the concept of attention changed from paying attention to the whole world around you to paying attention to only what really is worth paying attention to. This happened primarily due to the tidal wave of media. Television, radio, print information, and later on the internet. Everywhere in life my attention is always being sought by one thing or another. Its almost impossible to go through life without having your attention sought after.
Our education systems on the other hand are still catering to people who are from a world where attention was to be freely given away to whomever and whatever. This doesn’t make any sense to me. How can we raise children in a world where we have to teach them to give their attention to only what interests them yet send them off to school with the opposing message that they should pay attention to everything regardless of how interesting or not it is to them. Is this just another one of those hypocrisies that we just accept and move on with or something genuine to be addressed in updating the education model? My weak mind is too feeble to comprehend the ramafications.
Okay time to continue the packing. If I can take care of my clothes today I’ll be in pretty decent shape. Tomorrow I take on books and kitchenware. Come Thursday morning I should be atleast 80% packed and my room should be pretty bare. Wish me luck.
As a side note I got a shitty hair cut today by a large woman whose name is Mo. I wish my haircuts could be as cool and interesting as the Old Man’s.
Quoteses:
“Love is cheap, I want alcohol!” - Sumita C.
“Is my ass wet?!” - Parker D.
“Of course he finds it useless. He doesn’t want any of our music. Hes stupid!” - The Captain
Linkses:
Ads in the news
Cheney pockets $1 million from Iraq oil deal
Umm secret government
DRM is your fluffy friend
Lets get ready now, Microsoft is going to fuck all of us
Find joy, go meatless!
I think you are a more educated and worldly person with an understanding of more than what’s going around in the 15 feet around you. But on the other hand, by focusing on where you are, you can do more, learn more, and likely as a result be more successful in that little chunk you pay attention to. The downside of course is that you neglect the effects of the outside, and that you may end up making a bad decision based on that. I’m sure there’s some social theory out there that covers this in much much more detail.
Posted by: Ram at May 14, 2003 09:55 PMThere is something to be said for a group of experts that come together and say, “these are the things you should know before proceeding” about any given topic. When you choose a course of study, the curriculum is based on the experience of those who worked in the field before you. So yes, your attention is diverted to what may seem like irrelevant facts or concepts.
In this model, your teacher (or mentor, parent, etc.) is just trying to get you “up to speed” so you will waste less time on the stuff that’s already been figured out. It’s not perfect, but I have yet to stumble across an ideal education model.
Posted by: ari at May 16, 2003 12:00 AM