1/23/2006

education: fuzzy logic or delusion

i read with some concern at the views being promoted recently and the changing mindset of administrators and students and the public. what they want is for a students to do everything, be a sportsman, be a businessman, entrepreneur, social worker, inventor and also do well in their studies. for a student to be able to do all these, they are either geniuses or little gods. a little experience and exposure here and there other than the main task of building a strong academic foundation are good and welcome. but to over emphasise the secondary and good to know things at the expense of the core knowledge acquistion function is very dangerous. a student must be firstly a student and must do well in his studies. for those who are able to and can afford the time, go and do whatever they want. but do not compromise on your basic role as a student. do not compromise on your first class honours. in a free environment, a few geniuses will shine. but many pseudo geniuses will waste away, fooling themselves. a real genius will thrive in any situation, in any environment. the dismissal of our inability to produce world beaters is all bull. very shallow thinking. our lack of world beaters is a result of our small critical mass and the short time span of our existence. and also, the brightest were channelled to adminstrative functions and the govt. what is really needed is the allocation of talents to where it is needed. if we want scientists and inventors, put the best brains there. what A star is doing is the right thing. there is a chinese saying, 'nian chuan bu nian gong, hou lai yi zhang kong.' what it means is that if one is training in martial arts, learning the moves without training the basic physical strength, eventually is worthless. education is the same. the acquisition of knowledge, technical knowledge, cannot be abandoned for foolish things like trying to be fun, to be a businessman, to excel in sports, all at the same time. know one's own limitation and endowment. if one is so talented or gifted to do all things, thank your parents for the good genes. if one is gifted to be an einstein, don't try to be a tiger woods. likewise tiger woods would not try to pretend that he can be an einstein or vice versa. lets not confuse fuzzy logic with delusion.

3 comments:

Ⓜatilah $ingapura⚠️ said...

More central planning - with the focus on altering the childrens' minds for the future benefit of the All-Powerful State.

Public education policy will always suck, no matter how "clever" ministers might claim to be.

Long term result:

MATILAH SINGAPURA!

Chua Chin Leng aka redbean said...

in a way i am a fundamentalist when education is concerned. the fundamentals of education must not be changed or tampered with.

the rest of the things that they want to fool around or flirt with, do it as a luxury. never mess around with the lives of young people by telling them the wrong things.

tell the child, do whatever you want when you know enough and capable of reasoning for yourself. but get the basics in first. after that they can be whatever they want, even be a hippy or anarchist or a taoist or even be a christian.

don't chang the basics. the foundation must be secured first.

Ⓜatilah $ingapura⚠️ said...

There's a lot to be said about ancient practices: where the entire community pitched in to educate its kids.

The kids grew up healthy and responsible - INDIVIDUALLY. Because of the support in the community, and the fact that everyone knew each other, they each had a voice. The adults functioned as "role models", so they too watched their p's and q's - especially around the kids. The true family spirit - a spirit which goes beyond the biological family to an extended family of the community - was a spontaneous order which evolved out of this.

Nowadays, we have centrally planned education.

The family spirit is lost. It is replace with a "national" spirit - which puts the fucking CUNTry before the family and the individual. The kids are institutionalised in day-prisons, indoctrinated and bent to the whim of the centralist planners and its corporate whores.

The parents are too busy making big bux to give a shit about their kids. Damn, we have some lousy parents out there folks! :0

redbean, observe HOW the insidious state preys on young minds:

In the village of yesteryear, a 4-5 yr old would be with the women of the village. They would look out for the kid, spoil him with love, nuture.

Now they throw these kids into PAP Kindergartens!

Goddamn!