Pieces of a Jigsaw

No, I'm not becoming Jack the Ripper so do not fear. I just had so many things fall into place this week that I can only attribute it to hardwork, planning and a ton of luck. Good things are happening and I suppose that means I should continue striving for better and better results. Work, work. More work? Work, work. But lately I've been feeling abit "Peonish". Didn't even have a single day where I touched a video game. But however I did finish 4 novels from Sunday to Wednesday.

I had read the first 4 books of the Elminster Quintology, Makings of a Mage, Temptation of Elminster, Elminster in Myth Drannor and Elminster in Hell. I'm missing the book Elminster's Daughter. Which incidentally is the book that I had wanted to read the most. Oh well the first 4 books weren't too shoddy, I finally understood the way Ed Greenwood thinks and feels about Elminster. He's version of Elminster is one of a wily man who seems to get into the pants of almost every pretty magic user that crosses his path. I had this impression of Elminster as a person who was a in love with the goddess of magic Mystra. But obviously this didn't stop him from consorting with countless other sorceresses and mages along the 4 novels that I've devoured.

But I suppose I have some similarities with Elminster than I would like to admit. I associate myself very much with Elminster in the way I handle many situations. Firm but with good intentions. I can be nasty as well which usually spells alot of trouble for me and the person I'm nasty to. And after reading this Quintology on Elminster, it almost serves as a reflection of my own character. And yes, like all guys I do secretly wish I could consort with every hot gal in a position of power. I'm drawn to knowledge like Elminster was and seek to understand the reason behind the actions that befall upon his world. He understands most matters at a much deeper understanding and isn't afraid to play dumb to get the answers he cannot attain on his own.

And I apply this to the way that I study now in my course. I don't necessarily play dumb, but I'm always looking confident for a reason. It's usually because I'm not afraid to make mistakes during lessons. Why? Because by making a mistake, you draw out the correct answers from the lecturer and the people around you. I believe in learning from anyone, especially those younger than me. It's when your young, that you have new perspectives and new ideas. It's not that I cannot generate them, but I am getting older and generate them at a slower pace. No doubt my ideas can come out alittle more polished than some of my peers, but that's not enough for me.

I can never have enough knowledge, it is once said that once your cup is full, you should pour away the contents and fill it up again. I sort of learn things in that manner as well. When I relearn something, I throw away all old concepts I used to have about the matter. That usually allows me to pick up the concept in a different manner and much faster than if I had stuck to my old style of thought with regards to the matter. Of course, not everyone is capable of developing such a style of learning. One first must master the fear of learning new things. When one gets older, one must also abolish the fear of making mistakes.

If you tried to learn a completely new topic while trying not to make a single mistake, you'd probably learn extremely little and would only get by with memorizing the entire textbook. But if you sought to learn the boundaries that this new subject can stretch into, your ability with your new found knowledge can exceed far beyond what the teacher's original intent. This is what drew so much attention to me back when I was in the Polytechnic. I sought to test the knowledge I earned during lessons by interacting with the lecturers and making some mistakes along the way. The teachers admited that I was a brilliant student but my final grades just never reflected this form of learning.

Perhaps if the education system worked in a slightly different manner. Right now the assumption is that if you get the correct answer, it is either because you have made enough mistakes while learning the subject matter to avoid getting the wrong answer. But it is obviously not the case with many of the students out there now. By over emphasizing the need to get a flawless answer, people have already forgone the method of learning from their mistakes. They have adopted the memorize and reguritate the model answer as form of survival. And by forcing the majority of the populace to adopt this method to learning, it's no wonder why we are so hard pressed to find creative minds in our society.

If one wants a creative mind, you cannot teach him by telling him that he can only follow one set model answer for every question. You have to allow him to test and experiment with the question to find out which answers are definately wrong and which ones can be plausible. It may seems rather counter productive in certain subjects such as math and physics. But on the contrary, it's even more desperately needed because of the growing applications that math and physics are being applied on today. Infact, all brilliant mathematicians can come up with their own variations of equations that are deemed to have only 1 way of solving a question. Without a creative mind, you can forget about getting a PHD in math or physics or almost any other subject matter.

To question authority is the basis of creativity. To question what is supposedly set down in "stone" is how people get to discover new things. If everyone continued thinking that the world was flat, did you think that we'd be a global society we are today? Rules are meant to be broken and broken completely and utterly. There must be no trace of the rule left behind to ensure the continued prosperity of humanity.

If the rule that the world was flat was an IRON CLAD rule, we have truly shattered and destroyed that rule that there is no trace but contempt for such an ideal. This is how we must view our current set of rules. How are some rules untrue and used to oppress creativity? These rules were not made with prejudice I know, but they unintentionally impede our growth. Thus we have to remove these obstacles before our mindsets can change as a species and move forward as a whole.

To have continued prosperity, our education system has to move from one that oppresses free form thought to one that promotes creativity. So that this new education system may give rise to minds that perfects cold fusion, longevity, cure for cancer, cure for aids, space travel and countless more advancements that are so badly impeded with our one tracked societal mindsets. If only we can release our minds from being trodden upon, can we truly advance into the future together and hopefully even be able to conquer space within a couple of generations.

The first step is to change the grading system either gradually or in phases. The grading system should abolish exams and concentrate on the learning process. When teaching a subject through correcting mistakes and telling them to try something else, one might be completely surprised at the possibilities that a supposedly one answer question might have. And thus grade the children according to how far can they infer about the subject matter after the exercise to test the limits to the distance that the child can think on the subject. When these children reach the university level, the human race will never have seen such mental ability in our entire history of humankind. It will far outstrip any of our predecessors and perhaps push humanity truly forward in the twenty first century.

Personally, I have learnt my way through life using this method and I'm sure some of the rebellious people out there have also taught themselves via this method. It becomes plainly obvious when it comes to testing our knowledge, that we are not afraid of learning from our mistakes and becoming smarter in the process. However, when you see the people that's brought up under the current education process, you'd see that when you test their knowledge. They will defend their points of view to the death without trying to understand whether or not the opposing point of view has any merit whatsoever.

And when it comes to invention of ideas and technology, you can tell right away if the inventor is creative or a dullard. If a true inventor's ideas get stolen or cheated away from him, he just creates a new invention that's just as innovative or even more innovative than the one that was stolen. But if it's a dullard, that invention would probably be his ONLY invention that would have ANY merit to society. Thus he will die defending his invention because he's totally incapable of coming up with more innovations to credit to his name. This is the sad story that plagues our scientific community.

Creative people should NEVER be isolated merely at the Arts and Humanities, they should be spread through out the spectrum because they are a benefit to every field of study. Creative people's point of view may simply revolutionize our way of handling space travel or the like. Think of the countless trillions of dollars that will be saved if we had a cheaper form of travelling to space safer and faster than our current technology. And that 1 million dollars saved everytime we need a pen because we use a pencil instead in space instead of developing pen that works in zero gravity. All I can say is, without creativity, the world is doomed to making dumb and expensive decisions while thinking that they are getting smarter when they are actually sinking into new depths of retardedness. Alauz OUT!

Idiots of today, Geniuses of tomorrow

God of Rain

Today is one of the stranger days in my life. I was supposed to have an interview at my school's management branch at 12pm. And thus I decided to go there early and have lunch because there's nothing to eat at home. I noticed the sky getting darker on the bus there and I thought nothing much of it. Normally the rain clouds like this take awhile to gather before raining. When I reached my stop later and walked towards the location of my interview I felt a very slight drizzle.

At first I thought nothing of it, but I pressed on faster. And as I changed from walking to running, the rain changed from a drizzle to a cascade of a waterfall. Before I knew it, in a matter of 30 seconds I was drenched head to toe. So I kept running towards the building I was supposed to have my interview, it was a mere 200m away from the bus stop. When I reached the main gates, the rain stopped almost completely as I stepped through it.

Then I wondered to myself, if I had angered a deity that commanded the rain somewhere. I went into the building and asked for the location of the nearest toilet, I had to get myself dried and check all my electrical objects to see if they were ruined. But thankfully, my handphone and laptop were in a waterproof slipcase and were fine. The notes and papers I was carrying in my bag were in another waterproof file and they decided to remain dry as well. I was beginning to feel thankful that I decided to waterproof the objects I bring to school for no particular reason last week.

And the incident didn't end there, after my interview with the wonderful Beatrice I left the building towards the bus stop so I can get back to school on time for classes. And as I stepped out of the gates, the drizzling started almost immediately. I moved with utmost haste to the bus stop just before another heavy downpour covered the area. I am either beginning to think that the sky is so wonderfully in sync with me that it really seems to wants to reward me with lots of drinking water.

And thus ends the strange happenings and interesting things to note for today. I can't seem to make up my mind about the lesson I had on Micro-Economics today, is it just me or does micro-econs seem alittle different from the last time I learnt it. Oh well, I suppose it's just the difference in the lecturer's style of doing things. Most people don't appreciate a hard working lecturer, well at least I can understand him and how he's attempting to bring econs to life. A pity his accent is too deep for most to understand him without paying close to absolute attention. Otherwise, he would definitely be a lecturer who'd have alot student support. And it's time for me to say farewell once again, new things to say the next time. Alauz Out!

Idiots of today, Geniuses of tomorrow

Mystery, Suspense, Anti-climax

Thus the day started without much ado, with me clinging onto old mind chains. (Mind chains equals old mindsets duh!) I intrude into other people's lives far too often for their liking, sometimes too often for my own liking as well. To shatter the mind chains I so dearly cling onto as if they were succor of life itself, I decided to have a test of wills with my other self. What other self? Of course the very essence of this day started with my inner selves calling each other out their delusional mindsets.

How does one face his inner selves without breaking the hold on sanity? How does one assume the guise of sanity while the inner selves rage a bitter war for control of the shell that speaks? How will you know which of my selves are speaking right now? It seems that in the constant feud that battles within, it was inevitable that a more cohesive consciousness had to be formed and coalesed before the shell is shattered amidst the fierce battle within.

So who is writing this as we speak? It is I, the newest addition to the collection of souls deep within one's mind. I'm the one of balance and intrigue, the one that doesn't venture too far to the extremes. Although you may say that I've been like this for a long time, it's naught until today that I'm truly my own person. I am free from my inner battles as the good and the evil now are but struggling in the background while I took over. A balance to all things within, a moderate if you so wish to see.

I am no longer bound by the need to serve goodness with a blind fevor, no long irked by the evil doings of the beings beside me. I am no longer bound to be the evil that has to be, to be irked by the lack of mischief in the lives of others. I am truly me, a person who is finally free to do as he wishes. And my wish now? To rise to glory as the flames have heated the steel hot enough to strike! The world is red hot now, while I see all its kinks and flaws. I move ever so surely to strike at my goals, without my greatest enemy to stop me; Myself.

I suppose I've just breached the proverbial line where I kept telling myself never to breach. I just lost all sense of morality, or just the compulsion to good and evil. Today is both a day that was dreading and yet embraced as if it was nothing more than a simple change. Today is the day where I am a new person, reborn without the chains that have bounded me for so long. Hahaha, let's just hope the world doesn't burn to a cinder while I'm around. Alauz Out!

Idiots of today, Geniuses of tomorrow