Strange world indeed

Time

strangerist — Fri, 07 May 2010 11:11:23 +0000

Time is a very interesting concept when broken down into the finer elements. In essence, time is the past, present and future as a whole. Time is infinite, as are the questions surrounding the matter, but no answers. How long to go? When will it happen? When did it start?

Many people grow old having made mistakes which they later regret. Even when these elderly people with a life time of knowledge and wisdom give advice to the young, they commonly make the same mistakes. I have often contemplated as to why people struggle to believe that they may not know whats best, when time clearly indicates that others have a greater knowledge.

We are all aware that time for us is limited, and this is what makes our lives so wonderful. We all know how we should spend our time to ensure a fulfilled life, but we never carry that out. I have heard many times in my life “I wish I had spent less time at work and more with my family”, but I have never once heard “I wish I had spent more time at work and less time at home.” An interesting concept:

Countless people spend their time working hard in order to earn more money. As time passes by, these people have gained mass amounts of money. On the road to these riches, the people have compromised their health. Consequently, they spend all of their hard earned money in order to retain their health and lives.

Time is an amazing concept, and should be thought about more often. Choosing what we do with our time is the key factor that differentiates you from any other.

Common to Some

strangerist — Tue, 03 Nov 2009 11:51:23 +0000

What we know as “Common Sense”, is actually rather deceptive. We are taught that “Common Sense” is something of good judgement, seens as knowledge held by people “in common”. However, is this accurate?

Common sense is never the same with two individuals, it varies by each persons experiences and what they have been taught. So perhaps what is common to one person, is peculiar to another. I give the following scenario:

There is a man named Andrew who lives in Brisbane, Australia. He is the CEO of a large company in the city. At the end of a successful year he decides to take a holiday to Uluru, more commonly known as “Ayers rock”. Once he arrives in the barren lands of outback Australia he goes on a bush hike, kilometers away from his hotel. To Andrews disfortune, he forgets his water bottle back at the hotel. Becoming more and more dehydrated Andrew seeks nearby help and stumbles across an aboriginal man. Andrew asks the man, “I need water quick, you must help me!” The aboriginal man frowns upon Andrrew’s stupidity. He points to a near by shrub and says, “Water is obviously near the plants my friend, thats common sense.”

What was common sense to the indigenous man, was certainly not common sense to the CEO of a large company. If you were to see people drinking themselves to an unhealthy state or taking drugs for their own contentment would you say to yourself, “Isn’t it common sense not to do those things?” Perhaps not.

“Common Sense” can only be described as “An Educated Reasoning On Something That Hasn’t Been Taught”. This statement may contradict itself, but it shows that there is nothing common about common sense, simply because each separable person will reason differently.

Do teachers teach?

strangerist — Sat, 31 Oct 2009 00:58:26 +0000

Professional titles should be descriptive. For example, if you meet a gardener, you would assume that their job is to garden. As a student who at this point is fifteen years old, I sometimes wonder if the title of ‘teacher’ ought to be changed, simply because the title is misleading. I doubt that teachers actually teach. It seems that they are more like ‘Crowd Control Engineers’ than teachers. Some are police officers while others are facilitators or disciplinarians.

I have been observing how teachers perform during the 45-minute lessons, and I can’t help but wonder at which point in the lesson they are actually the ‘teacher’ versus the miserable adult who shouts at the kids. Sure, most teachers are pleasant, but are they teaching? Sometimes it seems that I am the one who is sent home to study, just to make up for the useless class time.

Or, am I mistaken? Are teachers just guides and counsellors? Are they just traffic controllers and project managers? It seems ever so easy for someone to walk into class and tell the students to sit down, read chapter five, and do some homework. But my Mum could have done the same thing? Why bother going to school just to be sent home again to finish what they barely started? We already have the text book, so what value is it to be in class, with endless distractions, rowdy students who are understandably bored, and unhappy teachers who rarely inspire a love of learning.

In this world of options and choice, and supposed technology, I would prefer to stay home, and do my homework by myself or with a few friends, than trek to school each day, where little value is received.