[[*---Virtu contro al Furore---*]]

Tuesday, October 26, 2004

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Blogging in the sch library because I am unofficially banned from com at home, thanks to chinese Os. Well i suppose I could use it, but that's if i finish my practice chinese papers, which is quite unlikely given that I'm not that particularly motivated about them.

On a more positive note, managed to obtain John Meyer's Heavier Things from Josh Hoe, must say it's quite good, and a positive departure from what i usually listen to. But also, relaxing is crucial - no need to be too stressed over anything, especially Exams, since pressure doesn't seem to have any positive effects.

Rather, pressure often causes people to crack, bend, and in some extreme cases, break. Haven't we all heard about primary school boys jumping to their deaths because of too much parental or exam pressure, especially close to PSLE? We may simply dismiss them as extreme cases who cannot work within the confines of the system. And it is indeed true that they are extreme cases otherwise people wouldn't be jumping at every incidence of this, and this would be the norm, not the exception.

At the other end of the spectrum, people condemn the system for being too utilitarian and too impersonal. Goals are set out, and people who fall under the purview of the system are expected to follow such goals, albeit not without some questions. Is this too autocratic? Are we deviating from the ideals of democracy? Yet i think it was at the most recent Pre-IB colloquium that one of the speakers talked about democracy, and how it is realistically impossible to have a pure democracy, where all individuals are indeed equal. Even the Ancient Greeks, who came the closest to a pure democracy with each person being able to voice his views and a huge council of citizens (over 40,000 people) voted on public and national issues, did not have a pure democracy, as the nobles still had considerably more clout than the citizens. Yet issues of democracy aside (we'll leave that to another day), should we fault our education system for being overly meritocratic? Is there even such a thing as over-meritocratism? I think not.

Thus, we must eventually learn to work within the confines of our system, and all the while try to have fun, and live our lives the best we know how. Release the pressure, and take a break! Or at least, learn to relax while doing what is necessary. People are always chiding themselves (or others are chiding them) for being too distracted from their work, and going off tangent while they do stuff at the com. Still, could we realistically expect ourselves to confine ourselves strictly to work when we are working? I believe (at least for my case, not sure about others) that doing one's work extremely seriously and not taking any form of a break would indeed stifle one's creativity, and even to the extent that one cannot concentrate on one's work or proceeds at a snail's pace. Distraction (naturally in moderation!) does indeed help to stimulate one's creative juices, and even if one is not doing a particularly creative or interesting task, distractions help to provide an alternative, a deviation from the monotony of work, which then contrasts with the work itself. At that time then, one somehow becomes more motivated to do one's work, in that doing work and taking breaks periodically increases productivity. Afterall, it is well documented in SuperTeen that most teenagers have an average attention span of 15 minutes, after which fact retention decreases in a roughly exponential fashion, to the point where a person will simply switch off. Yet since 15 minute sessions (of work, or lectures, or other stuff like that) would be rather ineffective, we then extend it to about 30 minute sessions. Thus every 30 minutes of work, feel free to distract yourself for about 10 minutes (of course, not too long), and after that, your attention and motivation will be most refreshed and rejuvenated.

Distractions, are, overall, quite necessary. (If you read this, feel free to share this with your parents, although do remember to back it some with some SuperTeen data). Distractions provide a contrast to monotonous work, and a necessary deviation that does improve productivity. Now if you like the work you're doing, that might be a totally different story, or it might not, but the same rules do not necessarily apply.

On another slightly unrelated note, Arthur Schopenhauer did remark that the arts, namely music, drama, and so on, help us to transcend our base human experiences, and that our terrible and meaningless existence can be momentarily taken up to a higher conscience and sensation by the experience of the arts. While i do beg to differ on his philosophy that life is terrible and meaningless (after all, they DID call him the ultimate pessimist philosopher for a reason), i do feel that the arts really do help to transcend our human experience. Religion too, but i shall leave that out here.

Music, when in any version in all, helps to convey human emotion and experience in ways perhaps not possible within our limited perception. Are we not often "at a loss for words"? In the same way, music helps us to express what we could not normally fully express within the limited confines of language alone. Of course, we know that most songs have lyrics, and we may then question, do they really help to transcend human experience? How can humans create something that can expand their perceptions and express themselves in unspoken ways? Yet I believe that music is not purely a product of the artiste, not merely lyrics written by a songwriter, not just a sweet voice of some singer, but instead, the conurcopia of all, the collective of the music, the lyrics, the conveyor (whether the singer or instrumentalist) brings together all the elements, all the base human-conjured elements, and somehow this combination helps to elevate our consciousness beyond human limits. This is how, people have often felt touched by a song, above any other. It's not just the lyrics, though they are most indispensable; it's not the melody, though there is no song without it; it's not the overall meaning behind the song, though that is most important to note; rather, it is an arbitrary collective effect of all these elements, that creates a special, often unforeseen effect, that touches people, that brings people to tears, and wells up emotion in them.

The beauty of music itself cannot be expressed in words. Do i feel energized by heavy metal as a result of the fast beat? The angry lyrics? The rapid guitar riffs? No. Instead, it is something beyond all that, that makes me listen to things that i do not believe in, to listen to absurdities, just for the unspeakable feelings that it creates. So when music speaks to you, treasure that experience, and treasure that feeling, for it is rare, and it is transcendence.

On a less philosophical note, people in my class are playing War3 ROC in class on a friend's laptop. How lame! War3 on a touchpad and no numpad to assign items to. Munchkin has also become a class tradition; there's always a game on in class, provided people are in class at that time. Also had a fun time playing bball for about 1.5 hours with some sec 2s, with 3.8 people.
Hmm. Hope the library will be improved when our new complex opens. Until then, guess we'll have to search for books by author... How antiquated...

Mood - Refreshed
Song - John Meyer - Come Back to Bed

[[ Sagacious Musings ]]*|1:58 PM|

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