University
A new semester has since started. The papers that I'm taking this semester are
PSYC 201 - Brain and Cognition (compulsory)
PSYC 315 - Social Psychology
JAPA 332 - Advanced Japanese Language
This sem did not start out as well as I had hoped. Even though I knew that these three papers are the one I would be taking, somehow I let myself be influenced by others. Particularly Phillip to take PHIL 222 : An introduction to Formal Logic, and the Japanese lecturer to try out JAPA 441. Another thing that didn't go so well was the fact that the Chinese lecturer refused to let me in her 300-level classes and told me to take 400-level papers in Chinese as well.
I felt so out of place in PHIL222. It's like me taking some programming paper or something. While I am interested in such technical aspects of life, I will only take something like that if I plan on building a career in that. If all I wanted was to be a nerd and look cool because I can write in symbols and be able to tell which arguments are valid or invalid, I can learn that in my spare time but I do not wish to be graded on that.
University is a place where you take papers that count towards your career because otherwise, why would you go to a university to learn stuffs when you can learn just as well from a library by yourself? What I'm here in the university is for the piece of paper. No longer really for knowledge. Although I do put knowledge on a pedestal by itself, I don't think the university of today (meaning university in a capitalist context) can offer knowledge without compromising on the value of a degree in the market.
The game is therefore to take as less papers as you can get away with and earn the highest grades possible. Therefore it makes sense to take papers that you already know a lot about. If you already know a lot about the paper, it cannot offer you any new knowledge that you do not already know. Conclusion? University is not an institution of knowledge; it is an institution of grades.
PSYC 201 - Brain and Cognition (compulsory)
PSYC 315 - Social Psychology
JAPA 332 - Advanced Japanese Language
This sem did not start out as well as I had hoped. Even though I knew that these three papers are the one I would be taking, somehow I let myself be influenced by others. Particularly Phillip to take PHIL 222 : An introduction to Formal Logic, and the Japanese lecturer to try out JAPA 441. Another thing that didn't go so well was the fact that the Chinese lecturer refused to let me in her 300-level classes and told me to take 400-level papers in Chinese as well.
I felt so out of place in PHIL222. It's like me taking some programming paper or something. While I am interested in such technical aspects of life, I will only take something like that if I plan on building a career in that. If all I wanted was to be a nerd and look cool because I can write in symbols and be able to tell which arguments are valid or invalid, I can learn that in my spare time but I do not wish to be graded on that.
University is a place where you take papers that count towards your career because otherwise, why would you go to a university to learn stuffs when you can learn just as well from a library by yourself? What I'm here in the university is for the piece of paper. No longer really for knowledge. Although I do put knowledge on a pedestal by itself, I don't think the university of today (meaning university in a capitalist context) can offer knowledge without compromising on the value of a degree in the market.
The game is therefore to take as less papers as you can get away with and earn the highest grades possible. Therefore it makes sense to take papers that you already know a lot about. If you already know a lot about the paper, it cannot offer you any new knowledge that you do not already know. Conclusion? University is not an institution of knowledge; it is an institution of grades.