njendesblog

[njendesblog]

Start of something new

I just woke up from sleep because of a dream. I do not want to call it a nightmare, because then, I would make it unreal, whereas in reality, it is the lived experience of so many in my country (and possibly around the world). Well, this dream made me get out of bed at 2 am and do what I should have done probably 10 months ago - write! Following Seth's advice, Everyone should write a blog, every day, even if no one reads it, and I'm not going to say anymore, cause I would probably be the nth blog quoting him. Anyways, I feel more obliged now that compelled to make sure my thoughts are somewhere out there, at least for the records, and I want to keep them truthful, candid, unprepared - me in the most genuine form.

Reminds me of this quote at the back of my Lycée classroom: "I'm too lazy to be fake, being real takes a lot less effort". Well, we're still looking for who penned it to the wall in black bold marker ink. If you're reading this post, thanks for motivating me :) Oh yes, I was talking about the dream. So, the abridged version of the dream is that I took a test, and my paper was being marked by two teachers, one whom I know as my CS teacher in real life, and another by a CS teacher generated by my dream (it felt so real though). So, my paper is being marked, and boom - I get a score 9 points shy of the pass mark, and the dream teach proceeds to giving me some punishment. First, humiliating me, then, instructing me to pluck off grass growing off the intersection between an unpainted wall outside and the footpath, and then clean a classroom singlehandedly during an ongoing class. This is around the time I got up, with my heart beating at 110 bpm from all the anxiety. So, why I shared this is, I believe I had this dream because I'm about to write mock exams. And, I have no problem with the idea of learning and being tested for a purpose, or being given an opportunity to apply your learned material in a simulated environment of the real world applications. However, I do have a problem with how it is done, and the effects on the people who don't fare quite well on the Most of the time, tests are administered to everyone, at the same time, regardless of individual learning pace and progress. When results are given, they are publicly shared to the shame or glory of the students, and unfortunately, students who failed, are shamed or punished as though their entire life's worth rises and falls on their test score in that particular subject, or a punishment will somehow awaken their inner intellect to pass the exam the next time.

Oops, pomodoro time's up, and I have to stick to my day's schedule so, will definitely do a part 2 to this tomorrow.

To whoever is reading this (starting with myself), thank you very much for spending the last few minutes of your time reading what I wrote. I am really grateful you reasoned out that, the chemical energy in your brain was worth being spent reading this post.

Candid-ly, Unprepared-ly,

John.

[njendesblog]

Is Philosophy Good?

So, today, I decided to step back a little and ask the question, "Is Philosophy good?. A little background to this question is the fact that, the questions of "Is Philosophy Fundamental?" and "Is Philosophy important?" were posed in the course I’m taking - Introduction to Philosophy on Coursera, and I needed an answer as to why Philosophy to many people is viewed as a subject to run away from, or a subject for "mad people" (the literal words my schoolmates use). My argument is as follows: For something to be good, it has to be advantageous, moral, adequate, and comply with a long list of other qualities (I could not settle on which dictionary definition to use). For philosophy to be good, it means the activity of thinking about things needs to comply with the above-stated qualities. But, since the activity is carried out by people who widely differ one from the other, their views of advantage, morality and more, will obviously differ from one another, and would be subject to their subjective views. Also, since one's personal view can change with respect to time, we have two variables that would influence the definition of “good” with respect to the question asked - The people’s subjective views and the change of subject views with time.  For example: My view of the morality of compulsory payment before medical service, regardless of the medical situation will differ from yours and maybe be viewed as immoral, based on your personal views and experiences.  Also, what we may all agree as advantageous today, may turn out to be viewed as disadvantageous tomorrow (a classic example being medieval medicine's practice of humorism). Therefore, Philosophy is not good, neither is it bad, it is an activity, like any other, whose state of being is determined by those who undertake the activity, and the time at which it is undertaken. Thus, philosophy is what we make it to be, per time. Thank you very much for reading. Best wishes for a great month ahead. Best Regards, John Njende