I hate to sing the same old song again and again, but I need to get this one out, or else I will erupt. (I’ve just read Before Green Gables, in which the heroine--Anne Shirley--repeatedly used the word “erupt” instead of the more mundane “explode” to describe her feelings. In case you’re wondering, Before Green Gables is a “sequel” to Anne of Green Gables initiated by Penguin Canada to celebrate Anne’s one hundredth anniversary.)
My story began in a rather innocent fashion when I realized that what I really wanted in life was to learn. I always get this sense of awe recently--every time I make a discovery, every time I get a revelation. I long to feel this way forever, and that’s why I want to spend my whole life learning.
Of course, “learning” in itself is a very broad term. You can learn from everything--from what you see, what you hear, what you think, what you experience. It’s very shallow-minded to think that you can only learn by means of one specialized method, e. g. going to school.
Bearing that in mind, I shouldn’t be upset upon finding out that this path I’m intending to take is a closed road for me. If all I want to do is learning, there shouldn’t be any problem; I could always take another approach. Yet, I can’t help feeling frustrated.
The dilemma I’m facing right now is basically like this: if one wants to study, he has to know things; but in order to know things he has to study certain things first. (It’s pretty much like the problem with not getting a job because you don’t have any work experience, which is impossible to obtain if you never get a job in a first place.) See what I mean?
It’s unfair! People with less intelligence and worldly motivation can easily take this approach because situation permits them to do so. It’s all about supply and demand these days. When your demand is in low supply, things become more complicated and difficult. Why oh why?
Thursday, April 30, 2009
Tuesday, April 28, 2009
The Truth Remains 4/28/2009 10:41:00 PM
In this lecture I attended, someone actually said that he didn't believe that Pluto wasn't a planet because the Quran didn't say so. Gosh, I thought, you got to roll your eyes in response. Feel free to interpret the Holy Book as liberally as you like and you're one step closer to making it just like Nostradamus's Book of Prophecies.
Sure enough, demoting Pluto to the status of "dwarf planet" didn't sit well with many people. For most people it has nothing to do with (skewed) religious belief, but rather it's the sense of nostalgia, because you've always perceived our solar system as having nine planets. From a perfectly logical point of view, whether Pluto is a planet or not is hardly relevant. I mean, come on, whatever label you put upon it, it would still go about its business, rotating, revolving, evolving.
Let's assume that everything happens around you or within you is the real deal, the truth if you will. And then you have your own first-hand experience on those matters. Or maybe some second-hand, third-hand, and so on account about them, through books, TVs, school lessons. Little by little, whether you realize it or not, you start constructing your own perception of reality. I suppose this is a completely normal process.
Problem arises when reality as you see it doesn't really correspond to the factual truth. Or to be more precise, when you cling tightly to your own perception simply because it's the very thing you have believed your whole life despite the fact that what you believe is not true, or even useful.
Consider this. Thinking that Pluto is a planet might be totally harmless, but thinking that it's necessary to prescribe antibiotics in every case of upper respiratory tract infection is not okay. It seems that in Indonesia every time you got a cough and went to the doctor, he/she would prescribe antibiotics. This is despite experimental finding that therapy with antibiotics in at least ninety percent cases of URT infection is ineffective (Goodman & Gilman's The Pharmacological Basis of Therapeutics, Ninth Edition). Meaning, you would come home with less money in your pocket, a useless drug, and bacterial resistance probably lurking in the corner. Yet, why do doctors keep doing so? That's because that's what they were told to do in medical school.
My point is, the truth is the truth, even though no one would believe it, even though people explain it differently from generation to generation, even though our understanding of it changes from time to time. And if people refuse to accept the truth merely because their ego refuses to let go their idea of it, I suggest they look hard at themselves and start learning some lessons on humility.
Note: Please read this piece in the context of natural world only. Religion and philosophy are completely different matters altogether. The little episode I mention in the beginning of this article is just an example about how you can go too far in your (inaccurate) conviction about something.
Sure enough, demoting Pluto to the status of "dwarf planet" didn't sit well with many people. For most people it has nothing to do with (skewed) religious belief, but rather it's the sense of nostalgia, because you've always perceived our solar system as having nine planets. From a perfectly logical point of view, whether Pluto is a planet or not is hardly relevant. I mean, come on, whatever label you put upon it, it would still go about its business, rotating, revolving, evolving.
Let's assume that everything happens around you or within you is the real deal, the truth if you will. And then you have your own first-hand experience on those matters. Or maybe some second-hand, third-hand, and so on account about them, through books, TVs, school lessons. Little by little, whether you realize it or not, you start constructing your own perception of reality. I suppose this is a completely normal process.
Problem arises when reality as you see it doesn't really correspond to the factual truth. Or to be more precise, when you cling tightly to your own perception simply because it's the very thing you have believed your whole life despite the fact that what you believe is not true, or even useful.
Consider this. Thinking that Pluto is a planet might be totally harmless, but thinking that it's necessary to prescribe antibiotics in every case of upper respiratory tract infection is not okay. It seems that in Indonesia every time you got a cough and went to the doctor, he/she would prescribe antibiotics. This is despite experimental finding that therapy with antibiotics in at least ninety percent cases of URT infection is ineffective (Goodman & Gilman's The Pharmacological Basis of Therapeutics, Ninth Edition). Meaning, you would come home with less money in your pocket, a useless drug, and bacterial resistance probably lurking in the corner. Yet, why do doctors keep doing so? That's because that's what they were told to do in medical school.
My point is, the truth is the truth, even though no one would believe it, even though people explain it differently from generation to generation, even though our understanding of it changes from time to time. And if people refuse to accept the truth merely because their ego refuses to let go their idea of it, I suggest they look hard at themselves and start learning some lessons on humility.
Note: Please read this piece in the context of natural world only. Religion and philosophy are completely different matters altogether. The little episode I mention in the beginning of this article is just an example about how you can go too far in your (inaccurate) conviction about something.
Friday, April 17, 2009
Top Five Movies I'm Dying to See 4/17/2009 09:49:00 AM
I'm really into Facebook's lists of five lately. You know--five favorite footballers (the older Neville, Giggsy, Keano, Brad Friedel, Franco Baresi), top five albums (OK Computer, What's the Story Morning Glory, Think Tank, The Bends, Pablo Honey), five favorite books (The Alchemist, Suzumiya Haruhi no Yuutsu, Good Omens, The Black Swan, Virus of the Mind), five favorite beers (they forget that some people don't drink). But Facebook doesn't have a "top five movies one's dying to see" list. Or rather, nobody hasn't made one yet. That being the case, I'll make one myself. Those movies are:
1) Dancers in the Dark
Bjork's first and last movie, playing as Selma, its main character. It's a musical of some sort (one of its soundtracks is "I Have Seen It All" featuring Bjork and Thom Yorke; the song appeared in Bjork's abum/the movie's soundtrack Selmasongs). LFM had this movie played in our campus's theater and a friend of mine (Umi, wherever you are, I wish you a happy life with your frogs) was full of praises about it. She said something along the lines of "You can never be sure whether to laugh or sing, watching it". And since she's one of the few people whose judgment on movies I can really count on, I believed (and still do) her. I couldn't watch the movie at that time (it was a Saturday night, I remember) because I had to attend this extremely lame organizational leadership workshop. I didn't even remember what it's all about. What I can recall is my being sleepy throughout the talks (yes, talks). Gosh, I digress, as usual. Well, the point is, my friend's words got into me. The problem is, you can't get the movie anywhere because it's been about eight years since the release, and the movie being not being a mainstream thing means you would never find it in Kota Kembang either.
2) Clueless
It's one of the iconic movies of the nineties (colorful dresses, extensive use of cell phones, a particular way of talking, etc). The story is rather typical, about the life of a beautiful, rich, highly popular Beverly Hills teenage girl. This movie got a good review from MTV and since I was pretty much addicted to MTV at that time, I felt that I got to check this one out. Never did. I did go to a video shop to rent the movie but couldn't get a copy because it's broken down for being played too many times.
3) In the Mood for Love
The only Asian movie on the list. A Wong Kar Wai (did I spell his name correctly?) film, starring Tony Leung and Maggie Cheung (both of whom I simply adore for their acting, and in Mr. Leung's case, his good looks, too :D). I've watched the sequel, 2046, which contained some "flashbacks" from In the Mood for Love. Because it's Wong Kar Wai, it would surely be hard to comprehend at times, but I want to give it a shot (my personal favorite from Wong Kar Wai is Chungking Express, which was not that hard to understand, really).
4) St. Elmo's Fire
Now is the perfect time for me to watch this particular movie. It's about some young adults trying to cope with their new life, new responsibilities upon graduating from college. I'm still in that "soul searching" phase right now, pretty much like the characters in that movie, so I'm positively sure I can relate to them (and thus, enjoy the movie). Again, this is an old material, so I doubt I'd be able to watch it anytime soon (if ever).
5) Empire of the Sun
This one was a Steven Spielberg movie starring a young Christian Bale and the actor playing as Indy's sidekick in Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom (I think). It's about Japanese invasion in China seen from the eyes of an English boy. Japanese invasion, World War II, sounds like the kind of movie that I'd enjoy.
1) Dancers in the Dark
Bjork's first and last movie, playing as Selma, its main character. It's a musical of some sort (one of its soundtracks is "I Have Seen It All" featuring Bjork and Thom Yorke; the song appeared in Bjork's abum/the movie's soundtrack Selmasongs). LFM had this movie played in our campus's theater and a friend of mine (Umi, wherever you are, I wish you a happy life with your frogs) was full of praises about it. She said something along the lines of "You can never be sure whether to laugh or sing, watching it". And since she's one of the few people whose judgment on movies I can really count on, I believed (and still do) her. I couldn't watch the movie at that time (it was a Saturday night, I remember) because I had to attend this extremely lame organizational leadership workshop. I didn't even remember what it's all about. What I can recall is my being sleepy throughout the talks (yes, talks). Gosh, I digress, as usual. Well, the point is, my friend's words got into me. The problem is, you can't get the movie anywhere because it's been about eight years since the release, and the movie being not being a mainstream thing means you would never find it in Kota Kembang either.
2) Clueless
It's one of the iconic movies of the nineties (colorful dresses, extensive use of cell phones, a particular way of talking, etc). The story is rather typical, about the life of a beautiful, rich, highly popular Beverly Hills teenage girl. This movie got a good review from MTV and since I was pretty much addicted to MTV at that time, I felt that I got to check this one out. Never did. I did go to a video shop to rent the movie but couldn't get a copy because it's broken down for being played too many times.
3) In the Mood for Love
The only Asian movie on the list. A Wong Kar Wai (did I spell his name correctly?) film, starring Tony Leung and Maggie Cheung (both of whom I simply adore for their acting, and in Mr. Leung's case, his good looks, too :D). I've watched the sequel, 2046, which contained some "flashbacks" from In the Mood for Love. Because it's Wong Kar Wai, it would surely be hard to comprehend at times, but I want to give it a shot (my personal favorite from Wong Kar Wai is Chungking Express, which was not that hard to understand, really).
4) St. Elmo's Fire
Now is the perfect time for me to watch this particular movie. It's about some young adults trying to cope with their new life, new responsibilities upon graduating from college. I'm still in that "soul searching" phase right now, pretty much like the characters in that movie, so I'm positively sure I can relate to them (and thus, enjoy the movie). Again, this is an old material, so I doubt I'd be able to watch it anytime soon (if ever).
5) Empire of the Sun
This one was a Steven Spielberg movie starring a young Christian Bale and the actor playing as Indy's sidekick in Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom (I think). It's about Japanese invasion in China seen from the eyes of an English boy. Japanese invasion, World War II, sounds like the kind of movie that I'd enjoy.