True Freedom

messenjah: I never defended conformity. I mentioned the need to strike a bargain with the universe.No reason your contract has to look the same as anyone else's. Not at all.But you will have to negotiate terms.No avoiding that part, I'm afraid.

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ArcherAll species are transitional.

messenjah: Who called Hume a "nice guy"?

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ArcherAll species are transitional.

No need to prove anything, thanks. It's obviously a reference to Hume's standing as an enfant terrible. I just thought you might be quoting someone in particular.

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ArcherAll species are transitional.

RAZD,Your Joplin lyrics reminded me of a similarly ironic turn on the idea of freedom in a film. Are you familiar with Blue starring Juliette Binoche?It's part of a trilogy called Three Colors (Trois Couleurs) based on the colors of the French flag. The color blue represents Freedom.When you watch the film--and I highly recommend the experience to anyone who hasn't--you get the sense very early that freedom comes in a variety of forms.The English subtitled version of Bleu translates only the French dialogue. The choral music you hear all through the film, sung in Greek, is left untranslated. That's too bad, because many images in the film are drawn from this text, and the words are actually famous.

If I speak in the tongues of mortals and of angels,
but do not have love,
I am a noisy gong or a clanging cymbal.
And if I have prophetic powers, and understand all mysteries and all knowledge,
and if I have all faith, so as to remove mountains,
but do not have love,
I am nothing.
If I give away all my possessions, and if I hand over my body so that I may boast,
but do not have love,
I gain nothing.

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Love is patient; love is kind;
love is not envious or boastful or arrogant or rude.
It does not insist on its own way; it is not irritable or resentful;
it does not rejoice in wrongdoing, but rejoices in the truth.
It bears all things, believes all things,
hopes all things, endures all things.

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Love never ends.
But as for prophecies, they will come to an end;
as for tongues, they will cease;
as for knowledge, it will come to an end.
For we know only in part, and we prophesy only in part;
but when the complete comes, the partial will come to an end.

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When I was a child, I spoke like a child,
I thought like a child, I reasoned like a child;
when I became an adult, I put an end to childish ways.
For now we see in a mirror, dimly, but then we will see face to face.
Now I know only in part;
then I will know fully, even as I have been fully known.

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And now faith, hope, and love abide, these three;
and the greatest of these is love.

NRSV
1 Corinthians 13Edited by Archer Opterix, : Typo.

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ArcherAll species are transitional.

Omnivorous: See what we go through?

Good post.

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ArcherAll species are transitional.

CK wrote: I'm blessed to be working in Asia. College students don't suffer from narcissism here in the epidemic levels one sees elsewhere.
They can be very loyal to past instructors, though.

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ArcherAll species are transitional.

CK writes: The Asian education model is driven by standards and tests. Students take standardized tests to determine what elementary school they can attend, then what junior high, then what high school, then what college. Students always attend the school they do based on how they performed academically.And going to the right school counts for much in a world where students wear uniforms every day. When students ride on the Metro--whether those students are 6, 10, 14 or 18--they know everyone on the train can see what school they attend. Everyone knows where the school stands in the pecking order--'That's the #1 school, that's the #5 school'--because everyone came through the same system. Families know, neighbors know.There's a long history behind this that predates by centuries the founding of the first European universities. Many advantages flow from this way of doing things. The main advantage is that it's egalitarian. Getting access to better education is made as strictly as possible a matter of merit. Students tend to invest in their own academic success early. Peer pressure works to encourage learning. Schools care about raising their academic rankings, not athletic standings. Schools know they do this by helping their students perform.But any structure involves tradeoffs. Doing well on standardized tests means delivering short, unambiguous answers. Then students enter college and begin, as they must, studies that admit more than one right answer. Suddenly they can feel at sea. How are they going to pass the test on this? Every college student has this moment, whether they study here or abroad.This is speaking very generally. Asian societies are very different from one another even though, from a Western perspective, the school structures look similar.Taiwanese students tend to be a very creative lot, very optimistic. They work hard and play hard. Their culture frowns on corporal punishment (still a problem in Japan) and values self-discipline more than regimentation (still the tendency in China). The arts are part of their curriculum from early childhod. So Taiwanese students are not all that intimidated by the idea of 'more than one right answer'. They will appreciate your best advice about how to prepare for your test. Give them that, though, and they're game for anything.Edited by Archer Opterix, : Typo.

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ArcherAll species are transitional.

kuresu writes: It has its drawbacks, as I say. But most of us will happily take the disadvantages given the advantages. I wouldn't say that. You could probably fit most of Taiwan onto the cargo ship.
The main ingredient is strong central guidance by professional educators. Students meet national standards that are tested. Schools do, too: accreditation of all schools is handled by the government. People know a school is certified by the Ministry of Education or it isn't. It's like the federal guarantees you have in the US for food and banks.There's not much room for bogus colleges to offer bogus degrees through bogus accreditation agencies. No room exists for retired cops to demand that real science educators put in a plug for pseudoscience, as happened in Dover. The professionals run the schools. Well... it depends on what you mean by 'work.' You know how these things go. No one's going to design a perfect test.The exams are demanding, so a lot of learning takes place. High school graduates here tend to be solid on the facts of history, geography, math, grammar. And everyone has confidence in the tests. Most people feel they are fairly designed and administered. I know what you mean. Same pressures here. Definitely.You make an excellent point about learning styles. Fortunately, we have good teachers here. They know lasting learning--and even a good test score--depends on real understanding. Classes are structured to promote this. The national tests are constantly reworked, too, to try to measure this.It always depends on the teachers, when you get down to it. Tests don't teach.Edited by Archer Opterix, : Concision.

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ArcherAll species are transitional.

Kuresu,You mentioned you were exploring the idea of a major in international affairs. If you think this is a likely route for you, I hope you are involved already in some language studies. A specialty of that sort calls for some language skills and I know undergrad programs in the US don't always require foreign language study. If you pass it up now it could be taxing to try to catch up later. Summer language programs, especially those that involve study abroad, can be very helpful option for you at this stage of your studies.Have you thought about international law? Fascinating.

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ArcherAll species are transitional.

The professional musican's lifestyle involves selling. Selling tickets, selling recordings, selling sheet music. Selling food and drinks by drawing a crowd to the restaurant that hired you for the gig.It's a business. A noble business when done right. But a business nonetheless.No one has 'left the system' just because he stands behind a mike on Friday night instead of sitting behind a desk on Monday morning. That's trivia.And to succeed in that business normally takes a more uplifting message than 'All of you are mediocre and trivial and stupid, kiss my ass.'Not much of an audience for that.I wish you well in making art that exalts everyone, not just the artist.Edited by Archer Opterix, : Concision.Edited by Archer Opterix, : Revision.

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ArcherAll species are transitional.

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ArcherAll species are transitional.

Brad,Thank you. I take your point about Derrida.

'Speech Acts' Introduction
Parasitic Speech Acts: Austin, Searle, Derrida - Kevin Halion

I guess this is a rather 'parasitic' thread, too, given all the song quotes!And on that subject, here's a little number by Laurie Anderson. _Edited by Archer Opterix, : Brevity.

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ArcherAll species are transitional.

robinrohan writes: Do you?

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ArcherAll species are transitional.

Well, it's been fun, kids. Thanks for the music and the memories.
Keep your feet on the ground and keep reaching for the stars.

'The Beat Goes On'
- Britney Spears

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Drums keep pounding rhythm to the brain
La-dee-da-dee-dee
La-dee-da-dee-da

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Wait till you have reached the age - blah blah
History has turned the page - blah blah
We still want to hear a brand new thing -uh huh
We still need a song to sing - uh huh

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And the beat goes on
And the beat goes on
And the beat goes on
And the beat goes on
And the beat goes on
And the beat goes on

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Drums keep pounding rhythm to the brain
La-dee-da-dee-dee
La-dee-da-dee-da
Love is a thirsting, lasting on our minds
From tomorrow until the end of time

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And the beat goes on
And the beat goes on
And the beat goes on
And the beat goes on

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And the beat goes
And the beat goes
And the beat goes on

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Drums keep pounding rhythm to the brain
La-dee-da-dee-dee
La-dee-da-dee-da
We still move to a rhythm just like this
We still dream of sharing our first kiss

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And the beat goes on
And the beat goes on
And the beat goes on
And the beat goes on

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Drums keep pounding rhythm to the brain
La-dee-da-dee-dee
La-dee-da-dee-da
Well our kids are turning faster everyday (everyday)
We still want to dance the night away

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And the beat goes on
And the beat goes on
And the beat goes on
And the beat goes on
And the beat goes on...

_Edited by Archer Opterix, : Corrected spelling of 'la-dee-da-dee-da.'

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ArcherAll species are transitional.