One wakes up on an another average day (I don't feel any different) and I trudge about as I would any other. Except when I check my mail there is shitload of "Happy Birthdays" from various people. Some I know, more I don't. It's nice to be recognized. So long as I don't think about it too much (I didn't do anything).
But the ritual. It's not that I have to do much of anything, it's the fact that people feel so compelled to do things to me. They buy me stuff. They put me in a chair at a restauraunt, and get strangers to sing to me. It is weird, and if I think too much about it, it annoys me. I've expressed my dislike openly before, but it turned in to this thing. A thing involving much hostility, and people expressing hurt feelings. I take the utilitarian approach this year, because it is easier. "I'll be the only unhappy guy this day," I said, "you people do your thing."
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I have a thing against the behaviors and practices of people around holidays. I think it is usually because people feel it necessary to say stupid phrases, with a false cheery mood, and then they hate you when you don't return the favor.
I get very stressed this time of year. Maybe it is psychological but it is not like I hate the thought of holidays. In fact, there is something very pleasant about the thought of holidays. Had I my way, I'd probably celebrate the seasons. No gifts or anything, just a day where one can exclaim that they don't have to do anything, and they can orient themselves properly with time. No gifts, etc... just a gathering of people in a local square or something getting to know eachother. I think with a small town brain. Large crowds make me uneasy.
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I fell in to a conversation with a friend of a friend today. We were discussing this or that and I recognized that I have a problem with particulars. I pride myself on my generalness. In mathematics one often learns a few theorems, and then specifics. For example, in Computer Science (CS), there is a data structure called a "tree." You learn about this in your early Data Structures classes, and then spend the rest of your CS career studying particular instances of trees. I often argue that a few examples are more than enough, and that one should focus on the generalities of the tree, and one might be surprised how easy it is to actually use these things. I think a lot of people think like this, but they are not aware of it. They probably understand what they are doing, but, for fucks sake they can't understand why they have to learn the same thing twice. "Am I missing something?," they ask. "No. They're just trying to be helpful by repeating themselves, and applying emphasis on a particular instance of such and such a thing," I say.
I like Physics for this reason. Knowing how to apply a theorem is a necessity, and it's expected. This thought makes me warm and fuzzy inside, and it is one of the reasons I have trouble turning my back to science, in general. Science tends to be descriptive. It just describes X and you can utilize this knowledge however you want. One obtains the knowledge in a number of reliable ways, and 'truths' are found with a very nice method. A method almost born from nature itself it seems.
By the way, if you apply the word 'science' to anything I find that my interest in said subject increases exponentially.
This debate comes up often: general versus particular. Now that I think of it, this conversation reered its head twice today. A professor asked me recently what I thought about his tests. Enjoying the challenge of them I said, "I'm probably not the average voice, I enjoy a challenge; your tests are fun." He shook his head and I left. On another day he told me what the purpose of his tests are, "To make sure that students have the basics down." After thinking about it, I realized that if this was the purpose, then his tests are far too complicated. Anyways, this lead to a discussion with my friend. I said, "If that is the case, a simple essay would suffice." To which my friend replied, "Nonsense, this is math not english."
Now, this happens often with students these days as a result of the way our education works. Things are partitioned in our minds, English and essays are one, and mathematics and tedious rote problems are another. There is no flow between our little modules of knowledge; one usually doesn't think to utilize their power of the English language to express a mathematical/philosophical/scientific/etc... idea. Why the fuck not? I don't know. I remember when the idea first struck me though, seemed novel at the time; hasn't lost its luster yet.
Anyways, I defended my point fastidiously. He understood what I was talking about, and argued that doing problems excessively is the best. I pointed out the obvious problem with the students in our class these days. They don't know how to think. They are like algorithm machines. You show them some new and kind of cool mathematical truth and they just want an algorithm to solve it. They could not care less about what this truth is. These are the same people who find philosophy boring. The same people who argue that if knowledge can't be immediately applied to some reality it's useless. The same people who, obviously, don't wonder where there precious algorithms come from.
Anyways, my friend and I compromised on a mix regarding the theoretical and some simple particulars. This ensures that the general picture is understood, and that the student has picked up on the basic techniques necessary to solve said problem.
I'm well aware of the problems of being too general. One lacks substance (much like my writing here) and credibility is usually lost. But to only be specific is to be just as vacuous. One is then simply a tool. I think the best idea is to think generally, but master self expression (so that one may be specific, i.e. apply their knowledge).
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