tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4405345292513335071.post4841232601324233432..comments2024-03-19T18:44:15.041+08:00Comments on Little Stories: The Modern Risks of Information and AdviceGilbert Koh aka Mr Wanghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01027678080233274309noreply@blogger.comBlogger12125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4405345292513335071.post-45456702030763504912008-01-27T21:25:00.000+08:002008-01-27T21:25:00.000+08:00There is a new JC subject called Knowledge & Inqui...There is a new JC subject called Knowledge & Inquiry, exploring epistemologic issues and developing critical thinking (emphasis on exploring and developing).<BR/><BR/>Here the teacher is relegated to a springboard for independent exploration, and an Independent Study research paper is part of the course.<BR/><BR/>I am taking such a course, and the few of us who do have developed very differently from our peers. One could say we've taken on existentialist slants, believing in education being our prerogative - as rightly it is - and this is why I believe it isn't taught widely or in all JCs.<BR/><BR/>We have become questioners, as our mind broadens and explores. We do not just explore our subject matter, but the paradigm of many phenomena. We challenge views, including those of the school/authority figures, and challenge in a way that their whole argument and possibly unreason can be brought to light.<BR/><BR/>Perhaps this is why thinking skills aren't so emphasised, because we have been given a weapon that cannot be removed, a weapon that has the potential of greatly upsetting the status quo. Short of an Orwellian 1984 circumstance, the mind is a gun with no safety but itself.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4405345292513335071.post-67303329947512334432008-01-23T11:24:00.000+08:002008-01-23T11:24:00.000+08:00Mr Wang,Where was the Bertrand Russell quote from?...Mr Wang,<BR/><BR/>Where was the Bertrand Russell quote from? Whatever book it was would make a good read.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4405345292513335071.post-32633545450155617682008-01-23T03:56:00.000+08:002008-01-23T03:56:00.000+08:00Drozbloke,who are at the receiving ends of Wang's ...Drozbloke,<BR/><BR/>who are at the receiving ends of Wang's blogs? <BR/><BR/>And who are at the receiving ends of the damn principal and f*8ker Lui?<BR/><BR/>Think about it.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4405345292513335071.post-42296136072045597962008-01-22T13:39:00.000+08:002008-01-22T13:39:00.000+08:00I suppose the same question could be posed to you ...I suppose the same question could be posed to you Mr Wang.<BR/><BR/>Why would a quite rich and successful lawyer want to blog about this?<BR/><BR/>What is the motive?<BR/><BR/>There are many facets to each problem. You might want to speak to some teachers who have students who are struggling academically and see what the situation is like from their perspective.<BR/><BR/>My motive? My wife is a teacher and I spoke to her about what you blogged and she agrees on some points but also contends that things are not as simple as you make it out to be.<BR/><BR/>I just want to share this point with you.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4405345292513335071.post-60681833901794212102008-01-22T08:54:00.000+08:002008-01-22T08:54:00.000+08:00We are not encouraged/allowed to think independent...We are not encouraged/allowed to think independently and look at problems from multiple perspectives. I stopped paying attention to Straits Times. I have no expectations of this country every changing.<BR/><BR/>Sometimes, there isn't much point over analyzing, move on and evolve. Find ways to make more money as it is an important means to many things, not just materialism.<BR/><BR/>That's all.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4405345292513335071.post-5285302146792449672008-01-22T08:08:00.000+08:002008-01-22T08:08:00.000+08:00Lui Tuck Yew cannot even give a speech pwoply. Wha...Lui Tuck Yew cannot even give a speech pwoply. <BR/><BR/>What is the purpose of education? To learn as much as possible in areas that one is interested or exposed to. Or merely to rote memorize and regurgitate in the hopes that the sieve of society will fall in one's favor?<BR/><BR/>Education is to learn how to learn. To constantly keep improving on one's accord. It is dismal that non-academic abilities and talents do not bode so well in Singapore - beyond English, Maths and the Sciences. <BR/><BR/>We shouldn't be throwing away a huge chunk of every year's cohort just to make space for that 240 doctors and 200 law students at NUS. Life is surely more than triple science and further mathematics. <BR/><BR/>So much for "Moulding the Future of our Nation" - more like sending half of it to hell and appreciating just 1% of each batch. More resources should be used to help benefit those students who may need a little bit more time, a little bit more coaching and a little bit more help. <BR/><BR/>It sure is a sad thing to waste the potential of a young mind.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4405345292513335071.post-44097664262746686762008-01-21T23:04:00.000+08:002008-01-21T23:04:00.000+08:00Not just ordinary folk, the rich and powerful (of ...Not just ordinary folk, the rich and powerful (of course include gahmen) also seek specialist advice. They are not experts in everything, right? Imagine the impact (good or bad) of such advice and decisions made! If it is bad they will say it is short term only, in the long run it will be good (sounds familiar?) But in the long run (depends on how long) all of us will be dead. That's for sure.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4405345292513335071.post-2014351077264251462008-01-21T21:07:00.000+08:002008-01-21T21:07:00.000+08:00Hey Mr Wang, I am pleasantly surprised by the fact...Hey Mr Wang, I am pleasantly surprised by the fact that you have also read that book as well. In fact, it was my lecturer who introduced us to the book Freakconomics during his economics lecture.<BR/><BR/>In any case, I have to agree with your view about schooling. Asymmetric information, as you have mentioned, exists in our society and there are people who do refuse to divert the extra information that they know for their own benefits. For example, the classic paper of the lemon market talked about sellers trying to sell old cars to their consumers. These cars could be good or defective and obviously such information would only be known by the sellers themselves. The buyers would have to guess or pray for their luck when buying the second hand cars.<BR/><BR/>Similarly, the principal has an incentive to chase the students away so that he can achieve better scores for his school, thus reflecting his capabilities. Just another example of how asymmetric information works in our lives. Other examples may include constructing buildings with inferior materials to save costs and only be discovered when the buildings collapse, to making toys that contain too much lead (Mattel's case in China), companies having accounting scandals (WorldCom etc) and so on.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4405345292513335071.post-53415382497963340432008-01-21T17:41:00.000+08:002008-01-21T17:41:00.000+08:00I seen your previous posts on Abraham Maslow and s...I seen your previous posts on Abraham Maslow and self actualization some timeago. maybe you would be interested in Carl Rogers and his theory on becoming a person. (smiliar to Maslow, Rogers is a prominent psychologist in humanistic Psychology)<BR/><BR/>i cited a paragraph from this website http://webspace.ship.edu/cgboer/rogers.html <BR/>it talks abt being a person in society and similiar its toking in a direction to your post. In my opinion, Rogers teaching does compliment B.F Skinner theories to some extend. <BR/><BR/>"Our society also leads us astray with conditions of worth. As we grow up, our parents, teachers, peers, the media, and others, only give us what we need when we show we are “worthy,” rather than just because we need it.....Getting positive regard on “on condition” Rogers calls conditional positive regard. Because we do indeed need positive regard, these conditions are very powerful, and we bend ourselves into a shape determined, not by our organismic valuing or our actualizing tendency, but by a society that may or may not truly have our best interests at heart. A “good little boy or girl” may not be a healthy or happy boy or girl! Over time, this “conditioning” leads us to have conditional positive self-regard as well. We begin to like ourselves only if we meet up with the standards others have applied to us, rather than if we are truly actualizing our potentials. And since these standards were created without keeping each individual in mind, more often than not we find ourselves unable to meet them, and therefore unable to maintain any sense of self-esteem."<BR/><BR/>Rogers works influences me in an 'undecisive' way to be courageous in realising what i would like to be and to hold pride in becoming me. and i hope that people who r living in an objective orientated society like Sg can take some notices in his works as well and maybe help looking at life in an another perspectives :-)Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4405345292513335071.post-72910897868843522162008-01-21T16:48:00.000+08:002008-01-21T16:48:00.000+08:00i think information is always "bias" in the sense ...i think information is always "bias" in the sense that it all depends on the thought process as well as the situation of the one processing the information. <BR/><BR/>I believe that the success that Mr Wang has today is based on a combination of factors. If you really know that your interest is in a particular field, it is likely you try for it and sometime things might just work for you due to the change in the environment. <BR/><BR/>In general, one would like to believe that success is through one better judgment but most of the time a lot of factors come into play. Then again, when one is successful, one can say anything on the path to getting there. :)Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4405345292513335071.post-68346695919100018262008-01-21T14:43:00.000+08:002008-01-21T14:43:00.000+08:00Interestingly Buddha also have this advice for his...Interestingly Buddha also have this advice for his follower:<BR/><BR/>Kalama Sutta - "Rely not on the teacher/person, but on the teaching. Rely not on the words of the teaching, but on the spirit of the words. Rely not on theory, but on experience. Do not believe in anything simply because you have heard it. Do not believe in traditions because they have been handed down for many generations. Do not believe anything because it is spoken and rumored by many. Do not believe in anything because it is written in your religious books. Do not believe in anything merely on the authority of your teachers and elders. But after observation and analysis, when you find that anything agrees with reason and is conducive to the good and the benefit of one and all, then accept it and live up to it." - the BuddhaAnonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4405345292513335071.post-14383536355529313412008-01-21T14:06:00.000+08:002008-01-21T14:06:00.000+08:00i guess we have different objective to meet. n bei...i guess we have different objective to meet. n being too objective,we failed to consider or, at times, compromise the sujectivity feelings of others. <BR/><BR/>i am v.impressed with your latest posting, Mr Wang. and i believe that each and everyone shld have the freedom to explore his/her field of interest and enhance one's own personal growth, sad to say, we r always being 'constrain' by 'outer' pressure to comply, thus nelecting out innate abilities to develop. ( regarding the principal case)Anonymousnoreply@blogger.com