Posted by alexandra_k on July 28, 2013, at 18:40:43
In reply to Re: It is happening again..., posted by alexandra_k on July 26, 2013, at 22:47:41
well... fingers crossed this accommodation works out for me. it isn't ideal in not being self contained, but at this point the most important thing is for me to get away from the people out here.
i've figured it out.
i am used to one kind of silo... and i did have some reservations about shutting myself away in that kind of environment and not properly interacting with 'the common man' (whatever the f*ck that is). but where i am at now... isn't normal society either (whatever the f*ck that is). it is its own special kind of silo once again.
but this silo takes the kids who got kicked out of school, who couldn't find a job, who didn't have entry to university. the government contributes a bit of money for keeping kids off streets and the kids get degrees because, you know, they paid for them (by student loan that all students are entitled to) and that is the way it is these days.
I could get 2 PhD's and most of those people will STILL treat me like i'm illiterate, incapable of following simple instructions, and incapable of communicating simple literal truths in my native language. because most of these people aren't capable of it, either. they aren't intentionally treating me like i'm stupid... dammit.
it is not a race thing. it is not a socio-economic class thing.
i found something...
it said that there is as much difference (in standard deviations anyway) between the 'gifted' and the 'normal / average' as there is between the 'normal / average' and the 'intellectually handicapped'. most people have a lot of empathy for the intellectually handicapped. don't hurt them. try and help from them. learn from them... especially those downs syndrome kids who are so sweet and compassionate...
but then imagine how the 'normal / average' person would feel if society was run / if the positions of power in society were populated by the intellectually handicapped. imagine all kinds of things... the road rules, the bus timetables, the political systems, the education systems, the policing systems. the whole world... it would be remarkable how things would work at all (insofar as things did). and... one would become greatly irritated at peoples inability / unwillingness to see / to listen to reason, wouldn't one? I think... Compassion would eventually erode away... To be replaced with... Frustration. Bitterness. Resentment. One couldn't function in such a society.
And in a way this is not a very nice thing to think. It smacks of (dangerous) socio-biology or evolutionary psychology or human behavioral ecology... Just like the Nazi's yes? What do you think, Lou? Just one step removed from viewing them as less than human... And the way (most people think) it is justified to treat animals... I mean... WHy don't we just raise them specially to eat them? Is that really what I'm trying to say?
Of course not.
(I actually believe that morally we owe much more to animals including that we view them as having ends apart from our own that should be respected such as to give proper maternal care (cows) and to live and not be eaten. Because they are capable of suffering (though slightly diminished from relative lack of cognitive capacity they are still capable of suffering.)
And these thoughts make me feel uncomfortable... But it has been gnawing at me...
I think it really comes down to valuing peoples strengths as their strengths (there are amazing athletes and musicians and artists in these parts... people with amazing ability to resonate with pre-verbal critters of whatever species). and stopping with the blowing smoke up their *ss*s for stuff they are sh*t at. hey you sport degree person - why don't you lecture anatomy!! doesn't matter if the information is presented confusingly because the lecturer doesn't get it because most (all?) of the students wouldn't do any better if it was straightforwardly presented. they still wouldn't get it. they would still find it just as confusing. they can't notice the difference. they aren't actually listening anyway. and most of them didn't even bother to come. Only that line of reasoning is not employed because lines of reasoning are not employed. The hiring people don't get that the person they are hiring doesn't get it.
i suspect this is part of the governments cunning plan to bond people (forever) to this country (to pay back their student loan). given the exchange rate... the logical next step is to eliminate quality (internationally recognized) education in this country. at the moment the *best* are claiming 'we are internationally recognized'. oh sh*t. we have nothing that is considered 'internationally good'. my degree... doesn't tell the world that i am literate. that i am able to follow simple instructions (given in my native language)... it doesn't mean sh*t.
getting away from this silo will help considerably...
the problem isn't that out here is like high school, you see (which was horrible because kids that age can be fairly horrible to each other). the problem is that out here is like the lower quarter of the kids found in high school. topped up with all the kids who got kicked for non-attendance. they get their degrees... and then they go on to lecture. and... to get their phd's too, of course. and because... why not? I think I'm better than them? The fact that they hung around that long... Suggested that they *could indeed* have got some kind of job... So the fact they hung around that long suggests a level of committment or effort. The scariest people are those that are in earnest.
(Perhaps that is why it is so hard for people to try. And why we blow smoke rather than admitting)
Why is it that we both have no trouble admitting that you are better at sports?
I see... Because not giving you your degree would be racist. Would be prejudiced against the socio-economically disadvantaged. Total sense you are making. Uh huh. For sure.
Of course these people need employment. Something meaningful. But anatomy lecturer? Dean of Undergraduates for the Department of Interprofessional Health? Senior Lecturer of Sports Studies?
I really don't think you people meant to become a university. The thing is... YOu make more money from offering degree programs. And, well, kids don't have attendance requirements for your university and they don't have to wear a uniform which makes it more attractive than school. Especially when you don't have concerns about paying back your loan because it is just marks on paper yeah.
(Not that I feel any differently about the loan thing, heh)
poster:alexandra_k
thread:1047657
URL: http://www.dr-bob.org/babble/social/20130612/msgs/1047949.html