I wrote a silly little poem a while ago, but I think there is still some truth in it. Before I reproduce it below, I shall first answer a question posed to me in a comment to the last post. Causality need not be the real "meat" of any given issue. It depends entirely on what one is looking for in any issue, if we must call it an issue. I describe phenomena that I notice and find amusing, or at times, a tad bit irritating. Why they happened to come about the way they did is of little consequence to me, since I can spend two life times of research trying to find the answer and still not be satisfied. Looking into the beginnings of a phenomenon helps us understand it better, but I am not trying to understand anything. I am merely observing and noting.
It is not difficult to over-intellectualise things to pose ever more questions without finding enough answers. And yes, questioning is a good thing. But in the process, it could become difficult to stay on the same level as the original topic. If I were to make ill-founded claims about beginnings and causalities and someone were to rebuke me for it, I would take it most gracefully. But jeez, don't try to tell me that I am on the wrong side of the fence because I am not going in the direction of your interests. Something similar happened with the post on Buddhism, where some reader(s) completely missed the point of my post, and took issue with something I never wrote (perhaps precisely for that reason?).
Anyway, here is the poem. Its called "the wonders of education!". As I said, its a little silly. But all the same, I hope the connection between the poem and general unnecessary over-intellectualisation does not escape the reader.
pack your bags, time for school
for the infusion of confusion
pointlessness of so many points
instruction of deconstruction
relativity theories of kith & kin
scientism used to beat itself
rationality stretched to extremes
now sits uselessly on the shelf
notions of nations are imaginary
as is anything objectively true
objects, subjects inter-mingle
all part of academic obscure stew
nothing can be pinned down ever
not even perceptions of space-time
philosophy, arts, science, history
nothing at all is worth a dime
space no longer the final frontier
space, frontier, finality are all false
comfort of categories is misleading
so break down all them damn walls
after courses in so many discourses
existence itself looks like a circus
purpose of education at the end is
that education has no real purpose
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3 comments:
I think it's the company you keep that leads to all these over-intellectualised arguments... after all, you choose your critics when you choose your friends. Forgive the overgeneralisation - but it seems to me that most of your 'anonymous' posters seem to know you personally :)
The poem's nice, at least to my plebian tastes. 2 questions (you can turn them into posts if the answers are too long)
1) If this poem was written when you were younger, and sillier, what do you think of education now? I have a good opinion of it (yes, even our fucked up Indian system) though I dropped out and would sooner shoot myself than study anymore. You, on the other hand, seem to have a low opinion of it, even though you've voluntarily gone back for more. Interesting.
2) I have a very hazy idea of poetry, but I do know it's not just about finding rhymes. Blank verses, meter etc. are things that seem very complicated indeed, to a poor prose writer like me. Do poets actually follow all these rules conciously while writing? Or has it become so innate from practice that it requires no effort at all? Or is it a natural gift?
Sorry if that seems like a stupid question to you, but you're one of the few poets I know. So would appreciate finding out how your mind works :)
dude, since you have posed specific questions the answers to which would make for rather lengthy reply here, i will indeed make a post of it. so well, read the next post i guess.
and oh yes, i think everyone who comes to this blog knows me. alas, i am not yet popular enough to be read by strangers! i think its just that they either don't have blooger id's or choose to stay anonymous for reasons i don't necessarily care about.
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