Kaiwen takes a break from the stresses of the day
“Students today have much more knowledge than students of previous times. They got all the things they need, everything is more convenient. But they also have a lot more suffering and confusion than before. Why is this?” – Ajahn Chah.
3 responses so far ↓
Renyuan // June 25, 2008 at 5:18 pm |
knowledge = more questions/curiosity = confusion
when efficiency cannot keep up with time = suffering
raynor // June 26, 2008 at 3:26 pm |
Cool photo. Anyways, great to see you back online =)
I haven’t read the full text that Ajahn Chah, but based on this quote, I couldn’t help but feel that this is after all not a question asked.
My views differ from Renyuan. I don’t think Knowledge = More questions / Curiosity. Rather, the willingness to learn = Curiosity. And knowledge is just a byproduct (probably the intended product) one wishes to acquire from.
And to equate curiosity to confusion is nothing more than a fallacy. When curiosity is properly satisfied, it should answer the question, it’s usually haphazard, verbose, vague or weak explanations that result in more confusion. But I’m sure it’s just a tongue in cheek comment from Renyuan. :p
I feel that students have a differing notion on what learning is today. The process of learning should result in knowledge that we want to gain as a product; today, the process of learning is nothing more than paper chase and high profile jobs that benchmark your social standing in the community.
Parents want their kids to start young, way ahead of their peers just to have the edge over other kids. The result: Kids who really enjoyed a complete childhood probably loose out academically while children who are not intellectually inclined towards arithmetic and languages get labeled as social outcasts.
I don’t know, but what do you think?
Xian Jie // June 27, 2008 at 2:09 pm |
Well, I think everything just got too fast to handle. Especially with the internet.
The school curriculum’s cramming too much in without thinking about quality. Wouldn’t attending four modules instead of seven help to focus students?