pctacitus - it grows ever larger

[pctacitus]

You may now tack on another member to the site. I read prodigiously, although my reading does get sidetracked during the academic year. I will do my best to add something worthwhile to various discussions, otherwise I fully intend to keep my mouth shut. Edited by: pctacitus at: 7/1/03 1:56 pm

[NaddiaAoC]

LOL! Oh no, we welcome silly, meaningless posts (check out the Neverending Story thread ) as much as worthwhile contributions. We're glad to have you here. Welcome!Nad Edited by: Chris OConnor  at: 9/16/05 5:12 pm

[Chris OConnor]

pctacitusHowdy! Welcome to BookTalk. So tell us a bit more about yourself. Where are you from? What type of books do you enjoy reading? Whats your favorite internal organ? Chris

[pctacitus]

My first log entry. I must admit I'm not one for keeping a journal, but when in Rome... I have been spending most of my time studying lately. As a college student I find that every professor assumes that theirs is the only course that you are taking. Unfortunately, this means that school gets in the way of my education some days. I've just given up on following the war news these days, after spending alot of time reading classic authors I've realized just how poor the news is. The talking heads on tv don't say anything relevant, men like Thucydides and Plutarch did.

[pctacitus]

I came across something and I wonder if perhaps it reflects my earlier entry. "I see myself as a classical realist -- someone who's influenced by ancient history, who knows that the world can never be better because human nature never changes..."

[Timothy Schoonover]

...that the world can never be better because human nature never changes...That is a depressing thought. Don't you hold any hope for the future?

[pctacitus]

I hold some hope, but I know better than to delude myself with idyllic fantasies of perfect futures like some people. We all need to better understand what we are before we can do anything about it. I disagree with your argument that is depressing. If humans don't really change, it can't get much worse than it has ever been for our species.

[pctacitus]

Sorry for the delay since my last post. My grandfather died on the 6th and I've been out of town helping my grandmother. The irony of staying with them is that my grandfather worked for IBM for over 30 years and never owned a computer. The inurnment was done on Wed. Apr. 9th.In the mean time paper deadlines have passed and I have yet to complete them. My grades are going to go down the toilet for the semester. Because I'm a transfer student, poor enough grades at the end of the semester could mean flunking out of college. Unfortunately for me, my school has a date for withdrawals and I'm past that date. Now I have to turn important work in late and make up for missing the last week of classes.

[Chris OConnor]

It sounds like you're going through plenty right now. Hang in there. Thats all I can say. I had many semesters where personal things got in the way and I had to either withdraw or suffer the consequences of bad grades. I can look back now and honestly say that none of it really mattered. When in school you live in somewhat of an illusion that your grades are the most important thing in the world. If you are planning to go on to grad school where they use grades for a criteria for admissions then thats a different story, but overall...just get the degree. Learn as much as you can. And get decent grades.I'm sorry to hear about your grandfather. All of my grandparents are dead now and I do miss them. I wish we could stop the clock and live forever, but we're all getting older at the same frustrating rate.Chris

[Timothy Schoonover]

Sorry to hear about your grandfather. Both of my grandmothers and also my grandfather on my dad's side have passed away. I couldn't cry when they died. I felt completely emotionless. I still do. Odd. I never understood that.About grades...take Chris's advice. A degree is all that matters in the working world. D is for diploma. My experience has been (and continues to be) that the less I worry about my grade, the more I appreciate and understand the material. Personally, and your mileage may vary, I feel getting good grades is more conforming to a particular teachers format of learning than actually having a firm comprehension of the material. Students get really good at accurately parroting what they think is appropriate material rather than being able to work with the subject matter in complex ways. So what you have are two types of learning--the shallow kind that involves the ability to give a teacher what he or she will reward with a high grade, and the complex kind that involves being able to understand the material beyond the surface significance. I look back at some of the highest grades in my life and I think, how the hell did I do that? I seriously didn't know shit. I have a minor in math, and I didn't learn anything at all. Now, in my last semester, I have C's and D's across the board, but am learning so much more and enjoying it.Depending on the class and teacher, the difference between the types of learning varies. And even in the more disparate pedagologies, some people can handle both simultaneously. If you can, then by all means do it. No sense in denying yourself future opportunities, but either way, don't lose any sleep over it.High grades are a form of Narcissistic Supply. We work to get a high grade because we want to love ourselves but can't. In an 'A+' we see an aggrandized image of ourselves and we buy into it. It's like a self-compliment that can't be denied. We work for high grades because we desperately want to believe that we are special. At least, this was the case for me. It's also why I chose the course of study that I did (computer programming). I thought computer programmers had some mysterious ability to manipulate encyphered scripts--an ability the average person doesn't. It's why I play online video games and talk incessantly like an 'expert' on internet message boards. It's why I use big words when I speak, and have difficulty agreeing with anything conventional. I think that there are others like me, many others. I think that our culture breeds this sort of achievement disorder. Everything I do is an attempt to project a grandiose image of myself and see it reflected back to me, but the only happiness that I have found is from turning away from all the endless comparisons and just doing what I can.Well, I'm sorry for cluttering up your thread. I didn't mean for this to happen, but this just all came out of me and it came out here. You're a smart kid. I'm sure you'll get everything straightened out.