Formal Education

I like studying. I love learning. I hate education. Contradictory? Possibly not.

I hate examinations, but for a completely different reason as compared to everyone else.

Everyone hates exams because of the studying that you have to do. I, for one, like studying - it lets me remember all the things that I've forgotten, or all the things that I missed when I fell asleep in class. And anyway, after studying, you realise that there are things that you're really interested in, even though you hated them when you first started out. Wood Pile, anybody? Heck, I'm starting to like weathering even as I type.

Everyone hates exams because it takes up hours of your time. Like, hours and hours and hours of it. And because time seems to pass so slowly when you're studying. Which, people tell me, based on the Theory of Relativity, is true. Fortunately, that isn't a problem for me, because I have 28 - 48 hours in a day (the number varies from person to person, I think), and so I've got time to waste. In fact, the problem is that I feel that I should be studying when I've already been studying my arse off.

Everyone also hates exams because of how you have to mug. Ah har! For once, something that I actually agree with. Who the freak mugs for exams? Seriously, exams are supposed to test your ability to cope and deal with the subject, not your memory work. If you wanted to test your memory, then go memorise the names of all 493 Pokemon. In Order. Hey, if Dwee can do it, so can you. And heck, if you can memorise 3 x 18 freaking pages worth of IOC essay, then you can bloody well quit life. Seriously, I have no respect for people who memorise blindly.

Which leads me to the reason why I hate exams: It stifles my creativity. Exam techniques? Definitions? All of these kind of questions encourage memorising and intensive mugging, which I believe is completely detrimental to your mind in general. Even wonder why Singaporeans never hit it big on the scientific scene? Ever wonder only the Japanese seem to be making leaps and bounds in research?

It's because Singaporeans can't stand to see anything new. Heck, I could open this to pretty much any Asian country. Note that I'm not criticising Asians in any - I greatly respect the Asian penchant for hard work - heck, I subscribe to that philosophy as well. But you know, there is a pretty big difference between hard work and mugging. Mugging doesn't use any brain power - hard work, on the other hand, does.

Why do we laugh at those Japanese inventions? All that crap we see over there? It's because it isn't in the books. It's because we've ever heard of them before. It's because we don't have the imagination to come up with something new. The only new thing we can come up with is which shopping mall to buy our clothes from. And that's what really irks me: Singapore, and Asian countries in general, just aren't open minded. We have no imagination, no innovation, and we don't think. All that Innovation Projects we had in Primary School? Bullshit, they don't teach you how to innovate, because you can't bloody teach innovation.

The only way to cultivate innovation is to make new things acceptable. Make them accessible, allow them to prove their worth. This invention doesn't work, not practical, too exclusive or inefficient? All right, no matter, try the next one. And the next. And the next. Don't put people down just because it's something you think is dumb. Suction Cups on Hats so that you don't fall onto other people when you're on a train? HAHAHAHAHAH WTF WHAT KIND OF SHIT IS THAT. Typical social response.

Creativity is being crushed by the social world. No one dares to do crazy, weird things because of the social backlash, because of the fear of being laughed at by other people. Everything that is considered "strange" by the community is laughed off, telling the inventors that it would never work, that pursuing such interests is stupid and a misuse of resources. We should, in fact, be putting more money into designing clothes. Indeed, yes, that will totally improve the quality of our lives.

So, where did this social attitude come from? Perhaps it didn't come from anywhere. Perhaps it was there from the dawn of time. Or perhaps it was because we all got a formal education, and forgot how to think for ourselves.