The death of the “Fun Element”
DISCLAIMER:
-I wrote this article purely based on my observation.
-My grammar is terrible, read at your own risk.
-This post may have mixed reviews, but there is a reason why no comment box exist in this blog.
I love studying. Since the first day I was sent to the kindergarten(why does this word end with “ten”, not “den”?) which is at the age of 3, the sweetness of acquiring new knowledge is always a moment to be savour. Who doesn’t love the taste of knowledge serve hot in a cup of kindness. Those were the days when the teacher was proud of teaching little kids A,B,C and 1,2,3 despite of their low wage and high risk(I can easily name 10 risk of being a kindergarten teacher in my mind). As time passed by, I grew older, enrolled into the public education system, things change. I don’t know about you guys, but learning that our good friend the alphabet(A,B,C) has an evil brother who are named “unknown”(x,y,z) which is affiliated with a topic called algebra inside the mathematical underworld, is really a game changer to my results. But, that is not the point. I mean, we should have at least a good foundation in mathematical knowledge cough and a basic understanding of science cough because those knowledge can answer the question of “where do babies comes from” and “how much tax should I pay this month”.
What the government ask us to study is not a problem. I mean, I don’t mind taking exams and being graded as A, B, and C (another evil brother of the alphabet) as it’s a good indicator of when did you study for your final exams, but why not the kids in school(i’m talking about Malaysia) pursue more? Why do we tend to choose doing stuff that is affiliated with entertainment over acquiring knowledge? My theory is, the element of fun in getting knowledge is no longer there. We don’t have any motivation to solve an equation, yet only the determination of achieving a high level character in a game. We crack a smile when we find the answer of Question 3, Section A, number 1a, just because we know that the 2 marks is within our grasp, not because we know that we understand something and it opens the door of understanding something deeper. We, the tablet generation, are bounded by a book. Our imagination doesn’t soar to the skies, and motivate us to find information to prove that our dream is actually the breakthrough of the decade. Our dream doesn’t take us flying on the star and inspire us to create a theory that relates energy, with space and the speed of light. Our failure doesn’t spark the idea of trying other alternative to ensure success. Why? Because it’s not fun anymore.
Our definition of fun is altered by the people who are lazy and want’s you to be lazy like them. Instead of reading books, they indoctrinate us to watch pointless moving pictures with absurd dialogue. Instead of trying, they tell you to stop because the idea is stupid and you will fail miserably if you try, which is not fun at all. Innovation would die if the element of fun in knowledge cease to exist.
So, what i’m proposing is to stop preaching negative stuff about education at our Facebook, Twitter or Blog post such as “a degree is not important”, or “this CEO is a dropout and he’s a billionaire” because it would kill the element of fun in acquiring knowledge. Yes, formal education is not the best way of getting knowledge, but in the end, I trust that even you would not let you kids go out to the real world without a certificate.
@MrMarzuki
Oct 31st,‘14,MMUcyber