For some reason, I'm asking myself a few simple questions: what really drives me, what am I really good at. And I began recalling certain conversations I had in the past few weeks or so, and it just came to me that what I really have is this silly passion of learning - that I really enjoy learning and knowing and figuring things out. I like to find out, the meaning and reason of things, and to find out the deeper reasons behind stuff. That's why I like to read about global politics, because there are so many reasons, so many answers and layers, like that of an onion, and the answer at the innermost is really about the basis of man - his drives, motivation and instinct. If there was a 'unified theory of everything' for the human sciences, the answer would lie somewhere between the psychology and biology faculties - the so-called emerging field of evolutionary psychology. I mean, that's how far the rabbit hole goes for me. But then, simple expressions like that aren't helpful answers, and for everyday things like geopolitics, you need history and culture, and that's where the rabbit hole has led me to as well. On the other hand, the wonder of the natural world and all there is led me to science. So in two different directions I have been pulled to, the universe of the human sciences and the universe of the physical sciences. I can't find any unity between the two, but its sure is fun wondering if there is any. Naturally, that investigation led to epistemology - the study of the nature of knowledge and was delighted at the offering by E.O. Wilson's Consilience.
I think in recent days, I have been led to a conclusion that what I really love to do is simply to study the whole day and come up with something like Jared Diamond's Guns, Germs and Steel or something of the scale. But I am only a 21 and hardly amounting to anything thus far. I think everything else is just a distraction...
There is this creeping thought about being a teacher and teaching and inspiring kids to believe in themselves and to challenge themselves about their lives. Maybe even as some sort of funky lecturer who teaches more than the subjects. I've been thinking about all these as I'm doing tutoring, obviously, teaching is different from tutoring, but I was just wondering, what I'm really doing, is really to change the trajectory of their academics, and how it might have been if all I did was simply teach what they wanted me to teach. But instead, I showed them TED and all the funky chemistry stuff I was passionate about, and now I'm not really sure where all these might lead to.
And then I did a bit more thinking, about being a USP student, about being exposed to web2.0 technologies such as facebook, twitter, digg, reddit, and everything like that, and the fact that I know TED exists, and TED is such a wonderful thing, and I'm sure USP would love it...
The fact that I know all these, that I stand at the place where everything meets - that's a position that few others would have. Add to the fact that I'm in USP, in a place of at least, academic leadership, and it all adds up to something. But to what exactly I'm not too sure, but the thought of it all is simply exhilarating.
What I really want to do is to show people the cool stuff that can be, and ought to be done. To give to others a similar passion of learning and knowing and finding out, and be critical and being aware of everything. Instead of just going through the superficial.
There are 3 passions that I would really like to have and hold on to. The first, and most important is a passion for Christ. That's it. Period. The second and third are, life and learning, respectively. Only when you have a passion for Christ will you have a passion to live, and when you have a passion to live, you'll have a passion to learn, to find out something new each new day. And it adds and gives joy to life, and then to Christ - that's worship in another sense. That's why I was wondering about teaching, because teaching is really about giving students the passion to learn and to live. Without that, teaching is nothing.
I think actually, this has actually been the angle I was working on, despite my distractions into social transformation. Because I think it all really starts from here. That's why I think OLPC and the XO laptops are going to be so important anywhere it exists! A technology for learning integrated into one lovely design!
It's great to think about social transformation and all, but when all is gone and done, there are only ashes. I guess I've reached the conclusion of King Solomon when he said that all is ashes - but that doesn't mean to live a life of resignation.
Simply, fear God, and keep His commandments, for this is the whole duty of man...
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