sixwordstories | (no subject)

Sounds like a party.

Oh yes. The highlighters, red pens, and papers all like to pop some bubbly and have a go while I try to pin them down and read a little of what's in between the pages.

It goes on for hours. Quite the party, if you ask me.

Much as I like readin', I don't think it's my kinda party. *smirk*

He laughs.

It's not even the reading. It's the having to read with a fine-toothed comb, and then critique someone on it. The whole principle of tests, and papers, and all of it is absolutely ludicrous if you ask me.

How can person A, who is separate from person B's mind and way of thinking, critique and correct what person B has written?

Ah, Lord. Don't get me started.

Well, it's pretty simple for me. Either I can read it and it makes sense, or it don't. I never understood why most teachers never went with just a pass/fail thing. I mean, hell. Either it's good or it ain't, right?

It's what constitutes "good" and "bad" that creates the problem. What I consider good, like succinct answers, a clear understanding of the material, use of creativity, would be different from what another professor would consider good, such as simply being able to recite material from memory. I've quite a few co-workers who believe that a person understands if they can recite like a parrot; I don't agree. I think that a person understands if they can take something out of context, twirl it around, and still be able to tell you what something means.

But there are those who opt for the pass/fail option, if it's open to them.

Well, hell. It's your class, ain't it? If you think it's good, then it's good. If in your opinion, it's complete crap, then that's the way it is.

Sometimes things just ain't as complicated as you think.

He laughs.

But as a philosopher, I complicate everything, merely out of habit. It's what we live our lives doing, complicating things that are, in actuality, rather simple. Like, obtaining knowledge. Most would argue that it's merely just reading something, or hearing something, and absorbing it into your being. I would say something along the lines of, "What you think you know is not what you actually know, for we can never know things in their truest form. We know the shadows, the remnants of true and utter knowledge. If we find bread crumbs, we think that we can know that there was once a loaf of bread where the crumbs now are. But what type of bread? How large? From where? Those are things we'll never know from the minimal knowledge we can obtain."

I told you -- I over-complicate.

He laughs.

*raises an eyebrow*

You ain't kiddin'.

See, here's how I see it. Knowledge is being able to not just know somethin', like the logistics? But bein' able to apply it in almost any scenario. Like, I was readin' this book I found. Watership Down? And readin' it, it wasn't just a story. I could relate to it. I mean, stuff that happened in it. It ain't just about bunnies, believe you me. But that's what understanding is, right? Being able to take the context and apply it to different situations?

Yes; that's how I see it. Knowledge is being able to remove it from its original context and apply it to a variety of different scenarios, ones that were never imagined when the original thought was contrived.

But being the follower of Kant that I am, I don't believe we could ever know anything in its truest form. For instance, one could say, "The sky is blue. The grass is green. The bark is brown." But are they really? What if someone had been wearing purple-tinted glasses, from the moment they were born? They would say, "The sky is purple. The grass is purple. The bark is purple." And within their own context, they would be correct. What they see is what they know. Or what they think they know.

And what if we were all wearing a version of those glasses, but never knew it? What if our glasses tint things so that the sky appears blue, the grass appears green, and the bark appears brown? We'd never know if they were the true colors because of those glasses. But because the glasses are all we've ever known, we consider what we see to be true knowledge.

I do not believe in empirical knowledge alone; it can be deceiving. How many times have you looked in the shadows and thought you saw a figure, or something move that ended up just being your mind playing tricks on you?

Descartes talked a lot about this in his Meditations on First Philosophy, in the second meditation with the argument of the wax. If one looks at wax when it's in its cooled state, it would appear to be a solid. It breaks if you snap it. It's firm to the touch. Light the candle and the wax turns into a liquid. It flows like water. Based on empirical knowledge alone, we would have to conclude that the solid substance and melted substance cannot be the same since their inherent properties change. And --

.... Oh God. I'm lecturing again.

He removes his glasses and pinches the spot between his eyes.

You know that quote? From Hal Boyle? It's true. We can't discuss anything without delivering a God damn lecture.

I ain't gonna pretend that I understood a word you just said. But I'm pretty sure Jack lives by that quote, actually.

Jack? Shephard? I've met him, actually. We've talked about that .. our love for absolutely unexciting literature that is more than exhilarating for us. Sadly.

Well. My point is that what you think you know is untrue. Basically.

Just a little excited, aren't we?

If your life was constantly plagued by them, and you finally had a break, you'd be plenty excited, as well.

Thanks but no. I had enough of papers and tests back in school, I'm good now.

Believe me, it's even worse on the other side.

At least you only had one or a few at a time. Some of us have around a hundred at a time. Our eyes bleed after a while.

I can imagine.

Why don't you hire someone to help? What subject is it?

I could. A grad assistant or something else. But then I'd have to find someone who was a carbon copy of myself, to keep things consistent. I have what you could call "Grading OCD," in that I revel in keeping things on par with one another. Having someone else come in and grade for me sort of disrupts the system.

I teach Philosophy. Metaphysics and Epistemology, mainly.

Wow, that's intense. *laughs softly*

So what do you do for fun?

He rubs the back of his neck, laughing quietly.

We're an odd lot, I'll tell you. ~~Probably why I'm still single~~ Not many can handle the professing sort.

He rubs his chin.

Sadly, I do like reading works of philosophers, but usually in their native language. I have a very old edition of Discourse on the Method from Descartes that's in French. One of my favorites.

Outside of Geekdom, though, I enjoy dining out, socializing with friends, goign to the beach (weather permitting), taking walks around Newport. That sort of thing.

I feel like I'm writing a personal ad.

Don't worry about being odd, I think I've got that covered in a different way. *smirks down at herself* ~~Nothing wrong with being single~~ Just depends on the women I guess. Or men. *You never know these days*

*places her hands on her hips, smirking a little*

I admit, never read the book but I can read French. German, Spanish, Italian and a smattering of a couple others.

*laughs* Well, it was a good personal ad.

Odd isn't necessarily a bad thing, though it's gotten a bad rep in the past. ~~No, not at all.~~ Ah, right. Well, you're the second person in the past few weeks to suggest my being homosexual. I'm not, but -- I've learned to take it as a compliment. It certainly gets me thinking, though.

He laughs quietly.

It's an interesting read, but you have to have a certain degree of philosophy obsession, I think, to truly appreciate it. I've read more of Kant, though, since his theories are what I've based my life on. My favorite is Kritik der reinen Vernunft, or Critique of Pure Reason.

He grins.

Thanks. Maybe I'll use it someday.

I don't really mind either way, guess I'm the cliche odd person who doesn't really care what people think. Wasn't suggesting, sugar, was more clarifying than anything. You could be on both sides. And has you thinking what? That you might be gay?

*She smiled at him as he laughed*

I took a small bit of philosophy but not much. I went traveling after awhile. I'm more for fun stuff, an adrenaline junkie I guess but there is nothing wrong with sitting down, reading and being quiet. Just don't do it much. My zen thing is playing the violin.

*chuckles*

So what are you doing now that you've got some free time?

Not caring what others think -- it's an interesting thought. Because in not caring, you end up caring quite a bit, I think.

Oh, I've gone through that battle before. Am I gay? No. Wait, am I? No, I don't think so. Maybe? Yes? No. I've come to the conclusion that I'm not. What I was more thinking about was what it is about me that gives off that sort of impression.

Violin? I always wanted to play a musical instrument. Mine is usually my voice, but that's a rare thing.

He thinks.

I've been playing some video games. Cliche. Catching up with old friends. Arranging things around my apartment so that they're better organized. I lead the exciting life, you know.

*chuckles* Really? Never thought of it like that but...I mean, I care about some people but I generally do what I want.

These days it's just safer to clarify. Maybe it's because you're smart and all that? Who knows, could be a lot of reasons.

You sing? That'd be interesting to hear, I sing a little too but mainly I play violin and just rock out.

That's not exciting, that's the usual that most people do.

Name one daring thing that you've always wanted to do but have never done. Actually doesn't have to be daring, just name something.