The good, the bad and the _______

The good, the bad and the _______...


What I am good and bad at?

Basically, I’m pretty good with playing games on the computer and the various gaming consoles and with my Chemistry. I wonder if my command of the English language should be included… I just love to play RPG games, I even set aside my weekends to play! Chemistry is my favorite subject and I will abandon all other subjects if I had to choose only one subject. Fantasy novels are my cup of tea and I’m usually seen reading one. So it seems that only things I like are the things I am good at.

I have a few things that I’m not so good at but not totally bad at… Things like swimming, playing the piano and such. I have to swim every Wednesdays so I have the practice, just like I have piano lessons on every Sundays. Though I have the practices, I do not excel in them because I do not have the same level of passion for them as the ones in the above paragraph!

I’m really bad with memorizing things. Just memorizing names of my own classmates is a feat itself! I am also bad with math. Though it is suppose to be very logical, I cannot grasp the concept of the chapter unless I have external help, be it from my tutor and friends, or by practicing, using examples that have already been solved. I also have the tendency to miss items that are coming my way. Footballs, Frisbees, soccer balls, basketballs… All the projectiles that I’m suppose to catch always seem to evade me. Hand-eye coordination problem?

Physically fit!

Physically fit!Physically, physically fit!

How did I pick up physical skills- Fine and gross motor skills?

Fine motor skills would be typing, using controllers, playing the piano, writing and such, which concerns only small amount of muscles. While gross motor skills are skills such as swimming, dancing, jumping, running, and etcetera, which involve a large portion of the body.

First of all, what fine motor skills have I acquired through my life? Over the course of sixteen years, I learned how to type, play video games, the piano and writing…

I picked up these fine motor skills by practicing. An example would be, in the beginning, when I first started to type on my keyboard, I could not type, as quickly, it was literally one sentence per minute! But ever since I have been chatting online almost every single day, I get more practice and it just seems that fingers know where each letters are and I am now able to type word after word in rapid succession without much mistakes. What an achievement! It’s the same doing anything. One will find using a skill difficult at first, but only with sufficient practice and guidance, then he will be very good at it.

For gross motor skills, I picked up my gross motor skills by mimicking my mentor, practicing the same action over and over again; fine-tuning the action with my mentor’s guidance and editing the action to suit me.

One may be able to learn by reading a guidebook. But take note that you will not be able execute the proper techniques without one to guide you as the same descriptions in a book can mean different things to different people. And remember, practice makes perfect, not reading.

Flower. Flower! ORCHID! So clever...

Flower. Flower! ORCHID! So clever...

How did we learn our languages?

I believe that we learn our languages by observing, associating, mimicking and integrating…

A baby is very curious and very impressionable. When his parent uses a word repeatedly, the child will try to use that word, or rather mimic that sound. And when that child makes these sounds, the parents will have various reactions. Though a child cannot understand these sounds, but he is able to feel the emotion that his parents are showing. And depending on these reactions, the child will come to know what sound to avoid and what to use.

The child will grow to understand that certain sounds are linked to certain objects with certain distinct features as time goes by. And by using these sounds, these objects will be brought to them. Like making the sound that resembles the word “Daddy” and pretty soon your father will come running to you. Depending on what the child wants and the limit of his vocabulary, the child will understand what sounds to make when he wants certain items.

Though at a young age, the maximum a child could say was a simple phrase, but as time goes by the child would have consciously or unconsciously picked up grammatical rules used in conversations, sentences used by radio deejays and even television commercials around them. The child begins by mimicking the sentence when he grasps the essence of the rule, he then experiments with the rule with his own words. Though a bit crude sounding in the beginning, through guidance, the child will then learn the proper way of speaking the language.

If the child can understand different languages and is confident with the grammatical rules of each language, chances are he may assimilate the different languages and make his own unique style of speaking. The rise of Singlish may be caused by the assimilation of the different languages used by the different groups of people living in Singapore.

For the youths and adults, the way of learning languages is fairly different, as they have already gotten comfortable with their languages, but it gives them an advantage to understand a foreign language with ease, as it can be translated into something they can understand for them.
When thrown into a community that only speaks a different kind of language, that person will have to learn the new language quickly. And usually, by directly translating the message from one language to another, constant practice, trial-and-error while using the language and listening to the language, that person gets the hang of the language very quickly.

Principle of Charity!

Why Do We Have to Consider the Principle of Charity?

We have to consider the principle of charity because some arguments may have insufficient or inappropriate premises to leading to the conclusion. People will not be able to understand, evaluate or make sense to such arguments. In such cases, we have to consider the Principle of Charity. By adding in your own premises into the argument, as the word charity suggests, it would help others to understand the argument better.

When is Principle of Charity most useful?

Principle of Charity is most useful when an argument makes utterly sense to the listener or reader at all. By invoking the principle, we fill in the blanks left in the argument. By doing this, we may or may not understand the argument a little more, but it does worth a try then not understand the argument totally.

Under what circumstances is Principle of Charity ignored?

Principle of Charity is ignored when the argument have conclusions that has premises which is sufficient in showing how the conclusion is arrived. In such circumstances, we are can fully understand and evaluate the argument. By applying Principle of Charity, we may widen the domain of the argument thus making the argument confusing or in other cases throw the whole argument off course.

Ranger Creed

How does the Ranger Creed apply to me as a KI student?
No… I can’t react with the Creed… I’m not a potassium iodide solution! That was off-topic, but you gotta admit that it’s funny…

Seriously… This is how the Ranger Creed applies to me, but I shall be called the Knowledge and Inquiry Creed since I changed some words, but I think the essence of the Ranger Creed is still there...

Recognizing the fact that I volunteered to take KI just like a ranger did. I am also fully aware that KI requires me to brave through loads of homework, research, brainstorming and thinking outside the vat, I mean box. Many of my friends believe that KI is a very difficult topic and only really good people can take it. Since I don’t want to disappoint them, I will uphold the prestige, honor and high esprit de corps of my KI Regiment!

Acknowledging the fact that a KI student is more than just an ordinary student and that everyone expects me to know more, think faster and fight harder in the examination hall a.k.a battlefield.

Never will I let down my KI comrades. Always mentally alert, physically strong and morally straight. I will do more than what I am supposed to do, whatever the task may be. I will put in more than just a hundred percent into KI!!!

Gallantly I will show the world that I am specially selected and well-trained KI student. My courtesy to superior beings, neatness of dress and care of equipment (computers, books and what-not) shall set the example for others to follow.

Energetically I will meet the enemies of my generation. Sloth, hubris and greed are going down like the pitiful flies they are for I shall defeat them for I am better trained and will fight with all my might. Surrender is not a found in Yan Han’s or any KI students’ dictionary (I hope). I will never leave a fallen comrade to the hand of the enemies and there is no way I will ever embarrass my subject!

Readily I will display the fortitude required to fight on to the KI objective and complete the mission, even if it means by myself.
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The Knowledge and Inquire Creed, the reviewed version of Ranger Creed.

How does it apply to me?
Well... I have no idea whatsoever. I mean… Just look at it and whatever its up there is what I should be doing! Not that I haven’t done it yet…

I make it seem as if KI is some high and mighty subject and that all KI students are elites… But hey, in actually fact, I am just like anyone else, its’ just that I choose KI over GP! In any case, in KI is a new topic in Singapore and it seems that I’m in the pioneer batch! The responsibility of setting the benchmark is on my shoulders! *Gasps in horror*

Rangers Lead The Way! Only in this case, its 1989 KI students Lead The Way!

Sua Sponte. It’s a Latin phrase meaning of one accord. This means to act spontaneously without prompting from another party. Well… I think it doesn’t apply to just the KI students. Everyone should use “Sua Sponte” as their personal motto! Think about it. In Meridian Junior College, we are always told that we can initiate events, start our own CCAs and everything else. But if we don’t act on our own accord, we can’t do anything that hasn’t already been done!
But as a KI student I guess I got to start researching, and doing 101 things without the prompting of my teachers if I am to accomplice something as a KI student, right?

What Philosophical-ism should I write about?

What Philosophical-ism should I write about?

Well... Moments ago really know what I want to write about. But now, after searching high and low for all those -isms. I decided that to write about...
Probabilism
Why probabilism? What makes it so special?
Probabilism (from Latin is probare: to test, approve) holds that in the absence of certainty, and that probability is the best criterion.

How can you be sure that what you know is what you really know? How can you prove you exist?
The point I'm putting across to you all is, we cannot be sure that anything can happen for sure (if we can we would be sons and daughters of millionaires now but we can't be certain that that will happen, can we?) or that something is for certain. Thus I bring to you all, probability.

Its going to rain! But a probabilist would say. It might rain.
Its daytime now. A probabilist would say. Could it be night?

I'm not so sure what I'm driving at now. A probabilist is almost like a skeptic. A probabilist is likely to question all possible outcomes. I would dare say a probabilist who explore all ways would be one who receives more insights from his/her surroundings, peers and other references.

In the end, you will hear the probabilist asking himself. What are the odds that what I learned is real?

So what do you all think about probablism? Well... Doesn't sound so interesting does it? Well... In any case, probablism probably applies to me quite a bit... I love to think about all the possible outcomes of everything and just talk about the funniest (or in my friends term, lamest) outcomes.

Think about it. The chances of going into what we called "screen-saver mode" in lectures and tutorial is fairly high, why not just entertain yourself by exploring the possible outcomes of anything and everything that is happening around you? You may even learn something from what others call daydreaming!

Check this out!

Glossary of Philosophical-isms!
COOL!!!