Consider these two stories:
There once was a tortoise and a hare. The tortoise challenged the hare to a race. The hare, arrogant, fell asleep along the route. Through the diligence it displayed, the tortoise won the race.
The second story:
There once was a tortoise and a hare. The tortoise challenged the hare to a race. The hare, arrogant, fell asleep along the route. Later, he woke up and finished in second place, which is still pretty dang good.
Now, here's the question: Is it worth the extra effort to be that perfect?
Now, I, by no means, usually strive for perfection. I find the idea of valedictorianism annoying and counterproductive, and usually find myself detesting that group as a whole. I find myself much more attracted to the 3.5-3.9 range. But that is another post for another time.
The perfectionism I speak of is of a different sort. The understanding of a concept to the very best of your ability. The willingness to seek out complete knowledge, to actively chase it. It's something I used to do quite a bit, when I was a wee second grader. I wanted to learn, I was eager for understanding.
Then homework was introduced. The problem here is not that the homework wasn't too difficult, but the opposite. There was no challenge. I still got perfect grades in school. It took a long, hard three years of pain to realize that I was sliding into a much larger workload than that sixth grade had put on my shoulders.
I do homework now. I attempt to do well in classes, to hold a good GPA, and learn the material. In doing so, I am faced with my greatest boon and curse: the spongy way I learn. I can easily soak in most of what I hear, but I usually over-judge how much I can retain. I still do fine, fine enough where I don't have to read the textbooks at all, but I could be better. I have come to realize that although my "good" is already hanging around the upper quarter of the bell curve, I could be very near the tip.
The question now is: should I go for great, or settle for good?
My answer: I don't know.
Peace out, readers.
Wednesday, July 11, 2012
Tuesday, July 10, 2012
Expectations and the Unexpected
On the statistics part of the Holy Blog Control Room, there's a map showing where the density of my views come from. Of course the good old US of A was a healthy shade of green, beautifully showcasing where most of my views come from. However, something caught my attention. While nearly other country stood a stark shade of white, one had a faint tinge of green. Yep. I have myself one viewer in Russia. Kudos to you, Russian reader guy.
On a different note, let us (and by "us" I mean "I") talk about expectations. Expectations are a great thing to have, except maybe when it makes you spend all the money you own and makes you paranoid of neighbors who never change out of their wedding dress. However, some expectations can quickly be turned into disappointment. Take, for example, the AP scores the mailman oh-so-generously left me after I wrote an essay describing how his job is useless. 4, 4, 4, 5. Not bad. Scores that some kids would be ecstatic about. My reaction was nowhere near that. I sat there, for a moment, wondering how I had dipped so low as to only receive one five. Why was I so disappointed, I asked myself, when these were scores to be proud of?
The answer, of course, was because I was sitting in a room filled with highly intelligent people at the time. Had I been sitting, for example, in my APUSH class, I would have felt like a beamy ray of sunshine-filled happiness. The fact that everyone else in the room was on par with me intellectually greatly changed my excitement level toward the results.
Now, readers, I'm well aware that most of you have drawn the obvious moral of the story: surround yourself with stupid people to help your self esteem. Wrong. The moral of this story is the exact opposite. Seek out good company, those who don't annoy you, who can match every bit of your wit and intellect, who can ask you a question you can't answer, whose lexicon is just as diverse as yours, and whose opinions exist. Put yourself in the midst of worthy opponents, who can make you aware of the fact that you are not the very best. Only then do we get the taste of a greater expectation.
On a different note, let us (and by "us" I mean "I") talk about expectations. Expectations are a great thing to have, except maybe when it makes you spend all the money you own and makes you paranoid of neighbors who never change out of their wedding dress. However, some expectations can quickly be turned into disappointment. Take, for example, the AP scores the mailman oh-so-generously left me after I wrote an essay describing how his job is useless. 4, 4, 4, 5. Not bad. Scores that some kids would be ecstatic about. My reaction was nowhere near that. I sat there, for a moment, wondering how I had dipped so low as to only receive one five. Why was I so disappointed, I asked myself, when these were scores to be proud of?
The answer, of course, was because I was sitting in a room filled with highly intelligent people at the time. Had I been sitting, for example, in my APUSH class, I would have felt like a beamy ray of sunshine-filled happiness. The fact that everyone else in the room was on par with me intellectually greatly changed my excitement level toward the results.
Now, readers, I'm well aware that most of you have drawn the obvious moral of the story: surround yourself with stupid people to help your self esteem. Wrong. The moral of this story is the exact opposite. Seek out good company, those who don't annoy you, who can match every bit of your wit and intellect, who can ask you a question you can't answer, whose lexicon is just as diverse as yours, and whose opinions exist. Put yourself in the midst of worthy opponents, who can make you aware of the fact that you are not the very best. Only then do we get the taste of a greater expectation.
Sunday, July 8, 2012
Willful Obliviousness
A funny thing about humans is that if there's something they don't want to believe, they won't. You can pour in overwhelming amounts of evidence, but if they're in denial, it won't happen. In politics, it's annoying, in debate, it's painful, but in the public relations part of our life? It's pretty entertaining.
Yep. This post is Eli's relationship advice lecture. Ladies, gentlemen, listen up. Here we go.
Every time you think a guy's just being "really nice", he's sitting Somewhere nearby, staring at a camera, thinking to himself:
Yes, he's a nice guy, but I think I will take this opportunity to remind you of what I have oft spoken before (once, to be exact):
"Any good relationship needs to be built on a good deal of scheming."
Yes, lady. He's a nice guy normally. But you ignore the fact that he's doing things especially for YOU. Ever notice the little things? The carrying of a tray? Allowing you a better seat, or taking you on a walk down by the duck pond? Despite these actions being dropped with the subtlety of a brick, they seem to still be wonderfully uninterpreted.
Perhaps the use of these wonderfully wangsty photos help the idea sink in.
This picture is an answer to the first. Dude, ambiguous mutual crush is thinking about you at least a million times per day. Despite the short attention span this proves, this means that they're totally into you. Now notice it.
Even though the Internet is filled with these stupid pictures, there are signs even more obvious than the ones that have A MILLION TIMES written out in bright blue text. The signs are there. They are obvious, data waiting to be observed.
Now that the obvious has been stated, let's talk about why this phenomena, this willful ignorance, exists. The answer isn't too hard to reach. When somebody ignores an outcome, it's usually for two reasons: they either think it impossible or frightening. I think we have a bit of both here. Picture time!
Like I said, fear and impossibility. "There's no way they could like me back!" Bull. You're a likable person. Get over yourself and realize how awesome you are. If they didn't think you were cool at all, they wouldn't spend time with you. If they weren't trying to win your heart, they wouldn't spend every moment they could with you. Women, here's a little secret. If a guy likes you enough to where he is desperately trying to get your attention, you probably shouldn't second-guess yourself. Another secret:
This is also bull. Guys are not good emotion readers. It almost sounds hypocritical, but it would be nice if you just came up and asked us. We would love nothing more than to hear a conversation kind of like this:
"Hello, Man"
"Hello, Woman"
"Hey, Man. I notice that you talk to me enough for this to be statistically significant. Do you "like like" me?"
"Yep"
"Wanna hold hands?"
"Yep."
One final note: you're so arrogant, you probably think this post is about you. Yeah. It might be. It might also be directed at an additional crowd.
Peace out, readers.
Yep. This post is Eli's relationship advice lecture. Ladies, gentlemen, listen up. Here we go.
Every time you think a guy's just being "really nice", he's sitting Somewhere nearby, staring at a camera, thinking to himself:
Yes, he's a nice guy, but I think I will take this opportunity to remind you of what I have oft spoken before (once, to be exact):
"Any good relationship needs to be built on a good deal of scheming."
Yes, lady. He's a nice guy normally. But you ignore the fact that he's doing things especially for YOU. Ever notice the little things? The carrying of a tray? Allowing you a better seat, or taking you on a walk down by the duck pond? Despite these actions being dropped with the subtlety of a brick, they seem to still be wonderfully uninterpreted.
Perhaps the use of these wonderfully wangsty photos help the idea sink in.
This picture is an answer to the first. Dude, ambiguous mutual crush is thinking about you at least a million times per day. Despite the short attention span this proves, this means that they're totally into you. Now notice it.
Even though the Internet is filled with these stupid pictures, there are signs even more obvious than the ones that have A MILLION TIMES written out in bright blue text. The signs are there. They are obvious, data waiting to be observed.
Now that the obvious has been stated, let's talk about why this phenomena, this willful ignorance, exists. The answer isn't too hard to reach. When somebody ignores an outcome, it's usually for two reasons: they either think it impossible or frightening. I think we have a bit of both here. Picture time!
Like I said, fear and impossibility. "There's no way they could like me back!" Bull. You're a likable person. Get over yourself and realize how awesome you are. If they didn't think you were cool at all, they wouldn't spend time with you. If they weren't trying to win your heart, they wouldn't spend every moment they could with you. Women, here's a little secret. If a guy likes you enough to where he is desperately trying to get your attention, you probably shouldn't second-guess yourself. Another secret:
This is also bull. Guys are not good emotion readers. It almost sounds hypocritical, but it would be nice if you just came up and asked us. We would love nothing more than to hear a conversation kind of like this:
"Hello, Man"
"Hello, Woman"
"Hey, Man. I notice that you talk to me enough for this to be statistically significant. Do you "like like" me?"
"Yep"
"Wanna hold hands?"
"Yep."
One final note: you're so arrogant, you probably think this post is about you. Yeah. It might be. It might also be directed at an additional crowd.
Peace out, readers.
Friday, July 6, 2012
An Explanation For the Required Chinese Post, Followed by an Ironic Shout-Out
I don't actually hate tall people. And there are some tall people at Startalk. The funny thing about learning a different language is realizing how bland your lexicon is. With a vocabulary of under 1000 words, max, it is quite hard to play the language to finer times of meaning.
No, I don't hate tall people. In fact, I try not to hate people at all. It's stupid to becoming oblivious to reality by binding yourself to a certain way of thinking. But I do heartily dislike what they stand for: looking down on others. Pride. Generally unwarranted pride. I have come to notice something of those who have ample pride: by filling themselves with their own admiration, they seldom leave room for that of others.
Rather, I am a fan of meekness. Much like pride is belligerent stupidity, meekness is quiet strength. The meek are an incredibly rare group, but some of my favorite people live there. Meekness is a virtue that I have found myself hardly able to obtain. As much as I say I dislike pride, I'm a performer at heart. I try to do good work, and I don't usually actively brag, but I do enjoy applause and attention. Being good at something is hard, being both good and not talking about it: that is an art.
Ladies and gentlemen, let's give a hand to the meek.
No, I don't hate tall people. In fact, I try not to hate people at all. It's stupid to becoming oblivious to reality by binding yourself to a certain way of thinking. But I do heartily dislike what they stand for: looking down on others. Pride. Generally unwarranted pride. I have come to notice something of those who have ample pride: by filling themselves with their own admiration, they seldom leave room for that of others.
Rather, I am a fan of meekness. Much like pride is belligerent stupidity, meekness is quiet strength. The meek are an incredibly rare group, but some of my favorite people live there. Meekness is a virtue that I have found myself hardly able to obtain. As much as I say I dislike pride, I'm a performer at heart. I try to do good work, and I don't usually actively brag, but I do enjoy applause and attention. Being good at something is hard, being both good and not talking about it: that is an art.
Ladies and gentlemen, let's give a hand to the meek.
The Required Chinese Post
我今天不可以说英文。为什么？我的老师说，“如果你们不说英文，我给你加分和贴纸。”对。加分。和贴纸。 我现在三年级，可是我的中文不太好。 我不喜欢中文天， 可是我不恨那个。一面，我没有英文不可以说我心中的觉得 ，一面，我的中文说得很好。
This is the part where I say deep things:
中国人说：“高人一等”。那个说，“人想他们很重要” 非常真。 我知道很多高人（没有在星说）。他们觉得：“我最重要”。我不喜欢高人。
Whoa. That wasn’t deep at all. It’s kinda hard to be deep in
your non-native language.
Tuesday, July 3, 2012
Surprises
Yesterday, something happened to me that I don't admit to very often. I was taken completely by surprise. You know how it feels when you think you're the only person who knows about something, and then hear somebody talking about it like its nobody's business? Kind of like that. It's been three years since we met, and all this time, I was under the impression that girl from camp had no idea I had ever fallen for her. Imagine my surprise, when I hear it from the source's mouth herself:
"Hey Eli, remember our first year? And then on the last day when I figured out you were into me..."
What.
As far as I remembered, this information was never disclosed. I certainly could not of hinted at it at that time, since I was clad in the steel of social awkwardness. Now, nearly two years after that day, I'm finally informed there was no barrier between my thoughts and her knowledge.
Startalk, year three. Our friendship is alive and well. In fact, we're some of the very few survivors from our first year. We passed a unique point where we mutually friend zoned each other in the dark. Life moves on.
That's all. Enjoy my public emotional battlefields.
Peace out, readers.
"Hey Eli, remember our first year? And then on the last day when I figured out you were into me..."
What.
As far as I remembered, this information was never disclosed. I certainly could not of hinted at it at that time, since I was clad in the steel of social awkwardness. Now, nearly two years after that day, I'm finally informed there was no barrier between my thoughts and her knowledge.
Startalk, year three. Our friendship is alive and well. In fact, we're some of the very few survivors from our first year. We passed a unique point where we mutually friend zoned each other in the dark. Life moves on.
That's all. Enjoy my public emotional battlefields.
Peace out, readers.
Monday, July 2, 2012
Post-Curfew Post
Somebody just posted a fortune cookie quote on Facebook that was something to the effect of:
"Stop searching for happiness. It will find you."
Bullcrap.
The quest for happiness is not a passive one. One will not be able to obtain happiness if they just sit there waiting for it to come and embrace them in a bear hug of cheesiness. Rather, happiness is a business, an art, a final project that none of your group shows up for. The quest for happiness is indeed a very active one.
Take, for example, the quest for academic fulfillment, often mistaken as a quest for a 4.0 GPA. This is a journey that is not only painful but also impossible without taking an active role. Throughout my Junior year of high school, I pointedly improved the way I learned. In doing so, I realized that something had been missing from school. Something I had left behind in fifth grade. Excitement. Initiative. The need to learn, to take the class not for the grade, but for the material. I looked back at elementary school days, and realized how much happier I was. Not because of how ignorant I was, but the opposite. I knew things. I wanted to know things. I wanted to be the best. Alas, I was a minimalist. A fine ailment for a care-free child, but one to be feared when entering the hormone-sack prison we call middle school. For years, this disease carried itself with me. Only during the later part of this school year did I realize that my problem was that I had forgotten to be active, that my own mediocrity was because I wasn't allowing myself to be anything more than mediocre. As soon as that clicked, I found the last bit of junior year, despite being surrounded by hindrances, to be bliss. I had come full circle.
Cheesy teen romance is another great place to find the fruits of activity. So many foolish young people expect their one true love to fall from the sky. Nope. That's not how it works. As counterintuitive as it sounds, a good relationship needs to be based on a good deal of scheming. Let's face it. There's hardly a couple in the world that just "fell in love". Understandably, there are a few couples who have a mutual base of loveliness from the start, but by and large, there's a large deal of effort on part of one side to get noticed by the other. Whole epics could be written describing the arduous task of convincing somebody you exist. This is the effort taken to find happiness. Of course, there will be failures, but that's for a future post. The point remains that effort is necessary for any good relationship to begin to exist. An effort that carries on through the relationship, along with the rewards.
I'd love to write more, but I was supposed to be asleep 42 minutes ago.
Peace out, readers.
"Stop searching for happiness. It will find you."
Bullcrap.
The quest for happiness is not a passive one. One will not be able to obtain happiness if they just sit there waiting for it to come and embrace them in a bear hug of cheesiness. Rather, happiness is a business, an art, a final project that none of your group shows up for. The quest for happiness is indeed a very active one.
Take, for example, the quest for academic fulfillment, often mistaken as a quest for a 4.0 GPA. This is a journey that is not only painful but also impossible without taking an active role. Throughout my Junior year of high school, I pointedly improved the way I learned. In doing so, I realized that something had been missing from school. Something I had left behind in fifth grade. Excitement. Initiative. The need to learn, to take the class not for the grade, but for the material. I looked back at elementary school days, and realized how much happier I was. Not because of how ignorant I was, but the opposite. I knew things. I wanted to know things. I wanted to be the best. Alas, I was a minimalist. A fine ailment for a care-free child, but one to be feared when entering the hormone-sack prison we call middle school. For years, this disease carried itself with me. Only during the later part of this school year did I realize that my problem was that I had forgotten to be active, that my own mediocrity was because I wasn't allowing myself to be anything more than mediocre. As soon as that clicked, I found the last bit of junior year, despite being surrounded by hindrances, to be bliss. I had come full circle.
Cheesy teen romance is another great place to find the fruits of activity. So many foolish young people expect their one true love to fall from the sky. Nope. That's not how it works. As counterintuitive as it sounds, a good relationship needs to be based on a good deal of scheming. Let's face it. There's hardly a couple in the world that just "fell in love". Understandably, there are a few couples who have a mutual base of loveliness from the start, but by and large, there's a large deal of effort on part of one side to get noticed by the other. Whole epics could be written describing the arduous task of convincing somebody you exist. This is the effort taken to find happiness. Of course, there will be failures, but that's for a future post. The point remains that effort is necessary for any good relationship to begin to exist. An effort that carries on through the relationship, along with the rewards.
I'd love to write more, but I was supposed to be asleep 42 minutes ago.
Peace out, readers.
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