Ducks may be useless birds, but only a duck cn lay a duck egg.

[beboots]

So... long time no hear, guys! I've been ridiculously busy because of school (busier than I have any right to be, in September, but there you are), but I've finally found the time to give you guys an update.

But first, a brief photograph interlude!


Kirsten (left) and I (right) return to the Midway after successfully doing the Chautauqua petition program for the final time, on Harvest Fair (our last special event day of the year)

So what have I been up to so far this semester?

Well, I'm taking a full contingeant of courses (which means five courses).

I'm taking Statistics 141, as I need my second science credit class, and I don't want to take what my mum calls a "fluff" science like Earth and Atmospheric Science (apparently, at the basic level, it's just colouring in maps, mostly), only to find out in the course of my education that stats are useful, or needed for a second degree. So... I'm biting the bullet and taking it. I think that I'm one of like three people who aren't first years in that class. D:

I also have History 353: History of American Medicine. We've discussed toxicity levels at Ground Zero of the September 11th attacks. I still call them this, instead of 9/11, because my father says that the term "9/11" was just hijacked by the media because it looks like the emergency phone number, 911. Anyway, we've also spoken of American doctors in Japan after the bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki. As the only person in the class who has ever actually been to the memorial in Hiroshima, I actually had something to say! Most of the class consists of medical and nursing students, not history ones, so sometimes I feel a bit deficient in my knowledge, as I know very little about medicine. I think that I'll be fine, though, as it IS a history class... and at least I know how to write history research papers. ;)

I'm taking History 232: History of Ireland, with my friend Erin...with whom I'm actually going to Ireland and Scotland next summer, so this class shall definitely prove useful! I'll be able to fully appreciate any historic locations (which will be a lot) we run across. :3 I've had teacher, Allan Rowe, reccomended to me by at least half a dozen other history buddies. He's living up to my expectations so far. :D

I'm continuing my French translation studies with French 354. This course focusses on just French to English translation, which I find easier than the other way around. The professor is an older fellow (at least 60, slim, white-haired), and has a resonating voice. To be honest, he actually reminds me of Sir Christopher Lee, in his manner. So I'm being taught French grammar by Saruman. :D

I'm not sure if I've mentioned it yet, but I'm actually in Honors History, now. And with Honors comes... honors classes. Like History 500, which is a full-year course. This semester's project is the Domesday Book. We each get a county (I have Oxforshire) and we have to write a paper on it. On any aspect of our county, as long as it's our only source. Apparently someone last year ran with it and made a video game out of it's statistics. D:

I've had ridiculous amounts of reading already for this class, too. For instance, for this week, I had to read a 200 page book, as well as two twenty-odd page articles. D: And this is the second book I've had to read for it, too! These first two weren't even really history books - our first discussion topic is "Is History a Science?" I entered history to ESCAPE science... ;_;

The first book we read was "The Selfish Gene", by Richard Dawkins. His writing is ridiculously arrogant. He has no tolerance for any other theories. He frequently refers to other theorists as "outright/wholly wrong", and only refers to his own theory as the "orthodox selfish gene theory", like it's perfectly accepted. He leaves no room for compromise. He also has an obvious athiest agenda. I mean, fair enough, you're an athiest, but if you're writing a serious book putting forth a new theory, keep theology out of it! You're just as guilty as any Christian fundamentalist. He has to know that writing a book on Darwinist theory is going to provoke the religious groups, but he literally pokes the wasps nest. He goes out of his way to find provocative examples. At one point, he's discussing gene mutations, and how they spread in populations, and he uses medieval monks recopying bibles, spreading "mutations" (i.e., errors) throughout the population of bibles. Which is a fair example, but then he elaborates - he brings up the greeks, and how when they translated the bible from the ancient hebrew, translated this one greek word as "virgin", instead of "young woman". Oh ho ho! You can almost see him holding his belly and laughing at their foolishness... tongue in cheek. He also refers to overpopulation, and clearly makes a stab at the catholic chuch ("some authorities") discouraging contraception. Then he "catches" himself being off topic, and begins the new paragraph with "But let's return to wild animals." (emphasis mine). Yep, he just implied that religious people are animals. D:

In fact, Dawkins' book was actually pretty amusing because he was so shameless in his criticism of religion. Apparently another of his books, "the God Delusion" is pretty much all on this subject.

The other book I've had to read, "On the Structure of Scientific Revolutions", isn't nearly as controversial... but man, what a hard read. The author, Kuhn, is one of those academic types that feels he has to use big words whenever possible, at the expense of clarity. He refers to the "lacuna of the argument". Lacuna means "hole", or "gap". Why couldn't he have just said so? I have a decent sized vocabulary, but I still had to look up a word every four or five sentences. I've added words like "tautology" to my mental lexicon. Oh, and it's not a "register of language" problem - there are perfectly good alternatives. Instead of saying something simple and concise like "the approval of his peers", he says "the approbation of his compeers"... which means the same thing, but hurts my brain. D: Darn you, Kuhn...!!! D: *shakes fist*

Anyway... I'm tired... So if you've made it through this post, huzzah! I love you guys. :)

Don't get me wrong, though. I'm enjoying the class. We've gotten good discussions going, so far. I'm excited for the more passionate debates that are sure to occur after we get used to each other. I'm just waiting for someone to stand up in a rage, plant their hands on the table, and shout "YOU LIE!!!" by the end of the semester...

Comments

[anyjen.livejournal.com]

It's great to see you're enjoying your studies. :)

...they're making you read Kuhn, too? *groans at the memory*

It's funny, but if you'd studied it from the side we usually study it, you can actually find patterns in these texts written by Big People Using Big Words. The tendency to use superfluously complicated words is one that is unfortunately widespread, and can be traced back to two reasons:

a) They're linguists, or fancy themselves as such, and they really do know the difference between "approval" and "approbation" and their theories are so complex that the choice of one over the other is compulsory, as they would include a slight variation in meaning that could easily throw their theories out of context if they happened often enough, or:

b) They're pompous, insufferable people that got used to reading that kind of language and used deliberately big words to make their otherwise plain theories more important-sounding. If they manage to make the average person feel stupid while reading it, then they're likely to sound smart! (and get grants, or get their work published)

[anyjen.livejournal.com]

Oh, and by the way: lovely picture. I love those hats... :3

Why can't hats be fashionable now? >_>

[beboots.livejournal.com]

I think that you've summed up scholars pretty much perfectly. That sounds about right.

Those hats are fashionable! ... or, rather, you can buy them nowadays. There's a store in downtown Edmonton, Headcase, where Fort Edmonton buys many of its hats, but you can even buy them in departments stores like the Bay (in Canada, anyway). So they're sold... they may not be strictly mainstream fashionable, but... ;)

[ontogenesis.livejournal.com]

Haha, sounds like Dawkins thinks he's "teh shit." ^^ Arrogance isn't anymore charming in text than in real life.

There are genuine problems with a religious authority (e.g., the Catholic Church) convincing people in 3rd World Nations not to use protection, but addressing the issue with smugness isn't going to help.