星期日, 11月 04, 2012

一群小魚


A neighbor gave us some guppies and they quickly gave birth to a school of small guppies. Lisa and Joy, love these million fish.

鄰居給我們一批孔雀魚,放到魚缸中,很快就生下一群小魚。小朋友開心的很,特別是小的Lisa,因為是她接回家的魚魚。

Education, Brainwashing and Confirmation in Individuals



The bugle is sounding, the crowd is roaring and it is only fitting to follow the drummer in this marching. Your body and soul seem work in unison with the whole crowd and you are being brainwashed. There are moments in life when one chooses what to believe in his/her whole life. Be it a radical political gathering, a traumatic experience to survive a disaster or a war, or a moment when one chooses to confront a pistol regardless of one's life. Moments like these confirm one's internal values and make us who we are throughout our life.

The issue is whether this decision is based on one's free will, or just an inevitable 'next step' in a 'calculated,' staged setting. Nazi youth rallies are often used as examples in setting up a stage to unite and consolidate its believers. These rallies created monsters who would commit horrendous crimes against humanity.

Some of the staunchest Nazi officers would go as far as murdering babies and children to achieve what they believed to be divine and holy.

There is nothing divine and holy in killing babies and children. And they did it. Simply because they believed it was 'correct.'

What has it got to do with you? You may ask. Advertisement and political propaganda all ask the same result with different degrees of persuasion techniques and brain-washing tactics employed in these Nazi Youth Rallies. Whereas, an liberal education, when it is notorious for its lax structure and failing to instill specific aims, requires one's thinking and regurgitating of what has been presented. Only through constant thinking and examining what is in front of one's eyes can one gain the true freedom of making a responsible choice. Knowing this would free one from the invisible shackles imposed by others, help one see the value of independent thinking and most importantly, aid one's confirmation of what is right and wrong.  Such is education.