Thursday, November 09, 2006
Be fore you read this please understand that I am an immature,
inexperienced, unschooled, unlearned 14 year old. My 'essay' has no depth
nor breadth, but it does have an important message. I have read through it,
and it's inelegant and disorganised, but I'm too lazy to iron out the flaws
in my own writing. Hence, my most sincere apologies if at any time you are
confused. Clarify with me through Jason or Nigel Chua, who know my true
identity.
I usually don't do a lot of serious criticism. I have done it, once or
twice. On a really annoying anonymous tagger who kept calling me arrogant,
and also on an ACS boy who came to my blog to gloat about the suckiness of
RI rugby. I admit. I can be really mean. Everybody can be really mean. But
then again, that's not related.
Some of you regular readers would have seen an article from a certain
'Jingwen', 1D (2005) 's PSL and captain of the Judo team. And I am going to
contradict him. A big, strong guy who could kill me in the time you just
took to blink your eye. Which is why I have asked Jason and Nigel to keep
this anonymous. Some of you may recognise my writing style, but who cares.
Jingwen won't.
Hopefully.
Confuscious once said, "Before you criticise somebody, walk a mile in his
shoes." At the close of this post (or whatever you want to call it) I will
explain why you have to walk a mile in shoes belonging to someone you don't
like.
My problem with Jingwen? No problems. I've never met nor seen the guy, but
from what i read in his article, I don't believe what he says in the
article. In fact, I have a lot to say about his article, but there are more
important things to do.
The article basically tries to teach little boys how to, I quote, "Become
the most interesting person ever." Now wait a minute. If we proceed a little
down the article we discover that it isn't really about being interesting,
its mostly about how to 'score' big points with girls. Jingwen says, "its
all about self belief and the desire and passion to do so."
Oh?
Honestly. I don't have a girlfriend. And before you call me a geek and a
loser and a mugger toad, It isn't because I can't, it's because I don't
believe in Boy-Girl-Relationships (BGR) at this age. Neither does my mom,
but that's another matter. I don't think ANY of you should be getting into a
BGR at this age.
Why don't I believe in BGR? I know how fun it is, how entertaining it is.
Still, can't that wait a few years? Till you're out of school? Some of us
have managed to deal with both BGR and studies and that's perfectly fine.
But then again, the only person to have done it is Feng Luwei. We all know
that Luwei(200m in 22s) is simply inhuman.
Alright. So maybe you're Matthias Chia or Alimi or yet another one of the
inhuman people. No problem. But let me ask you this. Have you experienced
heartbreak? How? Your BGR, surely.
Still, to people like Mark Yeo and his Fee-Bee. Never had a problem,
lovey-dovey, 'made-for-each-other' type. I think we all agree that there is
only 1 person in the world that is "the one". Now, how are you going to find
"the one" if you are obsessing over your teenage crush?
And if you say 'But she IS the one for me!' I beg to differ. And differ i
will, with proven, trusted medical research backing me up. "adolescents take
more risks at least partly because they have an immature frontal cortex"
that's true. All teens are immature. And if you say you are, you're wrong.
It's a simple, sad, fact of nature.
At adolescence, the prefrontal cortex of your brain, which controls
planning, works memory, organises, and modulates mood. As the prefrontal
cortex matures, teenagers can reason better, develop more control over
impulses and make judgments better.
Since adolescence starts at 12 or so, for those of us who are normal, and
only ends at 18 or 21, mature adult age, it can be safely asserted that we
are all very much immature and quite far from the charming adults we are
going to be.
At this point it seems apropriate to reassert my point about the teenagers'
constantly evolving brain. Adolescence is a period where you change the
most, physically, emotionally, mentally, spiritually. Adolescent minds are
already 95% developed, but they are still undergoing rapid change.
What are the implications of this? (5m)
One possible outcome is this. Suppose you are looking for a girlfriend.
Suppose you already HAVE a girlfriend. You are MADE for each other. That's
True Case No. 1. ( I know the correct form is 'true file', but since
assemblies are so meaningful, may as well learn from some "Kam-uh-LON"
examples.)
True case no 2. You have a girlfriend, but it's a temporary thing. Just a
fling, only for fun. No big deal.
True case No 3. You have a girlfriend, but it's only so you can go to school
and tease the muggertoad geeks.
If we track true case 1, Let's say true case 1 marries his childhood
sweetheart. (aww, so sweet) Now, because he picked her at the tender age of
14, and because of his rapidly changing mind, (note that her mind is
undergoing serious development too, you know how unstable girls are.) they
end up with IRRECONCILABLE DIFFERENCES. And divorce.
Don't tell me it's implausible, once again let's go to the statistics. 51%
of those who married thier teenage crush end up in divorce before the age of
24. And according to some assembly period speakers, that may lead to
mid-life crisis and "letting your heart rules over your head".
I do know that 51% isn't a whopping majority, but what makes you think
you're so lucky? And that 51% isn't even reflective of the entire
population. It's merely representing half of those who did marry their
teenage crush. Which is, a quarter. (25%)
You could say that you're in the 49%, but what if something goes wrong?
Remember that part about your developing brain? And honestly. The rest of
the 49% who didnt divorce their teenage crush before the age of 24 probably
did it 5 years later. Those still 'happily' married probably aren't all that
happy.
True case 2. Your girlfriend is a temporary thing. After a while, you see
the right person. The one you know is made for you. Was made to spend her
life with you in happy, marital bliss. How to proceed from there?
Worse still, If you get tired of this one, you move on to the next one. and
the next, and the next, leaving behind a trail of sorrows and heartbreaks.
And when the right one finally comes along, will she know you're the one for
her? How would she know? She'd ask her friends. Which happen to be your Ex
or Ex(s). And they tell her, "He broke my heart. And Lily's. And Amanda's.
And Sarah's too." What will she think of you? At this point she may be right
for you, and you may be right for her, but will she know it?
True case no 3. Your girlfriend probably isn't a real girlfriend ANYWAY. So
what's the point? Ask yourself. Why are you having this girlfriend? How does
having this girlfriend DISTINGUISH you over the chess-club choir geeks who
don't?
And finally. One that applies to ALL CASES of BGR. Irregardless. A
relationship is an intense thing. If you have a girlfriend, you 're gonna
have to take her out to dinner. To lunch. Out Shopping. To the Movies. And
buy her presents for Christmas and her birthday. That's called FINANCIAL
outpouring.
If you have a girlfriend, you're gonna have to be thinking of her all day
and all night. That's called EMOTIONAL outpouring.
If you have a girlfriend you'll have to take time off for dates and meetings
and appointments and that little 'accidental' rendezvous on the way home you
can't let your friends know about. That's called I DON'T KNOW WHAT IT'S
CALLED outpouring.
But seriously. Agree with me and say that a relationship does involve all
your time and money and resources and effort and emotions and all that. Why?
What will you have when it ends, when you've seen the last movie, when
you've bought the last teddy bear, when you've had the last dinner, when it
all ends. What do you have?
A broken heart and an empty wallet. And a 2.0 GPA. Is it worth it?
Finally. Why did Confucious say that we need to walk a mile in a person's
shoes before criticising him? Because especially when you criticise someone
like Jingwen, who could KILL you, Walk a mile. That way, you have his
shoes, and you are a full mile away from him.
* Brilliant essay. send it in for pen pal. the website is thus : www.PENisland.com... you should try. pen island. GOOD website.
Note: Jingwen, next time you see him. pummel him.
inexperienced, unschooled, unlearned 14 year old. My 'essay' has no depth
nor breadth, but it does have an important message. I have read through it,
and it's inelegant and disorganised, but I'm too lazy to iron out the flaws
in my own writing. Hence, my most sincere apologies if at any time you are
confused. Clarify with me through Jason or Nigel Chua, who know my true
identity.
I usually don't do a lot of serious criticism. I have done it, once or
twice. On a really annoying anonymous tagger who kept calling me arrogant,
and also on an ACS boy who came to my blog to gloat about the suckiness of
RI rugby. I admit. I can be really mean. Everybody can be really mean. But
then again, that's not related.
Some of you regular readers would have seen an article from a certain
'Jingwen', 1D (2005) 's PSL and captain of the Judo team. And I am going to
contradict him. A big, strong guy who could kill me in the time you just
took to blink your eye. Which is why I have asked Jason and Nigel to keep
this anonymous. Some of you may recognise my writing style, but who cares.
Jingwen won't.
Hopefully.
Confuscious once said, "Before you criticise somebody, walk a mile in his
shoes." At the close of this post (or whatever you want to call it) I will
explain why you have to walk a mile in shoes belonging to someone you don't
like.
My problem with Jingwen? No problems. I've never met nor seen the guy, but
from what i read in his article, I don't believe what he says in the
article. In fact, I have a lot to say about his article, but there are more
important things to do.
The article basically tries to teach little boys how to, I quote, "Become
the most interesting person ever." Now wait a minute. If we proceed a little
down the article we discover that it isn't really about being interesting,
its mostly about how to 'score' big points with girls. Jingwen says, "its
all about self belief and the desire and passion to do so."
Oh?
Honestly. I don't have a girlfriend. And before you call me a geek and a
loser and a mugger toad, It isn't because I can't, it's because I don't
believe in Boy-Girl-Relationships (BGR) at this age. Neither does my mom,
but that's another matter. I don't think ANY of you should be getting into a
BGR at this age.
Why don't I believe in BGR? I know how fun it is, how entertaining it is.
Still, can't that wait a few years? Till you're out of school? Some of us
have managed to deal with both BGR and studies and that's perfectly fine.
But then again, the only person to have done it is Feng Luwei. We all know
that Luwei(200m in 22s) is simply inhuman.
Alright. So maybe you're Matthias Chia or Alimi or yet another one of the
inhuman people. No problem. But let me ask you this. Have you experienced
heartbreak? How? Your BGR, surely.
Still, to people like Mark Yeo and his Fee-Bee. Never had a problem,
lovey-dovey, 'made-for-each-other' type. I think we all agree that there is
only 1 person in the world that is "the one". Now, how are you going to find
"the one" if you are obsessing over your teenage crush?
And if you say 'But she IS the one for me!' I beg to differ. And differ i
will, with proven, trusted medical research backing me up. "adolescents take
more risks at least partly because they have an immature frontal cortex"
that's true. All teens are immature. And if you say you are, you're wrong.
It's a simple, sad, fact of nature.
At adolescence, the prefrontal cortex of your brain, which controls
planning, works memory, organises, and modulates mood. As the prefrontal
cortex matures, teenagers can reason better, develop more control over
impulses and make judgments better.
Since adolescence starts at 12 or so, for those of us who are normal, and
only ends at 18 or 21, mature adult age, it can be safely asserted that we
are all very much immature and quite far from the charming adults we are
going to be.
At this point it seems apropriate to reassert my point about the teenagers'
constantly evolving brain. Adolescence is a period where you change the
most, physically, emotionally, mentally, spiritually. Adolescent minds are
already 95% developed, but they are still undergoing rapid change.
What are the implications of this? (5m)
One possible outcome is this. Suppose you are looking for a girlfriend.
Suppose you already HAVE a girlfriend. You are MADE for each other. That's
True Case No. 1. ( I know the correct form is 'true file', but since
assemblies are so meaningful, may as well learn from some "Kam-uh-LON"
examples.)
True case no 2. You have a girlfriend, but it's a temporary thing. Just a
fling, only for fun. No big deal.
True case No 3. You have a girlfriend, but it's only so you can go to school
and tease the muggertoad geeks.
If we track true case 1, Let's say true case 1 marries his childhood
sweetheart. (aww, so sweet) Now, because he picked her at the tender age of
14, and because of his rapidly changing mind, (note that her mind is
undergoing serious development too, you know how unstable girls are.) they
end up with IRRECONCILABLE DIFFERENCES. And divorce.
Don't tell me it's implausible, once again let's go to the statistics. 51%
of those who married thier teenage crush end up in divorce before the age of
24. And according to some assembly period speakers, that may lead to
mid-life crisis and "letting your heart rules over your head".
I do know that 51% isn't a whopping majority, but what makes you think
you're so lucky? And that 51% isn't even reflective of the entire
population. It's merely representing half of those who did marry their
teenage crush. Which is, a quarter. (25%)
You could say that you're in the 49%, but what if something goes wrong?
Remember that part about your developing brain? And honestly. The rest of
the 49% who didnt divorce their teenage crush before the age of 24 probably
did it 5 years later. Those still 'happily' married probably aren't all that
happy.
True case 2. Your girlfriend is a temporary thing. After a while, you see
the right person. The one you know is made for you. Was made to spend her
life with you in happy, marital bliss. How to proceed from there?
Worse still, If you get tired of this one, you move on to the next one. and
the next, and the next, leaving behind a trail of sorrows and heartbreaks.
And when the right one finally comes along, will she know you're the one for
her? How would she know? She'd ask her friends. Which happen to be your Ex
or Ex(s). And they tell her, "He broke my heart. And Lily's. And Amanda's.
And Sarah's too." What will she think of you? At this point she may be right
for you, and you may be right for her, but will she know it?
True case no 3. Your girlfriend probably isn't a real girlfriend ANYWAY. So
what's the point? Ask yourself. Why are you having this girlfriend? How does
having this girlfriend DISTINGUISH you over the chess-club choir geeks who
don't?
And finally. One that applies to ALL CASES of BGR. Irregardless. A
relationship is an intense thing. If you have a girlfriend, you 're gonna
have to take her out to dinner. To lunch. Out Shopping. To the Movies. And
buy her presents for Christmas and her birthday. That's called FINANCIAL
outpouring.
If you have a girlfriend, you're gonna have to be thinking of her all day
and all night. That's called EMOTIONAL outpouring.
If you have a girlfriend you'll have to take time off for dates and meetings
and appointments and that little 'accidental' rendezvous on the way home you
can't let your friends know about. That's called I DON'T KNOW WHAT IT'S
CALLED outpouring.
But seriously. Agree with me and say that a relationship does involve all
your time and money and resources and effort and emotions and all that. Why?
What will you have when it ends, when you've seen the last movie, when
you've bought the last teddy bear, when you've had the last dinner, when it
all ends. What do you have?
A broken heart and an empty wallet. And a 2.0 GPA. Is it worth it?
Finally. Why did Confucious say that we need to walk a mile in a person's
shoes before criticising him? Because especially when you criticise someone
like Jingwen, who could KILL you, Walk a mile. That way, you have his
shoes, and you are a full mile away from him.
* Brilliant essay. send it in for pen pal. the website is thus : www.PENisland.com... you should try. pen island. GOOD website.
Note: Jingwen, next time you see him. pummel him.