Mugging Mugging. After years of taking so many endless examinations, I have come to the conclusion that not all we studied and mug for are actually tested.
In certain exam papers, questions are shaped in such a way not to test our memorizing power but more of thinking and critical evaluation of subject matters.
Most of us like myself, are often preoccupied with studying EVERYTHING so that we will feel a sense of confidence and security on the module.
Effort /= Grades (Effort put in is not equivalent to scoring good grades)
At this point, we have to come to understand that our performance and grade depend on the performance of others and their grades, our performances on the day of examination, our presentation of points and outline of our answers. And other situational factors including mental disposition, ambient, luck etc.
Nonetheless, we will try to outdo one another and "if he works hard, I will work harder".
This mindset, will eventually cause us to set higher standard for ourselves, to mug more & more. Giving us the feeling that we had not done our best and that we can push ourselves further. We are frustrated when we can' accomplish certain "task" we set for ourselves each day. Feeling that that time is too short and 24hrs is not enough for a day. I agree that competition is good as it will raise the our standard but it must be weighted with the emotional and psychological stress that we experience in the course of preparing for examinations.
After weighting all the cost and benefit of exams woes and with the high calculated probability that effort put in mugging will not necessary translate to good grades, I have derived my own resolution.
I will revert back to the intial purpose of examination. Other than differentiating good students from the bad students and classifying student into different grades, the basic purpose of examintation is to "Ensure that we actually study for the subject".
The purpose of education is to pursue the subject of interest and to broaden our perspective and our knowledge of the world around us.
Sometimes, we are studying for the sake of studying or for the sake of exams. We are blinded and lost in the mist of pursit when Terms like "C.A.P", "GPA", "S/U", "A+", C- affect how we initially view things. We started to think about what the others think. We act not according to why we act but how we should act according to what we think others are acting. We mug because everybody is mugging (I am not asking you to stop mugging coz if you do so the reality will not change for you as the level playing field will still be raised even when you stop mugging and the result will be that you are maintaining the same level while others have risen upon you).
My point is to be revert back to simplicity in terms of our mindset. Pursue our interest and derive joy from studying at our own pace regardless of pressures that may affect us emotionally and mentally. Unnecessary stress will outweights the benefits we derive from the probability of getting good grades. The examination system is a fair one. Hopefully like other enlightened beings, I will look beyond the lust for good grades and pursue knowledge in a fruitful and enjoyable way, far away from the taints of psychological stress and frustration in the course of the pursuit. :)
"SINGAPORE: A new two—rating classification system for video games will be
launched end of the month, the Board of Film Censors (BFC) under the Media
Development Authority (MDA) announced on Monday."-Channel NewsAsia - Tuesday, April 14
http://sg.news.yahoo.com/cna/20080414/tap-341374-231650b.html
Referring to the article above, MDA will be rating games into different classification just like what they did to movies and films into ratings like "Mature 18" (M18) etc. With effect from 28 April, "retailers (will be asked to) exercise responsibility by not selling Age Advisory—labelled games to those below 16." This will mean that kids will need to show their IC or other documents to verify that they are of "suitable age" to buy the games from retailers for games with certain ratings.
Will this censorship practice be really effective? The whole idea of censorship in games is to "protect" children (below 16 years of age) from media content which may depict violence, sexual activity, drug abuse, nudity or coarse language. Parents will be the one who are likely to welcome this censorship policy on games but whether this type of restriction is likely to be effective is another matter.
According to psychological reactance theory when people feel that their freedom will be restricted in some way, they are likely to respond by wanting something even more than before (http://changingminds.org/explanations/theories/reactance.htm), censorship on certain game titles will be likely to make those games more appealing. Childrens below age of 16 can ask help from older friends or siblings for game purchases and this simple act can by-pass the entire censorship system. Similarly, the system may lead to shift of game demand from official game retail to parrallel imports or from other unofficial sources. This may lead to fall in revenue for game retails store. All these may undermine the practicality and effectiveness of the system.
It is considered a blessing that we are well taken care off in the sea of information. With censorship, we are spoon-fed and had our diet of information properly filtered. Pampered like a baby, one could not stop but ponder when we will grow up in the eyes of our parents, to be discerning enough to pick and discriminate information critically.
