Tuesday 4 May 2010

Hearing the screens shouting back at you

Dear readers, please accept my apologies again for being distracted this past month. Whenever I think for a minute I find something else to do, and I fear you'll probably know that I am updating as I feel I cannot bear to face another moment of revision.

The last two minutes have been hell.

It is a perculiar problem that I continually face, perhaps more apparent now I know that there's a goal that can be easily achieved should I put my mind to the game. But then, getting a grade that I'm not deserving of undermines the entire purpose of a degree, which should be to attain a higher level of education regardless of the outcome. I understand to some extent the necessity of examinations, although I might be more inclined to agree with their implementation if they offered a more holistic approach to interpreting what someone is not only capable of now, but what they've done to be more employable (if that, of course, is what people come to University for) or more rounded, whilst also specialising in one certain aspect of their education.

My greatest strength, in that sense, is by far more of a hinderance than Achilles' fabled heel. I have always associated knowledge with, 'will it come up in a pub quiz?' From a young age I found myself champing at the bit to know things, without wanting to delve too deeply into the hows and whys, because essentially they were just theory, whereas facts are undisputed. And doing a Geography degree, where processes play as much a part of knowing the truth as uncovering exactly what it is we see and interpret, probably doesn't benefit from this rather superficial outlook on life.

But then over the last few weeks, as the election campaign has heated up and for the first time I have actually bothered trying to keep pace with the people rather than the likely outcome, I'm increasingly aware of how insignificant much of this is.

Note, first, that this might also have been influenced by my failure in the Sabbatical elections.

Point 1: What can we realistically hope to achieve individually that isn't taken further by a global or multi-national organisation? If I want something to happen, then it's likely Windows 7 was my idea, or 'Yes We Can' might swoop down and pick me up in its wings. Ideas are no longer individuals' possessions, but rather their corporations' intellectual properties. And that's not a bad thing necessarily, because if it's all about making society that much better we have to accept individually we may be unable to cause a change and subsequently require input from a firm willing to take a chance. The issue will probably become better explained in point 2.

Point 2: There are no borders. Lines in the sand are far gone by now. The Global Financial Crisis, the War on Terrorism, Climate Change/Global Warming. While perhaps locations might be the hotspots for activity, so little is now reduced to a conflict that occurs only between two organisms in one location that it becomes impossible to track changes, let alone causes. So my point comes back to it being not only easier but, perhaps idealistically, more relevant simply to record observations, report facts. 'Truths'.

Point 3: Heart of gold. I may not possess one, but as the world crushes individuality, without removing the entitlement of individuals to enjoy themselves, express themselves or exist as they wish to live, then it will become clearer to those you surround yourself with whether you'll survive it all. You will need a strong mind, perhaps a strong body, but more importantly you'll need the drive and determination just to get over the hurdles, let alone whatever potential impacts getting up and down might then lead to.

Note, again, that this entry comes after 2 months of working in an unnecessarily stressful environment within London, whilst managing to be more in love with my fiance than I ever feared would be possible, semi-running a whole new baseball club which just about has enough resources to survive and finishing my degree.

Nothing can be taken for face value anymore, and I accept this. But until answers might require responses to 'how' or 'why' on the ol' pub quiz, I'm content to see the world and say, 'yes'.

'McGuinness