Thoughts of Me and the World
Oct. 22nd, 2004 10:02 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
varjohaltiaFunny, if you're willing to put up with all the pro-Cisco propaganda: http://www.cisco.com/edu/peterpacket/. This is also the answer to people asking me what I do for a living!
Okay, the title sounds lofty (especially with the capitalized self-reference), but some of you may be disappointed that no major secrets will be divulged.
This morning (which, incidentally, was quite gorgeous!) as I was walking from the garage to work, it occurred to me to reflect upon my current major; to compare the reasons I had to choose it with what I am getting out of it so far. Now, I don't have a need for a degree. I already have one. It's not likely that I am ever going to use a master's in political science the way it's intended, especially since being a foreign national severely restricts my employment opportunities. That being said, since high school I have been interested in world politics. The stereotypical argument that Europeans, especially ones from small countries, are always interested in world politics is somewhat true, but this goes beyond that. I've always been curious about how things work, be they electronic, mechanical--and nowadays also processes and people.
I want to understand why strife and suffering exists in the world, what gives rise to it, and if there isn't something that can be done to change it. The loftiest dream of mine, then, would be to do something to contribute to the knowledge of mankind. To contribute something that will reduce suffering and help people live together in peace, without fear or hunger or thirst. To climb down from the ivory tower, actions themselves wouldn't be bad either, but things being as they are, the likelyhood of my ever getting directly involved in matters this important is not great.
I like to think that it is idealism rather than curiosity that drives me; whether this is true or not I can't say. That must be left for others to judge, like the rest of one's life.
That being said, I am pleased with what I found. The class I'm currently taking, American Foreign Policy, is the first graduate class that deals with issues that interest me and has real meat to it, as opposed to research methods and other overhead. It deals heavily with history, rather than practice in current day, but as such it has given me vastly more context and understanding of the interactions between states, and in particular those of the United States. It has allowed me to understand where some controversial policies come from, and ponder alternatives. In short, it has helped me understand some of the sources of distrust and strife. This, I am happy about. I feel that if I ever return to a land ouside of the US, I will have something to contribute, a better perspective than perhaps many people would have on either one side of the ocean.
Now I just wish I will do well in the next exam.
Okay, the title sounds lofty (especially with the capitalized self-reference), but some of you may be disappointed that no major secrets will be divulged.
This morning (which, incidentally, was quite gorgeous!) as I was walking from the garage to work, it occurred to me to reflect upon my current major; to compare the reasons I had to choose it with what I am getting out of it so far. Now, I don't have a need for a degree. I already have one. It's not likely that I am ever going to use a master's in political science the way it's intended, especially since being a foreign national severely restricts my employment opportunities. That being said, since high school I have been interested in world politics. The stereotypical argument that Europeans, especially ones from small countries, are always interested in world politics is somewhat true, but this goes beyond that. I've always been curious about how things work, be they electronic, mechanical--and nowadays also processes and people.
I want to understand why strife and suffering exists in the world, what gives rise to it, and if there isn't something that can be done to change it. The loftiest dream of mine, then, would be to do something to contribute to the knowledge of mankind. To contribute something that will reduce suffering and help people live together in peace, without fear or hunger or thirst. To climb down from the ivory tower, actions themselves wouldn't be bad either, but things being as they are, the likelyhood of my ever getting directly involved in matters this important is not great.
I like to think that it is idealism rather than curiosity that drives me; whether this is true or not I can't say. That must be left for others to judge, like the rest of one's life.
That being said, I am pleased with what I found. The class I'm currently taking, American Foreign Policy, is the first graduate class that deals with issues that interest me and has real meat to it, as opposed to research methods and other overhead. It deals heavily with history, rather than practice in current day, but as such it has given me vastly more context and understanding of the interactions between states, and in particular those of the United States. It has allowed me to understand where some controversial policies come from, and ponder alternatives. In short, it has helped me understand some of the sources of distrust and strife. This, I am happy about. I feel that if I ever return to a land ouside of the US, I will have something to contribute, a better perspective than perhaps many people would have on either one side of the ocean.
Now I just wish I will do well in the next exam.
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no subject
Date: 2004-10-22 07:39 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2004-10-22 07:43 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2004-10-22 07:51 am (UTC)Wisdom is the unexpected flower that grows on the edge of that field, the one that sprouted of the free-floating seed that found fallow ground.
We are very good at knowledge nowadays. Clear-cutting forest to make way for the bounty of science and reason we know how to do. But we've forgotten the patience and open heart that attract wisdom.
If you never add another piece of knowledge to this world, perhaps it will be a poorer place. But if you help even a single heart unfold enough to allow the free-floating seeds of wisdom in: then you will accomplish what you wish to accomplish. Perhaps not on the global, epic scale that you hope--but every movement, no matter how grand in scope, begins with a single person.
Seek the right thing, arii. :)
no subject
Date: 2004-10-22 05:50 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2004-10-22 06:40 pm (UTC)I think some of the core problems are figuring out what should be so regulated and collectively managed and what shouldn't. How to prevent the tendency of any bureaucracy to grow and smother everything. How to prevent the situation where the non-legitimate interests of the few routinely overcome the interests of the many. Each one of these leads into practical problems, issues, solutions and complications worth a lifetime of exploration, of course.