E-Learning: Learning Outside the Curriculum Day 1: Amazing Ability to Forgive
Thursday, August 14, 2008 @ 7:33 pm.
Today, my view on humanity has become more positive. In a way, it's always been positive. But it has improved today, at least in one aspect.
Humans, at least some humans, have an amazing ability to forgive.
And in other ways they don't. But still, the fact remains that humans can forgive and forgive very readily. I mean, once my friend (who shall remain anonymous because I don't like revealing information on the Internet unless they don't mind doing it) and I used to have five-minute disputes. Five minutes. During class we'd suddenly get into a quarrel about something and stop talking to each other for five minutes, and then one of us will pass the other a note pleading forgiveness and then we'd be on very good terms again.
But anyway, just ten minutes ago, my sister just reconciled with a long lost friend (who shall still remain anonymous). They "dao-ed" each other (which, in this country, is slang for ignoring and not making contact with each other, and it is my personal opinion that it comes from the Chinese idiom "yi dao liang duan", which literally means one knife, two parts) for four years (or five, I've lost track), and quite suddenly she sent my sister an instant message on MSN to reconcile. They are both very happy now. I think. Because I can see my sister's face right now.
I think the ability to forgive has to do with three important things:
- After a period of time you're going to start thinking it's your fault, at least partially.
- Anger dies over time.
- One matures over time.
I don't know what eventually causes someone to ask for forgiveness. It's probably guilt; the knowledge that you've hurt someone and there isn't going to be a way to heal it unless you do something. Or maybe it could be a sudden wave of goodwill to get rid of all your enemies. Or it could, as I said, just be maturity.
So. Forgiveness. I have to start working on that.
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I'm supposing you're going to ask about my title. Firstly, this Thursday and Friday has been designated as E-Learning days (although it's actually the days we have to vacate the school for PSLE Oral), where the teachers will post lessons and assignments online. Mostly, we either look forward to this or we abhor it because it's a holiday polluted with work.
I think this E-Learning period is turning out to be very... enriching. Not only do we complete the assignments, but we always end up learning something new. Because the Internet, as some people may believe, is not a mind-boggling waste of time. It is a pulsating (now why on earth did I use the word pulsating? I suppose it's the same reason why I keep dropping the word Dismal everywhere in my speech), ever-growing web of knowledge, opinions, and people. And this is how people interact.
And this is how relationships are established.
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Weather: Humid. I'm sweating. I need to take a shower.
Random Events: Interior designer came over today. We're renovating in the November holidays!
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End.