individuality has been stripped from you in order that you be managed - Professor MacIsaac

I'm trying something new here, blogging about my vlogs. It's something Charlie (of charlieissocoollike fame) does, and I think it's a pretty good idea. We'll how it goes.

I wanted to go into a little bit more detail about my first class. One of the other things that my prof, Professor MacIsaac, said was, (and I quote) "All individuality has been stripped from you in order that you be managed." This is not okay. This is the fault of the beaurocracy, and this is how computers run our lives. I am a number, in both the Canadian and American school systems (because I took an American standardized test in the spring). I am compartmentalised into a number and a letter grade, in order that the people who are important (my superiors in the university, my future employers, all the way up to the government) can fully understand who I am. But this is not true! I am more than a number and a letter grade, and that is why I am taking this course. I'm basically taking a great books course, where we will study primary texts and try to understand the world as it is.

The difference between science now, and science before the Enlightenment in Europe, is that we now want to understand how the world works and how we can change it to better serve our desires, whereas before the Enlightenment, people wanted to understand how the world works in order that they might understand what it means to be human in this place we call home. That is why it didn't matter about things like nuclear fission etc. Science was no more practical than philosophy, and sometimes the lines between the two blurred.

And I'd really like to have lived then, even if, as a woman, I wouldn't have been allowed to participate in the excitement that was the new discoveries.

Secondly, I'd like to state: I am usually pretty good at directions, but I am totally lost on campus. I wouldn't even be able to find my classes without Alanna's help. But I'm really excited to be out on my own in Ottawa, and I'm sure I'll get better at finding my way around, soon.

And now, I am going to go be social, because there are two interesting people behind me who I am ignoring that I should talk to.

DFTBA,
jr

These are hard times. The world hurts. We live in fear and forget to walk with hope. But hope has not forgotten you. So ask it to dinner...

It's probably hungry, and would appreciate the invitation. - Libba Bray

I've been lost more times than I can count today. I tried, and failed, to find the library. I got lost trying to find the bus stop off campus. I almost got lost on the way to the grocery store, and I tried to go in the wrong door to my residence building.

It's hard to imagine that in a year or two I'll know this place like the back of my hand. Right now, everything looks the same. All the building are the same ugly '70s style. All the pathways look the same. The only reason I can find my building at all is because it's near (but not beside) the construction. Argh!

But I now know how to get to the grocery store which is also my bank, and that's important. Alanna and I are going to the bookstore tomorrow, and that'll be good. I know where that is - I bused past it this afternoon. We're getting up early to beat the crowds.

And then on Thursday, classes start! I'll be sure to post something about that then.

DFTBA
jr

Hello world! I'm gonna get you! - Lord Voldemort (A Very Potter Musical version)

Seriously, though, I thought it'd be different.

I was all excited about going away to university, and now here I am, at university, and all I can say is I'm bored out of my tree. I mean, classes don't start 'til Wednesady, I have no friends, and there's really only so much time you can spend on the internet and reading books. I went out to play beach volleyball today with my sister because I wanted to get out so bad.

I guess I shouldn't complain, though. The weather hasn't been great, so I explored the tunnels for a while last night. Once classes start then I'm sure I'll have more to do. I just thought I'd feel different when I moved away. I don't.

DFTBA
jr