Saturday, June 30, 2012
Knowledge VS Innocence #2
But being innocent is different from bring dumb/bimbo.
Innocence is different from downright stupidity, naivety, ignorance and helplessness.
We need a new definition for it.
I think there are two important factors:
1. The belief in the essential goodness of mankind.
2. Taking joy in simple pleasures.
Pitfall: point number 2 is baisedly linked to happiness. Subject may subconsciously mistake innocence as a cause for happiness, that that link is unproven and unrequired here.
I think I've two different selves within me. After I had undergone my nightmarish childhood experiences, I'm presented with two options. Lose faith in all of mankind, or still believe in the kindness within humans.
I chose the latter. But there are then two selves with me: one that smiles to everyone, and one that question is it is right to do so.
Tuesday, June 12, 2012
Knowledge VS Innocence
Some people wondered why am I so dumb/innocent/bimbo at times, yet am able to do well academically as well. I remembered my running club teacher was suprised that I got into Raffles Junior College; well, he must be thinking that such an naive girl would probably not do so well in exams. Well, that's apparaently not true.
Adults often admire children, who they think are innocent precisely because they lack knowledge of the world. They admire their innocent smile, laughter and kindness, and secretly hope to regain that simple happiness that they believe they have gradually lost with time and knowledge. What I want to argue is that: innocence and knowledge may not be inversely proportional, the increase of one does not necssarily lead to the decrease of the other. The loss of innocence is a choice, and not an inevitable outcome.
My sec 1 chinese teacher once said, "Look at those children. Their eyes are always pure and untainted by the blood veins. Yet, as they grow older and learn of the evils of the world, the veins slowly creep into their eyes."
What I want to tell him is this child's question. A baffled child once asked: "Adults always say that the sky of the children are so clear and free of worry. But don't we all live in the same world and under the same sky?"
The truth is that as we grow older, we choose to clog up our world, minds and vision with our troubles and troubles of the world. We no longer get amazed by simple pleasures like a water pubble on the street, a bird in the tree... We have seen so much of them that we are simply used to them and ignore them. They are no longer amazing, we accept that they are simply present.
My friend once asked: "I'm always amazed how you can be happy with the simplest thing," when I delightfully pointed at the full moon in the sky that night. Another of friend of mine -who's a math and physics genius - would joke and say, "The moon is always full, just that you don't see it." True. His witty statement gives us a momentary pleasure yet takes away the perfect wonder that Nature constantly presents us with.
It is true that the world is not perfect, that there are always good and evil people around, that the Nature can provide for us and destroy us at the same time. But if given a choice, I would always believe in the essential goodness of mankind. Big words, huh? Naive, you think so? But this is what I learnt from To Kill a Mockingbird a few years ago when that was my Lit text. Just like how Scout can address Mr Cunningham politely in times of a mob and how Atticus Finch can still believe in the goodness of Maycomb folks, I choose to believe that the person standing right in front of me is kind, albeit he may contain another self who is evil.
"To enter the door of heaven, we must revert ourselves to the little ones."
I may not remember the exact phrase of this beautiful quote, yet hopefully the message is still retained.
"Children are the teachers of men." Children may learn knowledge from men, yet ironically, it is always the children whom we, adults, constantly learn the lessons of life from. Their kindness, their lack of prejudice, their curiousity, their simple joys...
Mr Walt Diney once said, "It is wrong to target only the children when it comes to fantasy animation; because children live in the hearts of adults too."
But why do we let loose of the kid in us only when we enter fantasy Disneyland? The child is always within us, we just have to embrace it, to once again see through the lens of the untainted eyes.
Tomorrow, let us wake and be that small, innocent child again. Let us smile brightly at the simplest things: the taste of the mint toothpaste, the lovely sunny side-up. And when we do not possess material things to brighten up our day, look out of the windows. (and if you don't even have a wondow, look up into the sky) Smile at the clear, blue sky or at the wind that gently kisses you on your shoulders and cheek. For, Mother Nature is our Mother of all mothers. When all else fail, she is also there for us. Always.
Adults often admire children, who they think are innocent precisely because they lack knowledge of the world. They admire their innocent smile, laughter and kindness, and secretly hope to regain that simple happiness that they believe they have gradually lost with time and knowledge. What I want to argue is that: innocence and knowledge may not be inversely proportional, the increase of one does not necssarily lead to the decrease of the other. The loss of innocence is a choice, and not an inevitable outcome.
My sec 1 chinese teacher once said, "Look at those children. Their eyes are always pure and untainted by the blood veins. Yet, as they grow older and learn of the evils of the world, the veins slowly creep into their eyes."
What I want to tell him is this child's question. A baffled child once asked: "Adults always say that the sky of the children are so clear and free of worry. But don't we all live in the same world and under the same sky?"
The truth is that as we grow older, we choose to clog up our world, minds and vision with our troubles and troubles of the world. We no longer get amazed by simple pleasures like a water pubble on the street, a bird in the tree... We have seen so much of them that we are simply used to them and ignore them. They are no longer amazing, we accept that they are simply present.
My friend once asked: "I'm always amazed how you can be happy with the simplest thing," when I delightfully pointed at the full moon in the sky that night. Another of friend of mine -who's a math and physics genius - would joke and say, "The moon is always full, just that you don't see it." True. His witty statement gives us a momentary pleasure yet takes away the perfect wonder that Nature constantly presents us with.
It is true that the world is not perfect, that there are always good and evil people around, that the Nature can provide for us and destroy us at the same time. But if given a choice, I would always believe in the essential goodness of mankind. Big words, huh? Naive, you think so? But this is what I learnt from To Kill a Mockingbird a few years ago when that was my Lit text. Just like how Scout can address Mr Cunningham politely in times of a mob and how Atticus Finch can still believe in the goodness of Maycomb folks, I choose to believe that the person standing right in front of me is kind, albeit he may contain another self who is evil.
"To enter the door of heaven, we must revert ourselves to the little ones."
I may not remember the exact phrase of this beautiful quote, yet hopefully the message is still retained.
"Children are the teachers of men." Children may learn knowledge from men, yet ironically, it is always the children whom we, adults, constantly learn the lessons of life from. Their kindness, their lack of prejudice, their curiousity, their simple joys...
Mr Walt Diney once said, "It is wrong to target only the children when it comes to fantasy animation; because children live in the hearts of adults too."
But why do we let loose of the kid in us only when we enter fantasy Disneyland? The child is always within us, we just have to embrace it, to once again see through the lens of the untainted eyes.
Tomorrow, let us wake and be that small, innocent child again. Let us smile brightly at the simplest things: the taste of the mint toothpaste, the lovely sunny side-up. And when we do not possess material things to brighten up our day, look out of the windows. (and if you don't even have a wondow, look up into the sky) Smile at the clear, blue sky or at the wind that gently kisses you on your shoulders and cheek. For, Mother Nature is our Mother of all mothers. When all else fail, she is also there for us. Always.
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