Rationality

I’m channelling Weber, having had too much of him for the last few days. Reading about and listening to definitions of ideal types, formal and substantive rationality, and the bureaucratic system made me think about the idiosyncracies of our own.

Okay okay, it’s not actually about that. It just sounds cooler.

Seriously, I was looking at my term papers’ requirements and I remembered one of my profs/lecturer had a qualification on due dates. Basically s/he said something about losing half a grade per day for late work, then elaborated with: that means an A grade will become A- etc.

That’s where the inconsistency in our grading system comes in. Warning: those with an intense dislike of math should either skip, skim or take for granted the following 2 paragraphs.

You’d think that normally, a difference of one grade would mean the difference between A and B. Except that we have an increasing progression on a scale of B, B+, A-, A. So saying “half a grade” is misleading because we DON’T HAVE half grades, we have one third of a grade. If you think about it, it’s reflected in the CAP system too. The difference between a B and an A is 1.5 points, whereas that between an A and an A- is 0.5. One third.

And the numbers make you think differently, that a 4.0 and a 5.0 is a difference of one, therefore the difference between B+ and A is one grade. Or something. It doesn’t really make sense to me except that it’s somewhat easier to count in halves than in thirds.

And people wonder why I say the system screws us over. Yes, yes, it’s just semantics, there isn’t really a problem saying half a grade if everyone understands what it means, but it’s still an inconsistency. An irrationality, if you will.

Oh and to sheshe: I’m getting round to writing that post soon. Really.

Of Letters and Numbers

I was going to write another random post first, but my mood is such that my muse for the crazy, unexplainable things in life decided to leave me to his companion Grumpy, and since Dopey’s not returning any time soon, this is what you get after a long absence.

A recent piece of news from a colleague (heh) made me think about the CAP (hence the numbers). I’m going to have to score absurdly well (i.e. a lot of As, hence the letters) the next two sems to do the HT and get a second upper. Yes, I actually calculated the numbers.

And since it’s highly unlikely I’ll be able to reach that number, like my current muse, I’m in a bad mood.

On a Rant-page

Fuck school. Fuck supposedly higher institutions of learning which believes in discriminating against the minority and reinforce dominant hegemony by having school as per normal on a fucking public holiday, just because said holiday doesn’t affect the fucking majority.

Fuck the education system which believes in repression right from the fucking beginning. And fuck my own stupidity and inability for allowing myself to be integrated into such an environment.

Fuck the other system which keeps people in vicious cycles of poverty, and the individual unable to escape from it. Fuck the global system, too, for creating ever larger hierarchies and making me somehow ashamed of being part of that country which fucking exploits labour regionally.

( Oh. And fuck a certain professor for making me depressed, just because.)

Okay, I’m fine now. And for those of you who’re bored and who drink, why don’t you make it a game and reread this while taking a shot every time you see the word fuck or its derivatives? Or write your own list of grievances. Either one would be just as cathartic, I’m sure.

Oh my.

What a realistic and detailed dream. And in the middle of the day too.

Maybe I should cut down on the M-rated fics. Or stop taking my after-lunch siestas. (And I’m not sure whether to be happy I woke up before the, uh, conclusion.)

Now I’m off for a cold shower.

Night Culture

I hit the bazaars at Geylang Serai last night, for the first time in years. Usually during Ramadan I don’t visit the night markets because most people I know aren’t interested or aren’t aware of it and it isn’t as fun to dare the crowds alone.

But it was after watching Dance Reflections, and Raf was with me, so it was ok. I had a chicken doner kebab while she got the (halal) takoyaki (yes yes I know, purists would say that those aren’t as good as the ones in the shops, but it’s not like she can eat them.)

And if you haven’t noticed the irony yet: you have the chinese preferring turkish-inspired food while the ethnic malay went for japanese-style food. Go figure.

Oh and the title of this post is a reference to my urban soci prof’s lecture on the spatial-temporal differences of the neighbourhood in terms of culture.

New Academic Year, New Stuff to B*tch About

Namely, certain annoying lecturers who think 4 readings a week is sane.

Well, it’d be fine if they were short and with an easy to understand style, but the first one on the list is, while not long, tough enough that I can’t read more than one paragraph at a time before getting a bloody headache.

The worse thing is that the lectures suck. As in, really, really suck. As in, so horrible I don’t know what the hell is happening. As in, only a vague idea of a couple of points in total per lecture.

Wondering if I should just drop and take 4 mods this sem. But I guess I shouldn’t leave ren all alone.

And tutorial’s tomorrow.

What I Learn In Class

A list of random things I remember from going to class this semester.

1. facebook –> fessebook –> (as JW so eloquently puts it) arsebook, or why puns from language differences are funny

2. Of the 3 Dead White Men, Marx thinks we should all fish, Weber thinks we forget that we work to buy fish, Durkheim thinks that it should go like this: person A attaches the bait to the line, person B throws the line, person C reels in the line…

3. “Sociology chooses you!” – why biography matters

4. According to a certain prof, via a certain tutor: you can’t be a sociologist without being Durkheimian.

5. Individuals create society who create individuals.

6. I’ve been associating so much with (fairly) liberal soci profs, tutors and students, that I’ve forgotten what the rest of the population looks like.

7. Discrimination is not a zero-sum game. Therefore experience of discrimination is not based on “gender + race + sexual orientation + age + …” but more resembles “gender x race x sexual orientation x age x …”

8. Japanese society is just really…errr…complex.

9. The middle class doesn’t exist. It is merely a TOOL of false consciousness to prevent the working class from reaching class consciousness.

10. Ça craint! – that sucks – zut! – swear word used by older people – mince! is to merde! what sheesh! is to shit! – all of which expresses what I think of studying grammar.

11. social class ≠ social status

12. watching videos can be more educational than class discussions

13. ANOMIE is just confusing, along with homo duplex and ego

14. métro, boulot, dodo (slang for: metro, work, sleep) describes what I’m doing here very well, except that I’d change it to: bus, school, watch anime.

Random Fun Stuff

Typealyzer analyses the personality type of a blog. Apparently, I’m an

INTP – The Thinkers

The logical and analytical type. They are especially attuned to difficult creative and intellectual challenges and always look for something more complex to dig into. They are great at finding subtle connections between things and imagine far-reaching implications.    

They enjoy working with complex things using a lot of concepts and imaginative models of reality. Since they are not very good at seeing and understanding the needs of other people, they might come across as arrogant, impatient and insensitive to people that need some time to understand what they are talking about. 

Which is accurate when I write I guess, since I’m an INFP who uses her “T” a lot.

The clique blog comes up as

ISFP – The Artists

The gentle and compassionate type. They are especially attuned their inner values and what other people need. They are not friends of many words and tend to take the worries of the world on their shoulders. They tend to follow the path of least resistance and have to look out not to be taken advantage of.    

They often prefer working quietly, behind the scene as a part of a team. They tend to value their friends and family above what they do for a living. 

So does sheshe. Now I’m not sure if it’s because she posts the most on the clique blog or whether it only analyses the last post.

Xian’s blog is 

ISTP – The Mechanics

The independent and problem-solving type. They are especially attuned to the demands of the moment and are highly skilled at seeing and fixing what needs to be fixed. They generally prefer to think things out for themselves and often avoid inter-personal conflicts.    

The Mechanics enjoy working together with other independent and highly skilled people and often like seek fun and action both in their work and personal life. They enjoy adventure and risk such as in driving race cars or working as policemen and firefighters. 

Bekah’s a

ESFP – The Performers

The entertaining and friendly type. They are especially attuned to pleasure and beauty and like to fill their surroundings with soft fabrics, bright colors and sweet smells. They live in the present moment and don´t like to plan ahead – they are always in risk of exhausting themselves.    

The enjoy work that makes them able to help other people in a concrete and visible way. They tend to avoid conflicts and rarely initiate confrontation – qualities that can make it hard for them in management positions. 

And Renny’s an artist too.

Oh the Irony!

My brother was reading manga when I went to ka-chiow him, so I asked him what he was reading. It was a shoujo manga. I have nothing against a guy reading shoujo manga and as a feminist, obviously, dislike stereotyping people into gender roles.

The thing is, even as he reads mostly shoujo manga, I tend to prefer shounen manga. Not that we limit ourselves. I can’t say for my brother, but I know I enjoy reading most genres as long as the plot, characters, setting etc are interesting.

Still, I’m pretty sure I’ve read more male-targeted manga, and he’s read more female-targeted manga, by proportion.

Coming back to gender roles, I was telling Renny in class that the fact that my family “switched” the traditional family roles (pa as homemaker, ma as breadwinner, sort of) wasn’t a sign of true egalitarianism, but the uniqueness of our situation merely reinforced traditional gender roles, and in turn patriarchal society. (Does that sound Durkheimian?)

Applying that to my brother and I’s manga reading habits, that we seem to prefer manga not specifically targeted at ourselves is both an example of how screwed up our socialisation process went gender roles don’t particularly bother us, and how such categories as “shoujo, shounen, josei, seinen etc” continue to reinforce patriarchy.

Which is why, right now, I’m looking for those gems which don’t have a specific demographic in mind.

Who’s in YOUR Top 5?

Fun facts about social circles, [via Lifehacker]:

Average number of friends per person is 150:

They usually consist of an inner circle of five “core” people and an additional layer of 10, he says. That makes 15 people – some will probably be family members – who are your central group and then outside that, there’s another 35 in the next circle and another 100 on the outside. And that’s one person’s social world.

The Economist has an article on Facebook users:

the number of people on an individual’s friend list with whom he (or she) frequently interacts is remarkably small and stable. The more “active” or intimate the interaction, the smaller and more stable the group.

Thus an average man—one with 120 friends—generally responds to the postings of only seven of those friends by leaving comments on the posting individual’s photos, status messages or “wall”. An average woman is slightly more sociable, responding to ten.

And yes, it’s all very sociological/anthropological.