Wednesday, April 27, 2011

My what grand dreams I had for this place. Oh well, such is life.

I didn't know where else to write this so it goes here. I had an insight into "the smart kid who doesn't succeed (or at least not yet)". This is admittedly based off personal experience, though I have recognized the behavior in others that I've known. I apologize in advance, but for the sake of ease and time (I have to be up early tomorrow) I'm going to put this is in terms that might feel a bit exclusive. You are free to debate my usage later. I however, will not be joining you.

I want to clear up a misconception. We do not enjoy school any more than you. It is as equally challenging, or as equally, boring as it is for you.

There are those who are driven to success, and those who are not. Intelligence has little to do with this. When a truly intelligent person becomes an astrophysicist, a mathematician, a nuclear chemist, a psychiatrist, a medical researcher, a whatever-you-get-the-point, it's usually a side effect. It's because they've found something that catches their attention, and they've run with it. They will follow it to the ends of the earth if they have to, and devote their life to the pursuit of it.

But if it ever becomes boring, they will lose interest and walk away. It's what we do. Everyday (mundane) life generally lacks interest for us. Let me rephrase: there's precious little in everyday that holds our attention. Most actions can be done without thought. That's not to say that you don't think while you're doing them; you just don't have to think while doing them. And thus is the fatal flaw. We don't stop thinking.

[random transition of narrative perspective]

I have a running train of thought. It is near-constant, stopping only when my full attention is required (which is rare) or when my interest is caught (which is, unfortunately, also rare). This is why I spend most of my free time the way I do: reading books, watching movies or television series, or less often, playing video games. Because I want to be actually interest in something for a change. Because everyday life is almost unbearably tedious and boring.

And so is school.

And some of us don't succeed because we don't find something to catch our interest, something to single-mindedly pursue, before the tedium becomes too much to bear and we walk away.