"Motivation of this sort, once it catches hold, is a ferocious force."

When reading these chapters of Zen, it highly impacted my idea of the grading system. In the past, I have doubted the effectiveness of it and entertained thoughts of how achievement would be measured without it. However, whenever I thought about it I would normally in the end excuse grades as being a necessary part of school that without them there would be no motivation. But when reading this chapter, this idea was questioned. Chapter 16 discusses Phaedrus' experiment with his no grade class. It discusses his thought process behind it and the pros and con of no grades. The thing that got me questioning if a no grade system would really work was a reference to how the students had been trained to learn. The had had at least 12 years of learning how o work the system before entering college. My question is if we instill a love for learning that is motivated by merely wanting to know more as a child, would that affect the success of a no grading system? My question involves going back to the root of the issue to reteach people how to learn and the reason for learning. If this is done successfully, then the grading system would not be needed and people would be learning to learn rather than to work the system.

I believe this concept is important to society because it would force people to learn what they care about. It would result in the people being there really wanting to learn. Also, the learning would be different. It would not be for a grade but for the preciousness of knowledge. I'm still not quite sure what I think about the whole thing but I am glad I got the opportunity to see it in a different light.

Confusion of the Moment

This week I thoroughly enjoyed reading Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance. At college I rarely get the opportunity to read for pleasure and these two chapters gave me a little hint of that back. These chapters were filled with skillfully crafted theological discussions. They were fun to decode and learn from. In the discussion about the instructional book, many things stood out to me; however, the main point I learned is seen on page 210. The narrator states, "You look at where you're going and where you are and it never makes sense, but then you look back at where you've been and a pattern seems to emerge. And if you project forward from that pattern, then sometimes you can come up with something."

I can see this concept in my own life. Like at the present point, it's hard to see past today or to even filter what this day means in the progression of my life. Also, many times the struggles and the pressures of the day cause me to fail to realize God's goodness and his strength surrounding me. However, as I look back even over the past semester I can see what I've learned and that I've always made it through the day no matter how much I was lacking in strength. Seeing this pattern causes me to know that when I'm having a tough or stressful day that seems like it will never end, I know that God's strength will get me through it. He has never failed me before and I know he never will.

Also, I can see how this concept would greatly impact the world. Many times people get distracted by looking at all the little things they need to do rather than seeing the big picture. They forget what truths they have learned in the past and consequently make many of the same mistakes. Looking and processing the past would help people make better decisions which would greatly affect how people live their lives.

Power of Unselfishness

The biggest thing that stood out to me in these chapters is something that might be overlooked due to the main theme of the church of reason. What I saw in these chapters is people's need for relationships and how these relationships change how people relate to each other. The first example of this is found when the narrator is talking about his relationship with Chris. He states that many times he realizes he is angry only after noticing a worried look on his son's face, or that the narrator's good mood directly affects Chris's enjoyment of a situation. Also, when the narrator discusses Phaedrus' relationship with DeWeese, he states that they are drawn to each other because they don't understand each other which is intriguing to them. With this realization of this theme, I can greatly see how our attitudes in relationships change that way people relate to each other.

I believe a realization of this importance of other people and our reliance on their relationships would greatly change the world today. People would become less self-centered and more apt to seeing how people around them are reacting. The focus would be on how we can better the world through how we treat people rather than demand special treatment for ourselves. This also shows me a lot of stuff I need to change in my own life. Many times I mistakenly and un-purposefully get in the mindset that I am the only person that matters on this planet. As much I strive to think of others and see their needs as Christ has directed us to do, I understand that at times I can be a very selfish person. This chapter and the reiteration of this theme refocuses my attention to others rather than myself. Christ has commanded me to die to myself and live for him which means I am to act as he acted and see other's needs first.

Wise Old Owl

When thinking about wisdom what comes to mind? College? Probably not. I can see how you have to have wisdom in choices at college, but do you think of opportunities to development wisdom in tandem to college? Why is this? College is one of the biggest growing times in a person's life. Personally I would like to become a little wiser during this time.

I believe the reason is that many colleges today do not focus on the individual development of a student; rather, they focus on the material outcome of classes, such as grades and retention rates. To them, the person is not important. The outcome and statistics are the things that matter. Because of this, most college atmospheres are not conducive to developing wisdom.

So cool, now we know that wisdom is not always a hot topic at colleges, but what does that mean for my college? Like I said above, I would like to finish college at least a little wiser than when I entered. I actually believe that the Honors program at JBU does a good job at creating opportunities to develop wisdom. They provide their students with different ideas. The students job is to then decide what is right and what they will believe. They ask more than just head knowledge in the classes; instead, most classes call for a change in action. Overall, I believe that the JBU Honors Program does a veery good job of incorporating wisdom into their classes.