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Just because you can doesn't mean you should...
Mountains
Veteran
Okay, imagine you're a PhD teaching a class in the medical field. You have a strong personal interest in fine art, which you incorporate now and then into your lecture Powerpoint presentations just to spice them up. That's cool.
But then you write an exam question, that counts the same as every other question on the exam, asking the name of the painter who painted a piece that was in your powerpoint. The subject of the painting has nothing whatsoever in any way, shape, form, or fashion to do with the medical field.
So how, just exactly, is that fair?
Not that it matters, as I still got a 97% on the exam and an A in the course, but still, that seems kind of silly to me, doesn't it to you??
But then you write an exam question, that counts the same as every other question on the exam, asking the name of the painter who painted a piece that was in your powerpoint. The subject of the painting has nothing whatsoever in any way, shape, form, or fashion to do with the medical field.
So how, just exactly, is that fair?
Not that it matters, as I still got a 97% on the exam and an A in the course, but still, that seems kind of silly to me, doesn't it to you??
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Comments
I've learned through bitter, bitter experience that there are times when you pick a fight, and there are times when you don't. This is definitely one of the latter times for me
I've recently approached a situation with a generally curious demeanor and was able to avoid bad political image at the school I attend.
Asking "Why" with a kind heart seems to fix many problems
Now the bad cop does what he can just because he can as a matter of wielding power over people. This is not what happened in this case. I'd say your teacher played the part of the "good cop," who walks a little different beat than most. You would begrudge the man three lousy points? Man, I've had teachers who came right out and declared they NEVER gave perfect scores.
Do you really expect a real master to massage your ego by playing by standards or rules that you hold dear? Please don't! A real master makes his own rules. The fact that they make no sense to you is completely irrelevant, as the teacher's idiosyncrasies did you no harm. In fact, it's not even clear that the teacher would have counted these three points against a person who would be harmed were they counted against him.
It did me no harm (as I noted in my OP). That's not to say that those points might not have made all the difference to another student though. And regardless, I don't see how it's very fair to ask about a painter who's been dead for 350 years in a class having to do with anesthesia.
"Just because you can doesn't mean you should" certainly suggests a common reaction to a bad cop mentality to me.
Cops can penalize you and cause you unfair harm and major inconvenience. Or perhaps you've never driven a motor vehicle? I've encountered motoring cops jiggling keys, wallet, and cellphone, carelessly driving. On one occasion a police captain in an unmarked car nearly crashed into me. I looked over with alarm or disbelief and he apparently didn't like my expression. I got a trumped-up four-point failure-to-yield-right-of-way ticket, even though I did no such thing. I'm not whining. I studied the Philadelphia Police Department in College and I know some few things.
To my mind, it's a matter of whether someone is being punitive or not —of being just or unjust. What some people call fair or unfair is hogwash in my book. No kidding, most people have childish ideas of justice, namely giving everybody the same thing and treating everybody the same. That would just be equally dividing things out into portions as identical as possible; i.e. processing and packaging.
Justice is to give people what they deserve not what they want. All this talk of things being unfair is childish. The whole world is unfair. Justice is the human enterprise par excellence, and is something that has to be worked out with blood, sweat, and tears. It is not a given.
For instance, if physicians and nurses were to give every patient the exact same amount of time and care, the sick and injured would probably all die. Some people deserve more care at certain times than others, and those who are well do not deserve the same level of care as the gravely ill. To give them such at the expense of the ill would surely be unjust. However, it is arguably unfair that all those in hospitals do not receive equal treatment.
For my part, I rather admire the blood, sweat, and tears these health professionals put into their work.
Disappointments lead to petulance, which leads to whining.
To broach a subject and demand only sympathetic responses is unrealistic and seems like whining to me, especially when the argument is about getting things 100% of the way one wants them.
With all the bad things happening in the world every day, I think we need to teach our children that always getting the top grade is a selfish pursuit and will not help them along their spiritual paths.
No one, @Chrysalid, is getting me to get my back up. I just calls 'em as I sees 'em sometimes. I'll quite often stick up for the teacher over the comparatively more self-seeking student.
I thought this was a Buddhist forum and that part of what we did here was to try to stress the importance of letting go of things we clutch too dearly. Sometimes these "things" are just simple ideas about how silly or improper the practices of others are.
I have not made any ad hominem attacks on this thread and am astounded to be accused of being "snarky" (whatever that means) and of making inappropriate comments.
The prosecution will now attempt to rest.
I think its an opportunity to practice mindfulness. You can't get em all, well you can, but it would be interesting to find out why the painting was relevant to the professor. And an opportunity to sit with confusion if the professor is cryptic. Though perhaps it was a painting of a historical person or patron.
I'm just surprised you don't know what 'snarky' means. :hiding:
But down deep I believe we all know life often times is simply not "fair."