READING RACE
Importance of Reading
Aristotle said, “Man is what he knows”. Someone rephrased it as, “Man is what he thinks the whole day.” Reading not only gives you something to think about, but also makes you think. Reading makes your mind active, it stimulates creative. Without reading you thoughts could become redundant and your actions follow your thoughts.
If you analyse the history of human ideas, those who contributed to history were invariably voracious readers. Karl Marx for instance learnt everything in a library, as he himself was a librarian. As priests and educators we are constantly called upon to give talks, seminars and sermons. So we need ideas. If you look for ideas on that day, you may not get it, nor will you know how where to find it. Reading is a habit that has to be cultivated when you are still young, especially when you are a student.
Many […]
Academics
Academic Resources
How to Study 5 – Trade Secrets for Study
There are a number of “trade secrets” for successful study. One of the most important secret is a proper method of study.
FLASH CARDS: On the front of a small card you write an important term in science, or geography. And on the back, write the definition of the term. Carry your flash cards with you. At odd times take them out and try to recall the definition looking at the term, if you do not know, turn to other side and review the answer. You could keep off the cards of terms you know and constantly add new.
DIVIDED PAGE: Make a dividing line down the center of a sheet of notebook paper. Then write important question on the left side and the answers on the right. Use the “self-recitation” method of study. Cover the right hand side and try to give the answer. Then check and recheck until […]
How to Study 6 – Life Long Learning
The body of human knowledge is fast expanding. We are “on the edge of possibility.”
We have more books and resources than we had say 50 or 100 years ago. Or even a year ago. So to be up to date in this decade, I have to read and know more than a person who lived say two decades ago. On the other hand, it is also true that I have better access to information due to technology. However, the fast growing body of knowledge still remains a challenge. So your child will surely have to know more than you to be in the market! Is this possible?
Solution 1: Increase the number of years of formal, institutionalised learning (school based education) If someone took 15 years of studying to be a graduate (to finish undergraduate studies), may be we should increase it to 17 or 18, since there is more to […]
African Worldview
THE AFRICAN ANSWER TO
THE QUESTION OF ULTIMATE REALITY:
THE VITAL FORCE.
Sahaya G. Selvam
0. INTRODUCTION
Simply put, the fundamental question in philosophy is, what is the ultimate reality?
The Eastern religions, the earliest sources in the known human history to answer this question, were mystical in their approach. They gave different names to this “ultimate reality which underlies and unifies the multiple things of events” of the universe. The Chinese called it Tao, the Hindus, Brahman and the Buddhists called it Dhamma.
Judaism might have been the first well-known religion to give a personal dimension to this ultimate reality, though without giving a definite name. They calledHim, YHWH, the God of Abraham, Isaac and Joseph. Later Christianity would be born out of the fact that this “God” would even take a human form.
The early Greek philosophers of the Ionian school were too concerned with the material cosmos and they began their philosophical search with the question: What is the world stuff? Their […]
An African Epistemology
The Multiplicity of Truth :
An inquiry into African Epistemology
In this brief article I would like to reflect on how the African people look at truth. (I am grateful to my friend Babu Ayindo. A conversation with him has been the real confirmation of my own postulations. Some of the examples used here are his too.) The concept of truth is based on a metaphysics – a way of interpreting reality. Thirdly, it has its implications on ethics.
I would like to speak of these three aspects in the following theses:
1: A ‘Yes’ may mean a ‘No’.
2: The different aspects of reality are not contradictory but only complementary.
3: That is good which simply preserves relationships.
I noticed that in stating these theses I had to be extra careful to state them without absolutizing them – in the African way. Therefore, I notice that English being a non-African language has its limitation in expressing […]