"Suomea: Tuhansien Järvien ja Mahdollisuuksien Maa"

"Finland: The Land of a Thousand Lakes and Opportunities"

Throughout our end-of-the-year studies, I have noticed that the Scandinavian "outlier," Finland, has been gaining a large deal of momentum in the Gifted and Talented II class.

Toward the beginning of last week, we began reading the second half of a book called, Outliers. Outliers is a piece of literature written about the success stories of exceptional people and extraordinary societies (or "outliers"). We started our journey with a chapter about the cultural legacy of the people living in the South-Eastern parts of Asia. Overall, a cultural legacy is the "lifestyle," for which a society (or a culture) is known. We learned that the cultural legacies of the Asians include an incomparable work ethic, and therefore, an enhanced sense of logical thought. This unsurpassed work ethic has been shown through the Asians' abilities to grow and harvest rice, which is considered to be a strenuous and laborious task. Because of the Asians' strong perseverance and passion for labor, they have, not only the ability, but the work ethic to complete any intellectual task which may stand in their path. Overall, Malcolm Gladwell (the author of the book) describes the Asians as a strong, collective, and intelligent society.

By the time I completed reading that portion of the book, I was a bit upset by the amount of information that Gladwell decided to leave out. For example, Gladwell stated that mostly all Eastern-Asian countries (such as South Korea, China, Japan, Singapore, etc.) defeated all industrialized, Western-world nations (such as the United States, Great Britain, France, Germany, etc.) in intellectual subjects. This is partially true. I knew for a fact that Finland crushed the rest of the world when it came to Science and Mathematics. This piece of information was enough for me to begin researching the comparative, statistical 'analyses' between Finland, Eastern-Asian countries, and the rest of the world.

I found what I had speculated (and a bit more).

The OECD is the Organization for  Economic Cooperation and Development. It consists of countires that look at imporivng global economic standards. Every four years, the OECD hosts an international PISA (Programme for International Student Assessment) exam, which tests 15 year-olds in their constituent countries on three subjects: Mathematics, Science, and Reading. According to the 2009 OECD-sponsored PISA Exam, Finland ranked number one in both Reading and Science, and number two in Mathematics (right behind South Korea). Although Finland fell slightly behind in Mathematics, the amount of differences in learning experiences between both Western-European countries and Asian countries is incredible.

Let's look at Finland. On a political, social, and economic basis, Finland owns more freedoms than any Asian country does (i.e. communism in China, casteism in India, misogyny in Islam countries, etc.). Therefore, the Finnish people are brought up to be independent and free. This enhanced sense of freedom allows Finnish students to be creative. Fundamentally, not only are Finnish students taught inventiveness at home, but they are taught it in school. In Finland, teachers are treated as professionals. At the average Finnish school, all teachers must have masters degrees in order to teach. Generally, teachers receive their own private offices. Finnish students benefit from this exposure to truly knowledgable teachers and the relaxed work environment (i.e. calling your teacher by his first name, no shoes, creativity, etc.). They also profit from the free health care, free lunches, free transportation (to and from school), free materials, and free "field trips." The truly amazing fact is that children in Finland start school when they are seven years old, and their average time spent in school is a bit more than half of the time that an American child spends learning (F: 660 hours per year for 9 years :: US: 1100 hours per year for 13 years).

And Finland still ranks at the top.

"Suomea on tuhansien järvien, mahdollisuuksien ja koulutuksen maa."

My Impact on Earth's Ecological Scale

Throughout the past three weeks, the Gifted and Talented II class and I have been calculating our impact on Earth's environmental stability. Personally, the information that I collected was not beneficial to the health of our planet. On the other hand, it did not amaze me, for I knew that humans are generally destructive in their ties with nature (through my observations). Overall, I perceive the world to be filled with those who are apathetic, those who live for Earth, those who live for themselves, and those who live as well as they can for both themselves and for the Earth.

Within the first week of data extraction, I derived a list of 100 of my most valuable items. The list acted as a direct representation of the type of consumerist-mindset that I house. It asked the large question, "Marcus, can you live with 100 items?" Overall, it showed me where my priorities were hidden. My "100 Items List" consisted mainly of books, all of which were non-fiction (i.e. Quantum Mechanics books, German books, Calculus books, etc.). A small section of the list was dedicated to a tiny amount of clothing and hygiene-products. I topped my list off with an iPad and a computer. To you, the reader, it may seem that my task was easy. Oppositely, the creation of such a list requires an in-depth sense of organization regarding ideals and an understanding of hypothetical lifestyle structure. The capability to couple these abilities will present you with a list, a list that I found to be satisfactory, but sadly "empty."

Our next job was to calculate the amount of items that we own. I must admit that this task had the potential to be the most pain-staking assignment that I have ever performed. Nevertheless, with the exclusion of individual LEGOs and of electronic components, I calculated that I had a bit more than 1408 items in my belonging. I was satisfied in knowing what I owned the most: books. After learning this, I was apathetic as to the numbers of my other belongings. Fundamentally, I was satisfied with the knowledge that I owned more books than anything in my house. I perceived the list to be yet another test of priorities and not of numbers. Think on this: Hypothetically speaking, would you rather own 100,000 varieties of energetic, colorful plants or 100,000 varieties of dangerous, synthetic chemicals? Although both items are extremely high in numbers, one set of items supports the ecological equilibrium of Earth, while the other set destroys the roots of all existent life. In this case, numbers have nothing to do with environmental friendliness.


Nevertheless, with our lists, we had to pick one consumer item and we had to trace and describe the path of production for that specific valuable. My group and I chose to describe the life of a compact disc (or a CD). In doing so, we were able to observe how much transportation, extraction (of materials), and production it took in order to create a small compact disc. Basically, a CD consists of four basic, but dangerously-manufactured materials: polycarbonate, lacquer, ink, and aluminum (rarely gold). Next, my group and I researched the synthesis, refining, and manufacturing processes for each material required for the production of one CD. The fact that a "simple" CD is made from such poisonous and toxic materials is appalling. Lacquer and polycarbonate were the two largest contributors to the "Environmental Enemies" list. The extraction and refining processes of aluminum metal are equally dreadful. Overall, I learned that the production of what appears to be "simple goods" is a gross underestimation.

After all of our projects were completed and presented, we took a small, though informational "Ecological Footprint" survey. At the beginning of the survey, it requires that you state the country that you live in, your annual salary, the size of your house, and the size of your family. The next sequence of questions asks you about your lifestyle (i.e. your diet, your usage of salary, utilities-specifics, etc.). By the end of the quiz, you are presented with a number. This number represents the hypothetical amount of Earths that would be necessary in order to support a society that is filled with people who live just like you do. The survey says, "If everyone on Earth were to live like you, we would need X Earths in order to sustain humanity." Now, you may ask, "What was my number?" 5.01 Earths. When I saw this, I was not surprised. With consideration to the fact that I am living in a first world, mechanistic, industrialized superpower, I estimated that my average "number" would be approximately 4 or 5 Earths; I was subsequently correct.


If you wish to take the Ecological Footprint Survey, click here! 

Linguistics

For me, language and cognitive sciences are passions that exceed all other subjects known to human existence. My love for language derives from an indescribable and unknown source. It may be that I find interest in the sociological themes, which lay seemingly hidden throughout linguistics as a whole. On a related note, it is possible that my fascination revolves around the fact that humans can be extremely-diverse, in the sense that diversity is an effect of language and its uses and themes. Another prediction, which supports my enthusiasm, could be the evolution of language. Now, when I say, "the evolution of language," I am not talking specifically about the transition from one word to the other; rather, I commend an interest in the evolution of pragmatic and cultural meaning, grammar, writing systems, and logical processes. Overall, I am astounded by the natural and artistic flow, with which language defines itself. I am also impressed by the complexity of such a naturally-occurring subject.



My interests in linguistics cause me to settle into a more specific realm of this astounding subject. Overall, I believe that the transition of Indo-European languages is an evolutionary pattern which is worthy of studying. I find that the comparison of all European languages allows me to perceive each language more clearly, and most importantly, to understand my own language at its greatest potential.



Children are prone to believe that the acquisition of linguistic knowledge is a factor solely-dependent upon the lexicon of the other language. With a moderately-matured sense of direction in the field of language, one would know that language is dependent upon the application of these words; in other terms, grammar. For example, one could easily obtain the Dutch words, "kat," "hebben," "ik," and "een." The true art of a partially-matured sense of linguistics is the ability to mold these words into the sentence, "Ik heb een kat." People, who are linguistically-talented, are those who can take this simple phrase and mold it into something much more poetic and artistic. For instance, instead of saying that "Ik heb een kat," I could add that "Mijn kat is groot en pluizig." Yes, I will agree that this concept seems too simple for an intelligent reality; the real "catch" lies within the fact that not many people parse their language on a daily basis, and nor do they know comparative linguistics through this fashion.



On a personal level, I love the sounds of different languages when they are spoken near me. To hear somebody speak quickly in a tongue, which I would love to study, is a phenomenal event. For example, when I traveled to Denmark in my ninth-grade year, I heard a myriad of Danish speakers conversing in one of the most vibrant Nordic languages in the world. I have always wished that I could have understood them. I would have loved to have known what they thought, and overall, how their language affected their associations with foreigners.



I could continue for weeks about my personal interest, yet I will stop here. Overall, language is a complex art, one that is tedious, yet intellectually worthy of grasping.

My Perspective on Society

The excerpt that you are about to read was the product of a joke between my friend and me. A few months ago my friend told me that I should jokingly write a book which pertains to the hatred or idiocy contained within society and humanity as a whole. I decided to take up this challenge (in jest, of course). As I began to write the paper, I could not help but to make the essay revolve around the personal, though intellectual observation, which claims that people are, for the lack of a more pleasant term, stupid. My intellectual opinions and observations were soon molded into an analysis of these constituents, and finally, a philosophy was produced. Here is the small opening excerpt to this "misinterpreted joke:" 


Human Inanity:

     Every day I am forced to succumb to the egregious idiocy and rancid stupidity of our conventional Western-world society. Every day I am forced to watch the intellectual values of “real people” burn in large, corroding flames. As I watch these values of priceless worth decompose before me, I find it unbelievable that humans can house such inanity. The fact that I find most disturbing is the methods by which humans rebuild these lost foundations. I could support the idea that the common man rebuilds his societal structure with rotten materials. This deficiency in the reconstruction of needed support causes the cultural and social values of his society to flip. What are the causes of this foolishness?

The application of premature ideas and the abuse of human intelligence.

I find it possible, though thoughtless, that some people believe in the unusual interpretation that non-conformity always promises creativity, and with that, intelligence. That is far from true; the act of being socially, culturally or even politically “isolated” only promises enlightenment under intricately treated conditions. What most non-conformists do not realize is that they were molded, not by their abilities or their intelligence, but by the large hand of society. I find it too tedious for most people to actually explore "truth" for themselves. Of course, this voyage into an intellectually transcendent world calls for the acquisition of not only the desired material, but the ability to apply purely inherited intelligence.

I could offer the same argument for those who are compliant with civilization in their daily actions. Those who are prone to believe that the large body, which we call society, is the true brain of humanity are correct in doing so. One question which these conformists fail to ask themselves is if society has the correct mind to support itself, not only economically, socially and politically, but intellectually and culturally. Do conformists truly see society’s actions through all aspects of human existence and intelligence? Of course not; as I stated before, conformists follow the most popular belief, no matter what their consciences tell them. These types of followers take this newly accepted belief and mold it into an ambiguous form of satisfaction. How would one define this newly gained sense of arbitrary fulfillment? Through the rapid and thoughtless transition of immature ideas, society’s followers are able to gain the false hope that they can grasp truly abstract ideas, and therefore, become a part of those ideas. Fundamentally, conformists see truth in what their civilization holds to be true, not what the individual holds to be true. I find that specific prospect of conformity to be atrocious in many perspectives. Not only is society a mutual agreement to retain peace, but it is run by the one binding idea which is interpreted to be societally “correct.” Where do these ideas of reciprocated conformation begin? Are these ideas meant to unify society in a secretive way? Or are they meant to sabotage the golden platforms of pure human intelligence?     

With this argument, I bring you not only a larger look at the senselessness of humanity, but the even smaller attributes which make those chaotic realities possible.

Chapter 1: Hypocrisy:

            There exists an extravagant number of situations, in which humans find themselves stuck in the rapidity of their own argument. The vigorous delivery of immature ideas causes debaters to stumble on their own ideas to the point of perplexity and misinterpretation.

An intellectual person is able to take his idea and explain it as clearly as acceptably possible, avoiding as many counter arguments as he can. Overall, the true man has explored his ideology from all existent aspects of human thought. A truly innovative person can support his theory, not only with from the viewpoints of several, if not all, features of human contemplation, but he may also have the capability to support his theory from a view that may transcend accepted human thinking; I would define this as an “extreme” abstract thought of the individual. For example, in our minds, we separate the factors of thought which are shared with society from the factors which are contemplated through the random and conceptual thought of ourselves. Where does true talent emerge from this theory? The intelligent man is able to take his new and intricate concept and connect it to an accepted or shared reality. Fundamentally, it is a reality outside of his mind. Overall, not only can an intelligent man express and understand his own ideas, but he now has the ability to expose society to his ideas in a way that makes sense to the conventional social order. In many aspects, one could support the idea that society is a way through which people connect with each other and share their newly conceived concepts. A problem is generated when similar individuals begin to boast and pride themselves off of one man’s idea. In doing so, these societal cheaters do not realize that they are performing a pointless task. Overall, the fact that these conformists could allow such foolishness would tell the intellectual man that these acts are being robbed of their intellectual values.      

     Oppositely, there exist people who are mentally unprepared to boast at the fact that they may have the intellectual capacity to understand their own, if not, society’s "abstract" ideas. Yes, it is easy for people to choose an opinion and ‘stick with it’. The problem is that most humans make their decisions blindly, without the consent of logic, common sense and intellectual investigation. In their state of sightlessness, however, they are tricked into pursuing the difficult task of supporting a mindset which would be considered too heavy for them to carry...


I presented this to my friend the day after he "dared" me to write such a paper. He told me that my paper was generally controversial. On many levels, I disagreed, but there existed aspects, through which I did perceive it to be a bit "contentious."


Overall, what do you, as "intellectual readers," think?      

Eko+komplex

Just yesterday, my class and I watched a few videos on "tiny houses." To those of you, who may ask what a "tiny house" is, I will simply say that they are 'shelters' for people, who are brave enough to put energy and financial savings in front of their largest priorities. "Tiny houses" are super-compact houses, which usually consist of a small ground-level floor and a comfortably sized loft. At first, the idea sounded tortuous and a bit extreme.


As I was sitting in my room today, pondering this phenomenon, the idea of "tiny houses" entered the technical housing in my brain. I hurried to my computer, loaded Google SketchUp, and began creating, what I call, an "eko+komplex."

An eko+komplex is a small complex of four tiny houses. Each house occupies an area of about 100 square feet and is about 12 feet tall. Each house receives a majority of its electric power from four solar panel installments. All of the solar panels are connected to the house that they run, and to a generator, which harvests unused electricity, and distributes the energy back into any house in "immediate need" of it.    

The transparent roof which you see hovering over all four houses will be put to use as a greenhouse. Overall, it will trap heat, allowing for the creation of a small garden area. It could also function as a heat source on cooler days.

Although it appears as though all four houses are connected, they are virtually inaccessible to each other (something that should be noted).

Some flaws still exist within the design. For example, eko+komplexes serve as housing for individuals (or couples). Along with this, I must configure how to incorporate other utilities in an "environmentally-friendly" way.

In general, I believe that these tiny complexes could, eventually, benefit individuals, society, and the Earth.   

~Marcus S. :: 5,5,11 

My Impression of the "Mother Earth" Unit

Overall, I value most of the concepts about which our G&T class has learned.


For example, during our "Mother Nature" unit there exist certain traits which I have found to be very beneficial and useful. The most necessary of these subjects are the ideas surrounding simple living, the concepts regarding consumer-moderation, and the overall reuse of unused or idle personal items.


Through the application of these concepts, I discovered that my mind had experienced a slight transition in its "procedural standards." For instance, I noticed that I had begun to place a higher value on the ideas of recycling and reusing. With the exception of books, food, and an iPad, I noticed that I began to destroy the need for other wanted items (LEGOs, video games, furniture, clothes, CDs, etc.).


I will be frank in saying that the obliteration of the need for material items was partially due to the stresses on the international economy. Subsequently, I paired this mindset with the subject material learned in Gifted and Talented II. The product created: a mind that was freed of the want for worldly items.


Through these teachings, I learned that the connection, through which the environmental world and the economic world are bound, is directly influenced by human choice. The surprising nature of this fact is the concept that the environment and the economy are directly connected. Sincerely, this idea was something that I had never explored on an intellectual or personal level.


As a "team member" in our class' efforts on improvement, I would say that I acted merely as a data researcher, analyst, and memo-writer.


As life continues, I believe that most of these teachings will become second hand to me. I will continue my daily operations of recycling, my monthly operations of organizing, and my current task of consumer moderation.

Continuation of the Collaborative Consumption Project

I offer my small amount of readers with an update on our new project:


We have recently sent out informative letters to the principles and directors of our school on the improvement of Northern Burlington's environmental and economic standards.


A section of the class has also planned to meet with the school's Board of Education in order to gain support for our plans.


On a personal level, a small group of researchers and I have completed the collection of data from the teachers, which tells us the items that each teacher wishes to trade and, the items that are need by each teacher.


As we continue to wait for responses, our next goal is to gain support throughout the school (generally students and administrators). First we hope to establish each faction's priorities, and then build our work off of their most important task (accordingly):


Administrator: economic stability
Teacher: ?
Student: ?
Other: ?