03 Unlecture

I really have to stop writing these reflections so long after the fact. My mind is already faulty enough, and when you add a week’s classes, lectures and the latest Masterchef elimination challenge, there’s a lot rattling around in there. So! The Unlecture!

Still enjoyed it. I like the subject, I like Adrian, and I like that it’s not a lecture where I have to force myself to listen and remember, so that I can regurgitate it later. The broader issues that come up in the Unlectures (how we learn, the ‘network’, speculative thinking) are all new concepts. Some of them I understand, some of them I don’t, but I don’t mind listening to Adrian’s point of view, and particularly enjoyed hearing from the other tutors as well. We haven’t quite reached the ‘discussion’ or ‘symposium’ portion of the course yet, but I’ve got faith that we’ll get there (hopefully by the next Unlecture).

I do remember the question. I think it went something along the lines of, “Why do we need to turn up to the lectures if the content is irrelevant”. Some people have complained about the time Adrian took to address it, but I can see why it stuck with him, and why it needed to be addressed. I thought Adrian’s comments about the job interview scenario were spot-on. From my own point of view, it’s hard to see what the point of being negative is, particularly when (at that stage) we’re only three weeks into the subject. Even if you can’t be convinced, and you absolutely despise the course and everything about it, you still have an obligation to turn up and do it. I don’t know what I’m going to do for a job, but I imagine that, at some point, I’ll have to perform a task that I don’t particularly want to perform. It seems counter-productive to turn around and argue that the task’s irrelevant, and I don’t need to do it. Maybe it’s something I’ll understand upon completion. Maybe I just need to grit my teeth and get it done. I don’t really know what I’m trying to say here, but the question struck a chord with me, and I just didn’t like it.

Rant over, looking forward to the next write-up, which I’ll try to do a bit quicker this time!