This post might be my attempt to be "intellectual" or something like that, cuz I usually don't pen down such serious thoughts. Most of them are more about specific incidents and not about a general idea or concept.
But anyways, this incident got me thinking... has idealism finished its term. I mean is it passe? Or are we morally/socially so corrupt that we have no ideals, and any sort of moral/ethical act seems to be a burden on us.
Consider this... a student is caught cheating in an end semester examination and he's given an F grade (ie he is failed in that course) PLUS he is also given a "semester drop" (ie suspended for one whole semester)!! Don't you think that giving the F grade was punishment enough? I mean how many times are you supposed to punish a person for one act.
I probably feel that a semester drop is too big a punishment cuz I feel that cheating is not such a big crime. Probably that's cuz of the inherent level of corruption in me. I probably accept corruption to some level. It's like a de-facto standard. It's part of the system. Anyone not corrupt upto that level is a menace for the system.
For example, if, in an exam I ask my neighbour for help - and he denies it. He's breaking the system. I'll be displeased with him. Kya, behen chod, satyawadi harishchand bana firta hai! That's exactly what I'd say.
I won't come back from the examination and think, Fuck man, I was wrong - I should not have asked him for assistance during the exam! I'm certainly not going to do that!!
Now, where am I wrong. How many people can I (or you) find who do not cheat! Hell, I mean how many professors can "cross their hearts and hope to die" and swear that they did not cheat during their student days! What makes them take this path of rigid ideology once they earn their PhD's and become professors. I'm sure even during their PhD thesis they must've machaod some fraud
That somehow bring me back to my "intellectual" point - has ideology lived its life? Is it over? Is it dead?
What do you think?
I dont think idealism is dead. There are still ppl I find who dont cheat..there are those even in my wing. I have a friend at IITB who sacrificed his grades at the altar of honesty..it is ofcourse another matter that I think tht tht was stupidity:)..but yes ppl these days do want things to happen for them..somehow these means( and I mean smallish things like cheating, not like hatching conspiracies/financial fraud etc...)just seem to be kind of passable...but there are still those who think otherwise and make us realise a few things and sometimes I am grateful to them..in an ideal world, I wouldn't like to cheat and hope I can do that I my last endsems !!
ReplyDeletePeople cheat now, people cheated yesterday and people cheated day before yesterday. And I am pretty sure that people will cheat tommorow also. Only the levels of cheating change and that is true with each and every system and ideology in this world. Societies change, long forgotten ideals and theories keep coming back, often with new names but with more or less the same vigour. And soon enough they die down, because the world is dynamic, human nature is dynamic, we don't like to be tied down by ideals and theories. And IMHO this is niether right nor wrong; niether moral nor immoral; niether good nor bad; this is just how things work.
ReplyDeleteIdealism isn't dead, it just got mixed with the "easier way".
ReplyDeleteI surely know that all preofessors have cheated once upon a time. We all have cheated at some point of time. Isnt it true, but, that all of us would agree that cheating is not a 'good' thing? Oh yes, the master of the master's cheater will also agree that cheating shouldnt be 'the' way.
ReplyDeleteOnce you dont need a system you know that is bad, you dont want others to use it. All professors know that people cheat in exams without being caught. Still, they find it a duty to discourage it.
(something like, positive and negetive exist together.... :) )
obviously luck plays a very important role! if you're having a terrible day, you're gonna get caught cheating. what about that guy in the back row who had his text book open and wasn't caught. but i guess punishments are given only to strike a balance between what you should do and what you're not supposed to do, only in order to follow the norms society has idealized. ofocurse they aren't administered appropriately or equally. so when there is a sudden surge of bad doing in a social setting a more severe punishment is imposed on the individual however petty his actions may be. its like a gruesome warning to everyone else that someone's there watching and taking strict action, although that someone is too distracted or does not want to spend enough resources to implement their punishments on all wrong doers. so what they're doing now is screw up one life and threaten the rest, thus setting a terrible example. every system should b just and fair but ofcourse thats just being idealistic. Reality is often more than mutilated. where is the frikkin value for a human life!
ReplyDelete