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I’d like to acknowledge 14 year old Michael Perhan’s accomplishment to be the youngest person to solo the Atlantic. I know this probably doesn’t mean much to most of you but as a life long sailor I’m impressed, an well, a little envious!
[Updated on: Sun, 07 January 2007 01:21]
People will tell you where they've gone
They'll tell you where to go
But till you get there yourself you never really know
Where some have found their paradise
Other's just come to harm
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marc
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Needs to get a life! |
Registered: March 2003
Messages: 4729
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How long did the trip take?
Life is great for me... Most of the time... But then I meet people online... Very few are real friends... Many say they are but know nothing of what it means... Some say they are, but are so shallow...
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Six and a half weeks, Gibraltar to Antigua. He was trailed by his father in another boat but had to handle everything on his own, even had to go over the side one time to do repairs. Couldn't tell the make of the boat but it was a 28 foot sloop.
[Updated on: Wed, 03 January 2007 12:56]
People will tell you where they've gone
They'll tell you where to go
But till you get there yourself you never really know
Where some have found their paradise
Other's just come to harm
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timmy
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Has no life at all |
Location: UK, in Devon
Registered: February 2003
Messages: 13751
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Good for him. At 14 I'd only just learnt to sail.
Author of Queer Me! Halfway Between Flying and Crying - the true story of life for a gay boy in the Swinging Sixties in a British all male Public School
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marc
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Needs to get a life! |
Registered: March 2003
Messages: 4729
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It a cool thing for sure.......
but shouldn't he have been in school?
Some parents really have their priorities screwed up.....
Life is great for me... Most of the time... But then I meet people online... Very few are real friends... Many say they are but know nothing of what it means... Some say they are, but are so shallow...
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cossie
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On fire! |
Location: Exiled in North East Engl...
Registered: July 2003
Messages: 1699
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I don't know too much about the background, but he seems to be a bright kid, and his school must have authorised his absence - otherwise there would be potential legal problems.
But when it comes to the crunch, this adventure will certainly have contributed more to his preparation for adulthood than anything he would have gained from the three or four week's schooling he missed. In any event, the more detailed reports record that he took a pile of school work with him, and completed it in the course of the voyage.
For a' that an' a' that,
It's comin' yet for a' that,
That man tae man, the worrld o'er
Shall brithers be, for a' that.
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marc
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Needs to get a life! |
Registered: March 2003
Messages: 4729
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Well........
If this experience is good for the boy then it could have been accomplished over a summer break.
To take a person out of school for some as frivilous as a jaunt over the waves is reprehensible.
Life is great for me... Most of the time... But then I meet people online... Very few are real friends... Many say they are but know nothing of what it means... Some say they are, but are so shallow...
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For those interested there are some pictures here with a short commentary: http://news.sky.com/skynews/picture_gallery/picture_gallery/0,,70141-1245812-1,00.html
Marc, please note pictures #8-9.
J F R
The paradox has often been noted that the United States, founded in secularism, is now the most religiose country in Christendom, while England, with an established church headed by its constitutional monarch, is among the least. (Richard Dawkins, 2006)
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marc
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Needs to get a life! |
Registered: March 2003
Messages: 4729
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He still should be in school.......
Life is great for me... Most of the time... But then I meet people online... Very few are real friends... Many say they are but know nothing of what it means... Some say they are, but are so shallow...
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LOL I laugh, but with respect Marc, only cus for some reason I could see you going for it at that age if you had, had the chance. ; )
People will tell you where they've gone
They'll tell you where to go
But till you get there yourself you never really know
Where some have found their paradise
Other's just come to harm
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marc
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Needs to get a life! |
Registered: March 2003
Messages: 4729
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Well, I was sort of limited to my choices and options at 14.
Nevertheless, there is a time for school and that is when it is in session and there is a time for adventures which is when school is out.
Life is great for me... Most of the time... But then I meet people online... Very few are real friends... Many say they are but know nothing of what it means... Some say they are, but are so shallow...
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Back in the days when I was an employer, anyone who could demonstrate that kind of self-reliance, initiative, and ability to suffer discomfort to achieve a desired goal would have walked into a job with me, regardless of others having better academic qualifications.
Education is about more than book-learning.
"The ultimate weakness of violence is that it is a descending spiral, begetting the very thing it seeks to destroy. ... Returning violence for violence multiplies violence, adding deeper darkness to a night devoid of stars." Martin Luther King
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timmy
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Has no life at all |
Location: UK, in Devon
Registered: February 2003
Messages: 13751
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Well, at 14 he is not facing any public examinations. His parents will have had to get official sanction for his trip, which was, to an extent, educative. He studied vectors, for example, with navigation. He will have learnt a few useful things along the way, most relevant being self reliance.
He has sufficient time to catch up on his studies. Examinations are in May/June, and for him, next year. It is likely that at least part of his trip can carry credits as coursework.
I don't disagree with you over school meaning school, but we don't know what his parents negotiated with the education authorities. I do have the vision of the truant officer chasing him in a little rowboat, though.
Author of Queer Me! Halfway Between Flying and Crying - the true story of life for a gay boy in the Swinging Sixties in a British all male Public School
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marc
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Needs to get a life! |
Registered: March 2003
Messages: 4729
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True enough.....
But the book learning is after all mandated by law....
Savvy,,, you just kind of pick that up along the way.
Anywho.........
If going on a little adventure is OK, then where is the line drawn? What is a kid of 14 decided to blow off school to go to follow a rolling stones concert tour??? That has it's potential for educative experiences too? Perhaps not as wholesome as going across the atlantic alone (with a chaperone) (Hey, doesn't that kind of kill the solo part???) but educatonal none the less.
BTW, I know fully well that I am being obtuse here.....
I just have certain ideas about taking off school for something like this when all along it could have been done at a time when there was no school in session.
Life is great for me... Most of the time... But then I meet people online... Very few are real friends... Many say they are but know nothing of what it means... Some say they are, but are so shallow...
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Marc said,
>If going on a little adventure is OK, then where is the line drawn? What is a kid of 14 decided to blow off school to go to follow a rolling stones concert tour??? That has it's potential for educative experiences too?
If a kid of 14 could negotiate being off school to follow a Rolling Stones concert tour, and was given the blessing of his school, and proper schoolwork to do, and had a certain number of important goals to achieve, and on the way he managed a world record and learnt any number of skills that would benefit him for the rest of his life, then -- well, I would regard that as worthwhile, yes. There's no need for the ???s -- it's not a necessarily stupid idea, except where it's done completely aimlessly (and that is not the case in this instance).
There is more to an education than simply "being in school". Ex-curricular activities are just as important, and I'm glad to say that my own school appreciated that. The most important subject (one compulsory for all students) does not even exist as a public examination.
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cossie
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On fire! |
Location: Exiled in North East Engl...
Registered: July 2003
Messages: 1699
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... I feel seasick if I step into a puddle.
But, listening to a discussion between my elders and betters on TV last night, it appears that the journey was undertaken at the time of year when winds and weather conditions were most favourable - so to suggest that it could have happened in the long Summer holiday isn't really a valid observation.
My daughter, at the age of 15, had the opportunity to spend some time in Japan during the UK school term. It probably changed her life more than any scholastic experience; she has since spent time in Eastern Europe, South Africa, Mozambique and Lebanon. She scored three 'A' grades at A-level, gained a BA in Politics and Philosophy and is now about to complete an MA is post-conflict reconstruction - and all of that is directly attributable to the sense of adventure inspired by the trip to Japan.
Education is of paramount importance - but, realistically, inspiration is what matters, and schools all too often fail to deliver.
For a' that an' a' that,
It's comin' yet for a' that,
That man tae man, the worrld o'er
Shall brithers be, for a' that.
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... it is commonly said that school does not teach you what you need to know for the rest of your life, it teaches you how to learn.
Latin, Greek, foreign languages, English literature, chemistry, physics, biology, history, maths (beyond simple arithmetic) ... there's nothing intrinsic to these subjects that makes them essential to everyday life after school or university, except in certain professions. I myself do not call upon these subjects every day, and I'm still at university. Only my English language, perhaps, do I; but it seems that many other people still manage to get by with a 10 year-old's command of English (I don't approve, but it's their choice). But, in fact, most of my English language, like all the other subjects I know reasonably well -- science, film, computing, cinematography, etc. -- I learnt outside the classroom in my own spare time, not as homework assignments, but because I was genuinely interested. When I have actually worked in the real world, almost everything that I have needed to know has been learnt "on the spot".
"You can take a horse to water but you can't make it drink." I am firmly of the opinion that it's useless to force people to stay at school if they don't want to. (I think, Marc, that you have said the same thing to me in the past, so I don't know quite why you would be so determined that this boy should be at school instead of doing what he wants to do.) I don't mean any child should be allowed to play truant at will, but I do mean that in the teenage years a person should be able to decide how to allocate his (or her) time, provided he can, in a sensible and mature fashion, justify its productivity for him in later life, both to the relevant authorities and himself.
Academic achievement is not the sole measure of a successful childhood. In fact, I would go so far as to say that the sole measure of a successful childhood is a successful adulthood. If a teenager wastes his teenage years at Rolling Stones concerts (gosh, the horror!), but goes on to have a productive career, is kind and charitable, has a good circle of friends and a happy family life, then it is entirely irrelevant how much "academic" work he did at school. On the other hand, a person who spends his entire life at school in the classroom or library studying, but ends up rejecting or resenting his education, might as well not have done it.
David
[Updated on: Fri, 05 January 2007 15:43] |
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Deeej wrote:
>... it is commonly said that school does not teach you what you need to know for the rest of your life,…<
Isn't that the sheer luxury of going to school? You have the rest of your life to learn what you need for the rest of your life.
I also agree with the bit about learning how to learn.
Hugs
Nigel
I dream of boys with big bulges in their trousers,
Never of girls with big bulges in their blouses.
…and look forward to meeting you in Cóito.
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marc
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Needs to get a life! |
Registered: March 2003
Messages: 4729
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If all this is as you say... why does anyone bother with school at all??
True enough... A well rounded education gives the recipient the ability to teach his/herself the basic tools to continue on a path of aquiring knowledge for most if not all of the remainder of his/her time on this little ball.
But, I still have to say that I believe that a solo trip across the Atlantic has little more to offer in the way of education than a trip across a gooldy amount of mileage with a few days asea.
The "solo" trip for one was not really solo now was it? Solo to me means alone, without someone a hale away if things do down the tube. If the father had to follow along then I have to believe the trip was more for the father than the son.
But whatever, what is done is done.......
Life is great for me... Most of the time... But then I meet people online... Very few are real friends... Many say they are but know nothing of what it means... Some say they are, but are so shallow...
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I would not call learning ancient Greek irregular verbs a luxury! 
These days I am slightly upset at my prep (primary) school for making me learn so much Latin and Greek, for I am not, and never have been, a classicist. At the age of 12, we (the scholarship form) were having about an hour and a quarter of Latin a day, including Saturdays -- nearly 8 hours a week -- and another three hours for Greek. This was in addition to the usual timetable for all the other subjects. Quite frankly, it was a total waste of time.
These days, whenever anyone tells me that missing a single lesson of school is a terrible thing, I think of my Latin and Greek (by the time I gave up I had done 7 years' worth, and God knows how many lessons -- more, probably, than many classics undergraduates at Oxbridge). My crowning achievement in both was a bog-standard GCSE, for I had no interest in taking them on to A-level. Others at my secondary school achieved exactly the same in 3 and in some cases even 2 years. I maintain that if I had had half the number of lessons the end result would have been the same, and I could have devoted the rest of the time to science or current affairs or politics or art or film or music, all of which would have benefited me a great deal more in the long run.
Sorry for airing my grievance here -- I still feel a bit bitter about it. I went to what I understand to have been at the time the most classics-intensive prep school in the country (and, now I come to think of it, possibly even the world, unless there are other schools in other European countries which still regard classics as paramount). I know there were some people who valued all the extra classics, but in my case I think it actually wasted time I could have spent on something better. In fact, I would regard even sleep as something more worth doing than many of those lessons, as I remember being extremely tired for much of the last year at prep school, and that didn't help concentration in other subjects.
David
[Updated on: Sat, 06 January 2007 01:59] |
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cossie
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On fire! |
Location: Exiled in North East Engl...
Registered: July 2003
Messages: 1699
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As NW says, the adventure will carry more weight on the kid's CV than average-level academic qualifications.
And as (I think) Deeej suggested, the function of schooling is to teach the process of learning. Most of what is taught is irrelevant to later life, except as a template for acquiring new skills.
Good schools recognise this and include adventure projects in their syllabus - though this is being eroded by the compensation culture we have inherited from the USA.
Sitting at a school desk is not the only way to learn; unless the quality of teaching is high, it's not even a particularly good way to learn.
In this case, the kid's school was wholly supportive of the adventure, which means that it was confident of his ability to keep abreast of the academic curriculum.
After all, the very word 'education' literally means to 'lead out' innate abilities.
I wouldn't advocate that every schoolboy should sail the Atlantic single-handed (and, incidentally, single-handed simply means that there was no other 'hand' on board) but it would be depressing in the extreme if such opportunities were denied simply because they were not available to everyone. And that comes from a committed left-winger (except, of course, when left-wing policies defy logic!).
For a' that an' a' that,
It's comin' yet for a' that,
That man tae man, the worrld o'er
Shall brithers be, for a' that.
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cossie
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On fire! |
Location: Exiled in North East Engl...
Registered: July 2003
Messages: 1699
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Deeej, I confess that I find your post surprising. I am in no doubt whatsoever that the subject I have found most useful in later life is Latin; I was able to choose German in preference to Greek. I only studied to what was then O-level, but Latin was the basis for my lifelong fascination with the structure and development of English. My Latin skills were never particularly good though, being interested in history, I was always pretty good at translating Latin inscriptions on gravestones and memorial tablets. My kids were very impressed by the way English-speaking tourists followed me around French chateaux and graveyards! But the structure of the language and its influence on the coinage of new English words in the early modern period has hugely increased the pleasure I get from reading and writing my native language. And this is from a guy who studied Maths, Further Maths and Physics to A-Level!
For a' that an' a' that,
It's comin' yet for a' that,
That man tae man, the worrld o'er
Shall brithers be, for a' that.
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marc
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Needs to get a life! |
Registered: March 2003
Messages: 4729
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Solo means that you are on your own, alone, unaccompanied, unattended.
If you are going at a thing "solo" then you do not have someone at hand ready to pull your ass out of the flames if something goes wrong.
Life is great for me... Most of the time... But then I meet people online... Very few are real friends... Many say they are but know nothing of what it means... Some say they are, but are so shallow...
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I'm going to say the unsayable. A GCSE in any subject is no big deal.
We could never say that to our pupils for fear of demotivating them. They discovered it for themselves when they went on to A-levels.
When GCSEs were introduced the standard was halved and the amount of work doubled. And in the nearly twenty years GCSEs have been in place, has it led to better educated school leavers?
In teaching you have aim higher than you expect to achieve with your pupils, and sometimes you are pleasantly surprised.
Deeej, I hope one day you will be grateful for your courses in Greek and Latin. After all they opened the way to a scholarship at one of the most highly academic schools in the country. And then there is the way the classics trained your mind. Now for the really patronising bit. I think we all have/had doubts about our paths in life when we were at university / university age.
[Telephone call has just interrupted my train of thought.]
Hugs
Nigel
I dream of boys with big bulges in their trousers,
Never of girls with big bulges in their blouses.
…and look forward to meeting you in Cóito.
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Marc wrote:
> If you are going at a thing "solo" then you do not have someone at hand ready to pull your ass out of the flames if something goes wrong.
I do so hope that is not true. People who go off "solo" in that sense (whether sailing, mountain-climbing, rambling, cross-country skiing or whatever) so often get into life-threatening difficulties that could have been avoided with appropriate support. That puts the lives of those who work in, or volunteer for, the Rescue Services at quite unnecessary risk, and I see it as both selfish and irresponsible. I don't see that it matters to the quality of the endeavour if backup is one mile away, or a hundred: what matters is if the mission is accomplished without recourse to the backup.
"The ultimate weakness of violence is that it is a descending spiral, begetting the very thing it seeks to destroy. ... Returning violence for violence multiplies violence, adding deeper darkness to a night devoid of stars." Martin Luther King
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I studied Latin for eight years - three at prep school, five at secondary school - and got a reasonable 'O' level in it. Eight years !! At least four of them were completely wasted: when I went to secondary school I was started again at the beginning (as half the class had not previously studied Latin), with an entirely different pronunciation scheme. It took four wasted years of this to get back to where the three years at prep school had got me: only the final pre-exam year improved on my previous skills in the language. That's a big chunk of my life that could have been more constructively used doing almost anything else. In that sense, I very much see Deeej's point.
However, I do value having studied Latin - like cossie, it has been more use to me (in terms of the things I'm interested in) in later life than most of the other subjects I studied at school.
"The ultimate weakness of violence is that it is a descending spiral, begetting the very thing it seeks to destroy. ... Returning violence for violence multiplies violence, adding deeper darkness to a night devoid of stars." Martin Luther King
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I agree with NW, in this day and age it doesn’t matter whether your circumnavigating the world solo or the Atlantic, it’s not like the old days of Francis Chichester when he would set out in his Gypsy Moths totally alone using his most excellent skills at dead reckoning and that is exactly what that pioneering pilot and sailor did. Point is these days all adventurers are only minutes away from being able to get a distress call out through satellite communications with all pertinent information (GPS positioning) for the rescuers to execute in a speedy and safe rescue operation, case in point is the several rescues during the round the worlds solo race taking place this year, well it started last year, I haven’t been keeping up but I think it still in progress. And their being in close proximity, relatively speaking have rescued fellow sailor over the long history of these races.
I can not find that his accomplishment can be minimized in any way. I mean he was by him self and he did have to go over the side to effect repairs. I can tell you from personal experience having had to do so twice once off the Bahamas in a place called the Tongue of the Ocean and another time in Drake’s bay California, that is at best a dangerous business even when the line tied to your waist is also attached to the boat and to another person at the other end. Ok his father may have been right along side, but with a boat pitching at seas even small seas, your greatest danger is from the boat coming down on your head. It’s been said before but I’ll say it again. The self reliance he learned on this trip can not be taught in any class room, it will serve him well I think!
People will tell you where they've gone
They'll tell you where to go
But till you get there yourself you never really know
Where some have found their paradise
Other's just come to harm
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Oh, Cossie, I don't resent having done Latin and Greek; it is useful, if occasionally very tedious, to be able to study Virgil and Homer in the original. My understanding of English grammar, and the derivations of many words, is also better than it would otherwise have been.
However, the fact that Latin and especially Greek are not commonly taught any more at primary or even secondary level means that it's a bit rotten for those who have done plenty at primary level, because they are now anomalies and the educational system (even the private educational system!) can't really cope with them any more.
My experience of Greek was like that of NW for Latin. I learnt it for three years at prep school, attaining at least GCSE standard. Then when I started at public school I had to start effectively from the beginning, because I was one of only three people in the year who had a reasonable standard of Greek, and three people was not enough to justify an "advanced Greek" class. By the time I did GCSE, I am afraid to say, the standard of my Greek was worse than it had been when I started at the school. I was simply not interested in lesson after lesson of revision. I also did not get on with the Greek teacher, possibly because (in retrospect rather rudely) I made it somewhat plain that I was not interested.
Latin was a bit better. Most people at public school had already studied it, so I was put in the right set. I don't think my Latin improved much once I arrived there, but I don't think it got any worse, either. In retrospect, however, I would say my prep school vastly overdid the whole classics thing. The school was run by an elderly classicist who would give the scholarship form long, rambling Latin lessons more than an hour after the rest of the school had gone home. We were learning constructions well beyond the scope of GCSE at the age of 12 or 13. Eight hours a week, just for Latin, was more than we spent on maths and the sciences combined. If the time spent on Latin had been halved, we would still have had plenty of time to learn, plus we could have gone home an hour earlier each day, spent more time studying other subjects, or whatever. The end result -- a GCSE in my case -- would almost certainly have been identical, and I would now have just the same understanding of English grammar.
It is odd to think that I may be one of the last people in the country and presumably the world to have had a full classical education from an early age. These days it's not even a requirement for Oxbridge classicists to have learnt Latin or Greek before coming to university.
David
[Updated on: Sun, 07 January 2007 01:12] |
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No Message Body
[Updated on: Sat, 06 January 2007 18:44] |
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My own education (which I thoroughly enjoyed) was a series or errors. Aged 11 we all started learning French. The following year, those who had done well in French were asked to choose between German and Spanish in addition to French. I chose Spanish. The following year we were asked to choose, in addition, between Greek and Latin. I chose Latin. I followed Spanish through to GCE O level and both French and Latin through to A level. Had I known then what my future career would be I would have chosen German rather than Spanish and Greek rather than Latin. But I enjoyed all those languages. And I am certain that my teachers were very good indeed at their job.
Recently I managed to prove that: thanks to the wonders of the Internet, a few weeks ago I managed to locate a French person whom I had last seen in 1958! Very hestitantly, I sent an email in French - a language which i have not had the opportunity to speak for more than 40 years. It turns out that the email was beautifully written with no errors. That's no credit to me, but to my teacher all those years ago.
Having been active in secondary education for more than two decades I truly think that they don't make teachers like that any more.
Enough of this incorrigible nostalgia.
J F R
[Updated on: Sat, 06 January 2007 19:49]
The paradox has often been noted that the United States, founded in secularism, is now the most religiose country in Christendom, while England, with an established church headed by its constitutional monarch, is among the least. (Richard Dawkins, 2006)
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cossie
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On fire! |
Location: Exiled in North East Engl...
Registered: July 2003
Messages: 1699
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... but in TV interviews both the kid and his father consistently used the phrase 'single-handed'. They can hardly be blamed for the oh-so-typical media habit of misunderstanding the concepts they are write about!
For a' that an' a' that,
It's comin' yet for a' that,
That man tae man, the worrld o'er
Shall brithers be, for a' that.
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I don’t understand your post. Do they see a difference, what is the misunderstanding? I haven’t heard any of the news reports or interviews since he completed his voyage. LOL the only thing I do solo any more is sex and that too is normally single handed : P Really though what is the point?
People will tell you where they've gone
They'll tell you where to go
But till you get there yourself you never really know
Where some have found their paradise
Other's just come to harm
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JFR, I agree, but perhaps I'm slightly biassed.
Hugs
Nigel
[Updated on: Sun, 07 January 2007 16:14]
I dream of boys with big bulges in their trousers,
Never of girls with big bulges in their blouses.
…and look forward to meeting you in Cóito.
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Aussie
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Really getting into it |
Registered: August 2006
Messages: 475
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While not trying to take anything away from Michael's achievement I would just like to remind you that our Jesse Martin circumnavigated the world unassisted.
I am sure the sense of achievement he gained would have been mindboggling
Lionheart: the Jesse Martin Story
As a 17 year old teenager, Jesse Martin set out on a journey to fulfill a dream few thought possible. By circumnavigating the world in his 34 foot yacht, Lionheart, Jesse would become the youngest person in history to sail around the world solo, non stop and unassisted. It is an intimate record of his days alone at sea, transporting viewers onto the deck of Lionheart through Jesse’s unique and candid approach to filming. From the joy of watching dolphins chase Lionheart to the dramatic moments as Jesse battles terrifying storms and unrelenting knockdowns, this documentary captures all the highs and lows of his incredible journey. This is truly a story of sheer inspiration and the power of chasing a dream that will uplift and motivate people of all ages.
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marc
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Needs to get a life! |
Registered: March 2003
Messages: 4729
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Achievment comes in many many shapes and forms. It comes as one survived an illness or various opression. It comes as one endures calous bigotry as well. It also comes with finishing a project be it personal or work related. It comes as one holds a small frightened child and warms it from the cold. It comes as one shines a light where it was once dark.
Whatever the thing is that makes the individual more of a whole, more complete is also an achievment.
Yes, achievment indeed comes in many many shapes and formes.
Achievment is as personal and as deep with each individual whom it embraces in its soft glow.
However, achievment for the sake of public glory or planned recognition is variously tainted by the precognition of it's notoriety.
[Updated on: Sun, 07 January 2007 11:53]
Life is great for me... Most of the time... But then I meet people online... Very few are real friends... Many say they are but know nothing of what it means... Some say they are, but are so shallow...
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Young people aren't what they used to be. Thank God! 
J F R
The paradox has often been noted that the United States, founded in secularism, is now the most religiose country in Christendom, while England, with an established church headed by its constitutional monarch, is among the least. (Richard Dawkins, 2006)
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Really I never could get into the whole non stop thing I mean yeah it’s cool and all but really a lot of people have done these things before. It’s like Joshua Slocum the first (recorded) to solo the world in 1899. Everyone else was an also ran. Robin Lee Graham did it; starting out in 1965 I think he was 15 or 16. I remember reading all the articles he wrote for National Geographic during his multi year voyage.
No matter the motives of all who have undertaken these journeys, my hat is of to them. If I could and if I ever obtain the means to do it myself, I will do it in a heart beat. Of course I like Graham and Slocum would take my time. It’s all about the journey and the all adrenalin rushes you’ll get from it in the end, but then it’s all a matter of perspective.
People will tell you where they've gone
They'll tell you where to go
But till you get there yourself you never really know
Where some have found their paradise
Other's just come to harm
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Achievement?
I agree with you on every general point you make. However, if you're saying that this 14 year-old achieved any less because he knew there was a good chance of getting into the newspapers, I disagree. It got into the newspapers because it was an amazing achievement for a 14 year-old, and it would most likely have done even if the father and son had completely shunned the press. Unless you have a citation or a quotation from an interview to suggest that they were looking only for fame and glory, rather than the satisfaction of personal achievement, I don't think your argument holds a great deal of water.
Many of the greatest and most charitable acts have been done by people or organisations that would have been able to anticipate the exposure that they would get from them. There may have been among them people who only sought glory, but to say that they are 'tainted' is to tar everyone with the same brush. There is simply no escaping the media these days, and indeed it plays a major role in promoting charity and inspiring others (and I have no doubt this case has done the latter for many young people). Breaking a world record does not really count as charitable, but it is no more selfish that studying for the sake of studying or travelling the world or writing a novel or any of the other things that are commonly considered worthwhile pursuits.
David
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marc
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Needs to get a life! |
Registered: March 2003
Messages: 4729
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As for holding water.....
The posting you replied to here made no referance to any instance in particular.
The entire post was made in generalities.
Life is great for me... Most of the time... But then I meet people online... Very few are real friends... Many say they are but know nothing of what it means... Some say they are, but are so shallow...
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Marc said,
>As for holding water.....
>The posting you replied to here made no referance to any instance in particular.
>The entire post was made in generalities.
So was most of mine.
Since you have been so keen elsewhere in the thread to shoot down this boy's achievement, I think it is reasonable to assume that you had his case in mind when you wrote your reply, even if you have expanded the context.
>achievment [sic] for the sake of public glory or planned recognition is variously tainted by the precognition of it's [sic] notoriety.
This is such a clumsy and confusing sentence that it's not surprising I misunderstood your intention -- if indeed I did.
David
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