Inefficiency Report
27 Jan 2016
Song of the day: sound of animals in my classroom. Go to any high school classroom and it’s there.
Humans are social creatures, and we survive on social contact. So we like talking. And not being a talkative-bitch is considered rude in today’s standards. (What the hell happened to “children should be seen and not heard”?) We need to greet people or they will be unfriendly and anal with us. Then, isn’t the current state of our social structure inefficient because people just make too much small talk and formalities and greetings, that we never get to the main point?
We talk too much, that is for sure. I can be sitting at a table doing homework before class starts. And I’m about to become deaf, because the animals (these are my classmates) in the classroom are trying to tear the walls down. Using sound. And there’s the random tossing about of a volleyball which threatens to smash my skull. It’s obvious that what they are talking about has absolutely no substance. And why should there be? These people aren’t even real friends! They are just sticking to one another and forming the clique just so they aren’t the one being ostracised. And they fangirl all over. They might as well just stop talking. This form of survival resembles an arms race, where each clique becomes more and more evil in order to deter the bullying of other cliques. Wouldn't it be so much more peaceful to just agree on mutually assured destruction and solve our disputes with diplomacy? And disarm ourselves by not staying in a clique of false friends? This balance of power would work to ensure no one’s left out, right?
When we visit the administrative office at school, most likely it would be because we have something urgent that we need to solve. So the receptionist should ideally strive to be as fast as possible. Like, come on, my lesson’s starting in one minute; or my friend has a splitting headache and is gonna puke soon, and she needs to go home. And in all these cases the receptionist will surely be compelled to take the longest possible way in solving our problems. Here’s an actual conversation I had with a receptionist. Me: “My friend is extremely sick and we need to find Miss Clara (our homeroom teacher).” Receptionist: *stares* “What?! Children nowadays…so you just come in and say ‘My friend is extremely sick and we need to find Miss Clara’. No ‘good morning’ whatsoever?” Me: *what-the-fuck face* “Sorry, good morning.” And only then, while tsking at me, does the receptionist hand us a school leaving form. Receptionist: “Next time when you have a favour you must greet the person first…don't be so rude…” Another friend: “sorry!” Me: *stares at her like what dahell you aren’t my mom even if you are two years older than me…* “you didn't have to…” And it’s obvious that, just like the receptionist, this friend of mine is also caught the bug of obsession with formalities, and constantly wants to please people by being overly polite. Like, if you are being chased by a pervert are you gonna POLITELY BEG for help?
This reminds me of a story, Chekhov’s Death of a Civil Servant.
Some guy named Ivan is an over polite and aristocrat fearing pussy. He accidently sneezes on a superior’s head, and tries to apologise on many occasions. But the superior doesn't really care and has forgotten about the incident, and tells Ivan to stop apologising. Ivan imagines that the superior’s refusal to talk to him is because of his anger towards Ivan’s “disrespectful mistake”. And Ivan becomes a really annoying maggot, constantly trying to say sorry at the busiest of times. The superior chases Ivan away one day, and he becomes so scared of his superior’s anger that he dies of shock. And this is an example of how people are just too polite and try to talk too much. He could have just chosen to ignore the incident and feign ignorance. But alas, respect is Ivan’s honour and he had to give a sincere apology regardless. I think many people these days are like that. We apologise for the smallest of things that aren’t even wrongdoings, thus straining our vocal cords, using up precious body heat, and wasting our time.
Words, useless accessory words. Kimsuhanmu is another story that proves how inefficient we are with our constant desire to say the specifics, and appear polite.
There was once a man with a very long name called Kimsuhanmu keobugiwa durumi samcheongabja Dong Bang Sak Chichigapo Sarisarisaenta Woriwori Saepeurika Moodoosella gureumi heorikaein dambyeorak seosaengwonae goyangyi badookineun Doldolri. One day, he fell into a river, and a passer-by cried for help. What he said was: “Help!! Kimsuhanmu keobugiwa durumi samcheongabja Dong Bang Sak Chichigapo Sarisarisaenta Woriwori Saepeurika Moodoosella gureumi heorikaein dambyeorak seosaengwonae goyangyi badookineun Doldolri fell into the river!” And considering how long the name is and the passer-by’s idiotic anal-ness in using Kimsuhanmu’s full name, Kimsuhanmu drowned while he was crying for help. And so he died. As the passer-by thought it would honour Kimsuhanmu by referring to him with his colossal name. He could have said “SOMEONE fell into the river” instead. But he wouldn't. As if it was any more respect for his name legacy if the passer-by (indirectly) caused his death.
If people can just stop trying to be so polite and making so much small talk, so much more efficiency can be achieved. And as a benefit, less people die. An issue that occurs to me ever so often is the need to greet. “Say ‘hello uncle’ this guy that we will bypass later” my mom or my dad will tell me. And I’m sixteen, better know what’s good for me. Besides, considering I’m sixteen, I do have my own human right in who I want to interact with. I feel no emotional connection to this person, I have no logical reason to talk to him or even greet him, seems like a reasonable decision.
Song of the day: sound of animals in my classroom. Go to any high school classroom and it’s there.
Humans are social creatures, and we survive on social contact. So we like talking. And not being a talkative-bitch is considered rude in today’s standards. (What the hell happened to “children should be seen and not heard”?) We need to greet people or they will be unfriendly and anal with us. Then, isn’t the current state of our social structure inefficient because people just make too much small talk and formalities and greetings, that we never get to the main point?
We talk too much, that is for sure. I can be sitting at a table doing homework before class starts. And I’m about to become deaf, because the animals (these are my classmates) in the classroom are trying to tear the walls down. Using sound. And there’s the random tossing about of a volleyball which threatens to smash my skull. It’s obvious that what they are talking about has absolutely no substance. And why should there be? These people aren’t even real friends! They are just sticking to one another and forming the clique just so they aren’t the one being ostracised. And they fangirl all over. They might as well just stop talking. This form of survival resembles an arms race, where each clique becomes more and more evil in order to deter the bullying of other cliques. Wouldn't it be so much more peaceful to just agree on mutually assured destruction and solve our disputes with diplomacy? And disarm ourselves by not staying in a clique of false friends? This balance of power would work to ensure no one’s left out, right?
When we visit the administrative office at school, most likely it would be because we have something urgent that we need to solve. So the receptionist should ideally strive to be as fast as possible. Like, come on, my lesson’s starting in one minute; or my friend has a splitting headache and is gonna puke soon, and she needs to go home. And in all these cases the receptionist will surely be compelled to take the longest possible way in solving our problems. Here’s an actual conversation I had with a receptionist. Me: “My friend is extremely sick and we need to find Miss Clara (our homeroom teacher).” Receptionist: *stares* “What?! Children nowadays…so you just come in and say ‘My friend is extremely sick and we need to find Miss Clara’. No ‘good morning’ whatsoever?” Me: *what-the-fuck face* “Sorry, good morning.” And only then, while tsking at me, does the receptionist hand us a school leaving form. Receptionist: “Next time when you have a favour you must greet the person first…don't be so rude…” Another friend: “sorry!” Me: *stares at her like what dahell you aren’t my mom even if you are two years older than me…* “you didn't have to…” And it’s obvious that, just like the receptionist, this friend of mine is also caught the bug of obsession with formalities, and constantly wants to please people by being overly polite. Like, if you are being chased by a pervert are you gonna POLITELY BEG for help?
This reminds me of a story, Chekhov’s Death of a Civil Servant.
Some guy named Ivan is an over polite and aristocrat fearing pussy. He accidently sneezes on a superior’s head, and tries to apologise on many occasions. But the superior doesn't really care and has forgotten about the incident, and tells Ivan to stop apologising. Ivan imagines that the superior’s refusal to talk to him is because of his anger towards Ivan’s “disrespectful mistake”. And Ivan becomes a really annoying maggot, constantly trying to say sorry at the busiest of times. The superior chases Ivan away one day, and he becomes so scared of his superior’s anger that he dies of shock. And this is an example of how people are just too polite and try to talk too much. He could have just chosen to ignore the incident and feign ignorance. But alas, respect is Ivan’s honour and he had to give a sincere apology regardless. I think many people these days are like that. We apologise for the smallest of things that aren’t even wrongdoings, thus straining our vocal cords, using up precious body heat, and wasting our time.
Words, useless accessory words. Kimsuhanmu is another story that proves how inefficient we are with our constant desire to say the specifics, and appear polite.
There was once a man with a very long name called Kimsuhanmu keobugiwa durumi samcheongabja Dong Bang Sak Chichigapo Sarisarisaenta Woriwori Saepeurika Moodoosella gureumi heorikaein dambyeorak seosaengwonae goyangyi badookineun Doldolri. One day, he fell into a river, and a passer-by cried for help. What he said was: “Help!! Kimsuhanmu keobugiwa durumi samcheongabja Dong Bang Sak Chichigapo Sarisarisaenta Woriwori Saepeurika Moodoosella gureumi heorikaein dambyeorak seosaengwonae goyangyi badookineun Doldolri fell into the river!” And considering how long the name is and the passer-by’s idiotic anal-ness in using Kimsuhanmu’s full name, Kimsuhanmu drowned while he was crying for help. And so he died. As the passer-by thought it would honour Kimsuhanmu by referring to him with his colossal name. He could have said “SOMEONE fell into the river” instead. But he wouldn't. As if it was any more respect for his name legacy if the passer-by (indirectly) caused his death.
If people can just stop trying to be so polite and making so much small talk, so much more efficiency can be achieved. And as a benefit, less people die. An issue that occurs to me ever so often is the need to greet. “Say ‘hello uncle’ this guy that we will bypass later” my mom or my dad will tell me. And I’m sixteen, better know what’s good for me. Besides, considering I’m sixteen, I do have my own human right in who I want to interact with. I feel no emotional connection to this person, I have no logical reason to talk to him or even greet him, seems like a reasonable decision.
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