September 1st, 0312

[preanimator]

Returning to school is an interesting prospect, but I believe I have soured a bit on the concept this evening. If only the ignorant weren't so rampantly accepted - entrance exams for Hogwarts should be required, really, the way they do for Universities. Then, only the people who truly desired and could benefit from an education would be allowed. Perhaps something else could be arranged for those who did poorly on their exams. Everyone should be given the opportunity to better themselves, but I would rather they not get in the way of MY learning. There are no sacred places any more, I'm rapidly learning.

That being said, my summer went excellently, as my uncle Hans is, as ever, an enlightening and enlightened man. It's a shame he lives so far away, as I would visit him every holiday if I could. It would be nice to have someone to talk to about his work, but some things are just not meant to be, I guess.

Comments

[moveslikejaeger]

i bet more people would pass that exam than you think

[wwistful]

I'm sure you'll endure far worse than a slow learning curve in your lifetime, West.

[Mostly the swirlies this entry will earn you, but that goes without saying]

[preanimator]

I highly doubt that. Ignorance seems to be a communicable disease these days.

[preanimator]

I'm sure I will, as well. But it seemed a pertinent complaint at the time.

[moveslikejaeger]

i think you have the wrong definition of ignorance

[preanimator]

It's a metaphor, Jaeger. I suppose that's beyond your limited scope.

[moveslikejaeger]

sure you was saying that you could become uninformed by being in the same room as someone else who was already uninformed
of course what you meant was willful ignorance or the decision to remain uniformed despite information being clearly presented before you
however ignorance is the default state of a human being and is not quantifiable via testing as testing relies on prior education
entry exams for eleven year olds would result largely in only pureblood and a small number of halfblood wizards being accepted into hogwarts as they would be the only ones with an exposure to magic at the time of acceptance
what this would ultimately mean is that i would pass the test
and you probably would not

[wwistful]

Life is teeming with under-achievers with little aspiration, it's better if you adjust to it now.

[preanimator]

No, what I was saying was that acting stupid and uniformed might be an attractive prospect in certain social situations, and those without intellectual curiosity could influence others to display the same dull attitude towards the world at large.

And it would be ridiculous to base entrance exams on magical knowledge, why on earth would anyone do that? Such a test would be inherently unfair, of course - just because a person knows a skill doesn't make them intelligent. You're a fine example of that. Entrance exams should be based upon intelligence, and possibly personality inventories, to determine who has both the brains and drive to get full benefit from schooling. Unfortunately, I'm unfamiliar with such inventories, but I know Wechsler Intelligence Scale is a highly validated tool in measuring cognitive ability. I scored very highly on it myself. Something like that would be much more appropriate.

[preanimator]

If you're asking me to develop an indifferent attitude towards idiots, I'm afraid I'll have to decline, sir.

[wwistful]

If you insist. In any case, a school like Hogwarts isn't subject to entrance exams because a great deal of the students are far too young to have gathered a bare minimum of information.

That, coupled with the under educated muggleborns with no prior magical experience and the simple fact that there is no set standard of education for children under tweleve, would make an entrance exam a shambles.

Unless you meant in terms of literacy and numeracy, in which case it would seem that the wizarding world doesn't hold such skills in high regard.

[moveslikejaeger]

so you think its better to be a prick and have no friends than to sacrifice appearances for the sake of others good to know

because its a magical school? where students go to learn to control and dierect there inate ability to perform incredible feets of will that could otherwise become destructive if left unchecked? thats probably a good start why.

also intelligence comes in many forms, from social to creative to theoretical to applied, as well as in the form of common sense, wit, and resourcefulness. not to mention the various styles of learning which can include book learning such as yourself and hands on learning like me

but really were just arguing semantics and i know that no matter what i say your mind is not going change this is of course based on previous interaction observation and extrapolation, and through that i can also surmise that you will take my statement as a concession of stupidity and inability to form a reasonable argument when in fact it is merely a dismissal because honestly i have better things to do than sit around and argue with you over the state of my intelligence i know what i can do and i know what i cant do and that to me is more important than proving it to you

[preanimator]

Literacy and numeracy would be a good start, but I was thinking more of intelligence tests. Are you familiar with them? I don't know that wizards actually have them, but they test things like problem solving abilities, as opposed to knowledge of any particular subject. The ability to learn, in other words.

[preanimator]

Yes, and that's why you just spent four paragraphs try to show me up with your vocabulary, is it? If I was so insignificant and not worth your time, you would just ignore me completely.

There's a brilliant idea, WHY DON'T YOU DO THAT?

[doctorkishitani]

Hello West!

I'm glad you enjoyed your summer, but it is a shame that you can't talk to your uncle more often. Have you thought about owling him? I know that isn't really the same thing, but it does help.

[moveslikejaeger]

cuz watching you flip your dick is funny

and maybe youll get in through your thick skull that maybe i dont mean as much harm as you think i do in fact i love you o3o<3

[wwistful]

I've heard of them, but I'm not familiar with them. Obviously I didn't take them in school, so I've had no experience.

That would depend on what kind of tests they were, but I doubt our Headmaster would ever turn away a student because of their ability to learn.

Which of course, makes life difficult for the professors, but you learn to deal with what you're given.

[preanimator]

Owls sometimes go missing with him, or the letters. He's really a very busy man, though we do exchange correspondence on occasion.

[preanimator]

No, you don't, and I think it's disgusting that you'd make such a joke out of it.

[preanimator]

Maybe things should change, then, instead of everyone accepting that just because something's been done one way for a thousand years, that it should continue to be so. Or at least install some sort of University system for older students.

[moveslikejaeger]

nope i do i love you and your stupid smart guy ways they are very cute i think even if they are frustrating that is why i try to teach you how to be smarter socially

[preanimator]

You're contradicting yourself, you just said you thought it was funny to make me angry. That's counter-productive to teaching. You just enjoy making fun of me.

[moveslikejaeger]

no is just that both are true even tho they are contradictions! is like making fun of your brothers you love them but it is just so fun to give them a hard time

[preanimator]

I'm nothing like your brothers!

[moveslikejaeger]

it was meant in general sweety i know you arent your a smart guy like mister gil and mister tarvek who i also love like my brothers