Learning Log

Nov. 6th, 2025: So apprently in young adulthood we still have a sort of egocentrism - different from the kind we have when we are 4 years old. One of the things egocentrism can cause is "fables," or false beliefs. These can look like the belief that you are supposed to live a unique or heroic life, or even die a tragic, early death. I think I suffer from the latter.

Nov. 4th, 2025: Been slacking on these. Somehow I brought in the stupid 2004 Dogeball movie to a discussion on "The Merchant of Venice" and the 2004 Al Pachino adaptation.

Oct. 29th, 2025: Dialectic thinking is the ability to combine contradictory elements into a comprehensive whole. College is worth the degree when you engage with classes that foster growth and dialectic thinking. Makes me glad I get to do English because I care less about my GPA in those classes and more about engaging with the material. Also they're just fun. Learned from my Lifespan Psyc Class.

Oct. 29th, 2025: Something fun I'm working on is an essay combining what I've learned from The Gift so far and my reading of The Merchant of Venice for my Shakespeare class. I'm arguing that Antonio, Bassanio, and Portia engage in the gift economy and Shylock rejects it. Having a lot of fun writing this one.

Oct. 23th, 2025: Did tinikling today for the first time with sticks. Well I've done it before, but not a memorized dance. I learned that it is very difficult but it does not hurt as much as you may think when the sticks bite your ankles.

Oct. 22th, 2025: Western understanding of the five love languages is a LIE. And self-esteem. All WRONG WRONG WRONG. Boooo Chapman. Booooo Branden.

Oct. 22th, 2025: Vocab from Hannah who is reading The Coquette. A coxcomb is a fool or superficial pretender. A coquette is a flirt!

Oct. 20th, 2025: Finished two chapters of The Gift by Lewis Hyde. Chapter 1 discusses the the gift is consummed - how it does not create a profit but its worth comes from it being consumed. Chapter 2 is about how the movement of the gift nourishes things outside of the ego.

Oct. 20th, 2025: Learned about Self-Expansion Theory and how it relates to relationships. I think I'm in a self-expansion phase myself - trying new things, meeting new people, looking for new jobs. But also I have some moments of self-inegration: honing into what I like and refining my tastes and whatnot. Learned from my PSYC Personality class.

Oct. 18th, 2025: Watched a performance of Cymbeline yesterday, but it was a Western. But why a Western? Going to try to write a reponse paper for this but I don't know why its a western..

Oct. 16th, 2025: More economy stuff. I'm reading The Gift by Lewis Hyde. He explains that in Indian cultures, the gift was circulated always moved. The opposite of the Indian gift giver would be "the white man keeper" (aka, the capitalist), who wishes to take things out of circulation for keeping or production.

Oct. 16th, 2025: In early economies, money wasn't the main form of exchange. Instead, it was trust. At the end of the 1700s, however, this trust became commodified and stored into banks. The abstract idea of "trust" turned into this sort of physical object - money. Learned from ENG Shakespeare class.

Oct. 15th, 2025: People can live in either an "ecosystem" or an "egosystem" (or either or both). People with an ecosystem viewpoint see relationships as collaborative and interdependent. Those in an egosystem live focused on themselves, and view relationships as competition. Learned from PSYC Personality class.