Arbitrary Constants

Hmm, actually i think arbituary constants are extremely lame, but they do exist in our life all the time... So what do i mean by these?

Exams are the prime examples.

I mean, nowadays, what actually "gauges" a person on his abilities? Exams rite? But isn't this very retarded? For example, in the recent Math test, Chongmin only got 25 (or was it 25.5?) and i got 27.5. On the other hand, people like Andy and Qihan got full marks. Honestly, does this indicate that i am better than Chongmin in math or that Qihan is better than me in math? Yet when people look at the result slips, they will think that Qihan is some math genius...zz

Exams aren't a retarded concept, cos they have the noble objective of testing how much a person knows. But i htink exams are retarded cos of the way people manipulate it. You want to do really well for an exam? Just memorise the format, memorise the texbook and spent a hell lot of time doing assessment books, practice papers etc. And you can defnitely beat someone who is infinitely better than you...

Arbitrary? Yes. Fair? No. So exams no longer sshow how good a person is actually. And even if you do well in exams, it does not necessarily mean that you are that proficient in the subject. Sighz... btu that's how the society works these days.

Tell me tell you another example of how retarded exams are. In sec 1, there was this compulsory Math selection test. And holy, i got in unintentionally. But after i went for a few trainings, i realised it's crap. Basically they don't really teach you about the fun stuff or further stimlate your interest. They just try to hardcore gear you for the Math Olympiad, by focusing on trick questions and concepts that "always come out" (from the words of KBH, the teacher)

That's why every year, the Math olympiad winners are just the hardcore math club members who focus on aceing the test. Do they really like it? i duno. Are they really math geniuses? dun think so. Will they contribute to Math in the future? u think leh...

Yet unfortunately, we just can't do away with these retarded arbitrary constants too. Cos we still ahve not truly devised a good and efficient way that can replace exams. Sighz

Sorry if i dun make sense