Cause and effect have an interesting dance. Lots of things are random dance partners. Tyler Vigen has a fun website on Spurious Correlations. One shows how the number of people who drowned by falling into a pool is correlated with the number of films Nicolas Cage appeared in. A lot of people don't run because they get injured. Because it hurts. Because they are 'not natural runners'. Not completely spurious, but the running isn't causing the injury. It is the sitting. It is the inactivity and neglect, then followed by use which is the problem. Starting is hard, but is very disconnected from the activity once it becomes normal.
I went to my first formal Xhosa lesson today. It was pretty dry stuff despite a very lively, and entertaining teacher, kindly giving of her time. I then had to start my (still to finish) homework which feels very much like a flashback to school days. It isn't all that fun. It is like the first few runs when slowly starting to get moving. The muscles don't work.
The fun bit of the language is singing songs with the kids, or banter that happens because of a connection. None of that happens without a little bit of effort. A little discomfort. A little homework. We don't learn purely by falling into knowledge.
No comments:
Post a Comment