August 24, 2007
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Wonder Boy
Hong Kong Baptist University has enrolled a 9 year-old boy in Mathematics Department. This boy has achieved 2A1B in GCSE. He is very good at mathematics. I do not question the academic talent of this boy. But I seriously doubt the development of social affectiveness of this boy and the ground of HKBU.
Learning relies on two dimensions. First, you demand yourself to excel. This is a kind of internal process of a person. Some people only leave everything as it is and do not ask for something better. These people cannot have good achievement not only in academic areas but also in society. Second, you need to have dialogical interaction with other people. This is important. When you read a book, you are actually reading the messages which the author would like to TELL you. It is a kind of collective transmission of knowledge. When you commute with other people your thoughts, you will find the difference between the understanding and the ideas. Then you will make change of your own understanding and ideas. This is learning. Therefore, dialogical interaction is very important if one would like to pursue the next level of learning.
When I watched the news yesterday, I found that this 9 year-old boy was really a boy. He behaved like a small boy in front of all those microphones of reporters. He spoke like a small boy in front of the television screen. I believed that he was very very good in mathematics but he was still a small boy. He said he liked playing with his classmates from the kindergarten. I wonder how he would not be hurt when he met other students in the university. The world of teenagers and adults is definitely too fierce for him. He is not spoilt, fortunately. But he will be ruined easily. I really worry about this boy. I wish he will not be the sacrifice of the outstanding propaganda of HKBU.
