Meeting Pi

To begin my journey, I have started with the fictional book, Life of Pi. Typically, I have my doubts about the entire lives of fictional characters. In middle school, I read David Copperfield for Battle of the Books. It was Dickens and let me tell you, Sir Copperfield was not the most interesting of characters in my opinion. That being said, I really rather like Pi and his peculiarities in how he views the world. Even the name Pi and how it came to be speaks to that geeky math part of me. I've only read up through Chapter 17, but I like the philosophical themes in the book.

Two big themes/statements that I have found applicable to life:

The need to establish dominance and control in a given situation (Chapter 13). If you've ever stood in front of a middle school classroom (or probably any classroom for that matter), you would understand this statement. In Pi's example, it is in the context of a lion tamer who needs to establish dominance in order to survive. I have found that the same is true in the classroom. If there's a day you don't start out strong, the kids pick up on that and they get you. Aside from the classroom, I think this can be applied to a broader perspective in education in terms of students. When you're learning a new skill, it's important to establish dominance in the early stages. What is called "having a strong foundation" actually means having the awareness and confidence to master the specific skill challenge. I read an article today that stated reading support is best when given early in development or much later. To me, this is probably because if you start early, you're still establishing the relationship of dominance so it can become part of your nature, but if you're late on the upstart, you need to wait until you've gained enough experience and insight to have learned the confidence.

The interplay between reason, knowledge, and religion. Pi retains a profound respect for different schools of thought. He doesn't find that reason and knowledge inhibit his spirituality, rather the atheist scientists are just another voice to be heard. This openness also allows him to find beauty and comfort in Christianity, despite his upbringing as a Hindu. The story of his meeting Jesus Christ is really fascinating, from the initial disdain to the final fascination and love that he comes to understand, and yet he doesn't lose himself, only discovers new truth and information. Some people argue that there is no worth in philosophical questions, seeking out the divine, or finding the truth, but I think there is an error in this negative view. We may not be able to arrive at "facts," but life is much more than that--it's also emotion, intuition, and hopefully wisdom.

So far, I like where Pi is going.