Experiment: Word replacement and the altering of meaning.
Why it is better to be a duck at University.
I
There is a common assumption in the University that being a student is better than being a duck. This assumption mainly lies in the conception that ducks are not intelligent and therefore inferior to students. Furthermore, studying and being educated is a benefit (even though not studying and not being educated is not harm). I wish to argue that the underlying assumption is erroneous. Being a student rather than a duck in the University is not a benefit but always a harm. Many will find this as an absurd claim and will wish to dismiss it. For this reason, I will defend this claim.
II
As a matter of empirical fact, bad things happen to all of us. No student life is without a hardship. It is easy to think of hundredths of students who strive to study hard, but still cannot achieve a distinction mark
Some of us are lucky enough, but most of us nonetheless suffer because of that at some stage during our student lives. Sometimes the suffering is devastating, even if we have passed almost all our modules. Some are condemned by nature to fail. We all face failure. We infrequently contemplate the harms that await any new enrolled student: stress, disappointment, homesick, depression, addictions (e.g. alcohol, drugs), bullying, financial hardships and even death (suicide). For any given student we cannot predict what form these harms will take or how severe they will be, but we can be sure that at least some of them will occur. Almost none of this befalls the ducks. The ducks around the university will only face pain from other ducks or geese ‘bullying’. They have no stress, no depression, no addictions, no financial hardships and no suicides.
Of course not only bad things but also good things happen only to those who are student at York. Joys and satisfaction can be had only by students. Thus, the cheerful will say, we must increase the pleasures of studying against the evils. As long as the former outweigh the latter, student life is better than a duck life.
Why it is better to be a duck at University.
I
There is a common assumption in the University that being a student is better than being a duck. This assumption mainly lies in the conception that ducks are not intelligent and therefore inferior to students. Furthermore, studying and being educated is a benefit (even though not studying and not being educated is not harm). I wish to argue that the underlying assumption is erroneous. Being a student rather than a duck in the University is not a benefit but always a harm. Many will find this as an absurd claim and will wish to dismiss it. For this reason, I will defend this claim.
II
As a matter of empirical fact, bad things happen to all of us. No student life is without a hardship. It is easy to think of hundredths of students who strive to study hard, but still cannot achieve a distinction mark
Some of us are lucky enough, but most of us nonetheless suffer because of that at some stage during our student lives. Sometimes the suffering is devastating, even if we have passed almost all our modules. Some are condemned by nature to fail. We all face failure. We infrequently contemplate the harms that await any new enrolled student: stress, disappointment, homesick, depression, addictions (e.g. alcohol, drugs), bullying, financial hardships and even death (suicide). For any given student we cannot predict what form these harms will take or how severe they will be, but we can be sure that at least some of them will occur. Almost none of this befalls the ducks. The ducks around the university will only face pain from other ducks or geese ‘bullying’. They have no stress, no depression, no addictions, no financial hardships and no suicides.
Of course not only bad things but also good things happen only to those who are student at York. Joys and satisfaction can be had only by students. Thus, the cheerful will say, we must increase the pleasures of studying against the evils. As long as the former outweigh the latter, student life is better than a duck life.
