Me and homework in the same sentence ?*
Long ago ( even before the hippies ) Noam Chomsky** declared war against the behaviorists ( those who’d tell you who you should be and what you should do ) saying all humans are born with perfect human skills ( like the ability to speak ), so they don’t need to be taught ( Chomsky used the term activate instead ). Additionally he created the term I-Language, meaning every individual has got his/ her very own language ( impossible to teach such a language anyway ).
A few years ago i found myself studying at an institute, which was run by a Chomsky- fueled professor, who had come straight from the UC Los Angeles to vienna and who was a free-minded funny hippie person himself.
I hadn ́t heard about the UCLA before and I knew Chomsky only from owners of cafenions on the greek island of Ikaria back in the 90s, who all seemed to read his books ( the communists were exiled to live there in civil war times, obviously they were quite influential ). But what I heard and saw during these lectures was all inspiring, or even beyond that.
That was the time I started doing my homework. I hadn’t done my homework during high school times, but now I did it with passion. Doing the homework was more exiting than going to a cafe and meeting friends. Imagine this ! More freedom, more fun.
And there is a homework in the homework. Stay free, it says.
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*quote by scarlett johansson (percy) in the movie „Lovesong for Bobby Long“ 2005 :: young rebel girl ends up living in the same house with a former professor of literature and his former assistant ::
** the king and queen of modern linguistic
filmstill from „lovesong for bobby long“ (c) 2011