Interpretation Revisited

The following is a post out of WEBCT Discussion Board that was a reply to Dr. George's question of Interpretation:

The gift of education is and will always be a lesson in humility for me. The story of my arrival at this stage of education, might give hope to those who were scalded by the unforgiving tongues of early school educators. Forced to languish in the basements of the Singapore education system, I had to overcome my status as a ‘Normal’ stream student and had to challenge the blind interpretations that ‘Normal’ students were considered ‘slow’, ‘immature’ and for lack of an easier-to-use word – ‘stupid’.

Starting at the age of nine in Singapore, periodical test scores determined that I was not eligible for the ‘gifted’ program, or interpreted in another way, not destined to join the ranks of doctors, lawyers and businessmen. Ramifications for not reaching that level would see relatives and ‘loved ones’ chastise you for being so dumb. Moments of self-doubt grew common as my parents were doing their part to spur me on. Whenever I failed Mandarin, my mother would whip me with a cane. It was a festering disease – the more I got caned for failing, the more I interpreted my future to be as pain as the sores that lined my butt.

Many teachers saw and interpreted my classmates as ‘un-teachable’. Ironically, their attitude or at least what my classmates interpreted of ourselves came from these teachers as the word ‘hopeless’ or ‘stupid’ was frequently used. It was a common interpretation that my classmates were destined to ‘work with our hands’ not with our minds. I even knew of a girl I had a crush on, to have said to me that her future husband must have a university degree. At that time, it was a blunt interpretation that I was out of the running. I had a disastrous time in school and it changed my interpretation of grades and woman, I interpreted that I do not have natural intelligence and handsomeness. And that I had to have them replaced by being overly hardworking and passionately committed.

The film “I Not Stupid” in Singapore captured the plight of some of these students.

The term ‘interpretation’ like many terms used in the English language can simply be fathomed or rescued with other similar words such as ‘explanation’ or ‘perspective’. But in the philosophical and psychoanalytical level, it is an aspect of logic and is used in the assignment of meaning and value that humans place on objects. It gained notoriety from Freud’s “Interpretation of Dreams” from which the unconscious is explored extensively. Therefore its complexity has to be derived through a keen consideration for what the word does not convey or its abject form. Thus, interpretation more often concentrates on what it is not and not what it is. It derives from what has already been experienced, not what could be experienced. It conveys variations of conceptualization unique to the receiver’s history, yet not often does it arrive exactly as the sender intended. It actively develops and is molded continuously; so as to achieve emotional fulfillment notably through seeking answers and creating questions. It resonates intrinsically not necessary to test for lies but rather as a tool to be used in the search for truth.