May 22, 2008
Wide AND Deep
That was the main topic of discussion with my brother while doing our nightly chore, washing the dishes. It started out earlier that day at school as a mini debate between him and his ever egoistic English teacher (lets call him EET) during MUET lessons. EET asked for a presentation topic which Deep AND Wide in content. My brother argued that you can have Deep OR Wide, while taking a microscope function as a fine example (will elaborate on this later). At first I thought that it was possible to have Deep AND Wide topic, since the deepest oceanic trench is after all located at the pacific ocean the largest (also the widest) ocean body on earth. Then he explained that he wasn’t talking about geographic formations but more emphasis on content. Personally i think that talking about the Mariana Trench makes a good double whammy.
And then, I began to see his argument, with very valid points. Observe…
The image above (A) is that of a cell taken with an electron microscope at magnification X 6000. Lets call this Wide, since that it covers everything of a cell in a very general content as there are lack of details at such low magnification.
Then things start to get a little more specific.
The Image above (B) is taken from the same cell but at magnification X 21000 (more then 3 times the original) at the selected area of (A) note the white box. The individual sub cell structures are much more defined and detailed as compared to the first picture. This is called Deep. When a topic has lots of detail, it has depth.
Bravo for figuring that out at the spur of the moment in front of EET. It took me a while to digest the microscope terminology. So, EET having silenced momentarily with that explanation, gave the worst remark any academic professionals could ever give "microscope is man made, people is god made". I was like WTF!!?
No wonder Malaysian teachers are not regarded as academic professionals but the lame ass cikgu title. If I were there and then, I would have retorted "English language is man made too, henceforth the Width of the topic is limited to mortal creations" or if words fails me, I’ll just slap him silly with a bible until he passes out from the abuse or I passes out from exhaustion.
Now, back to the topic on Width AND Depth of topics and discussions. Yes, it is possible to have a topic which is both Wide AND Depth. (I’m not saying that EET is completely right. EET is just a nincompoop who can’t even teach and resorted to religion to save his sorry ass.) Listen to grandma talk about her life and she’ll talk and talk and talk and talk with no end. Is the topic Wide? yes it is, 80 years of experience is a wide topic to cover. Is the topic Deep? yes it is, when grandma recalls a favorite part, she’ll go into nitty gritty detail of the event.
Then at the end of the day you’ll feel that your brain is numb and grandma has lost her voice.
That is one very very bad way of cramming a very Wide AND Deep topic. Instead use a book (not for slapping). Wide areas of discussion are also categorized as summary or conclusion (normally used at the end of discussion). And then details are divided into chapters. So you’ll have:
Book Title: Grandma, My Life
Introduction: Who is Grandma (summary)
Chapter One: Year 1 - 6 (early childhood)
Chapter Two: Year 6 - 12 (late childhood)
Chapter Three: Year 12 - 14 (short teenage years)
Chapter Four: Year 15 (got married)
Chapter Five: Year 15.8 (first child)
Chapter Six: Year 16 - 26 (many more children)
Chapter Seven: Year 26 - 31 (Japanese Occupation)
Chapter Eight: Year 31 - 41 (Guai-lo came back)
Chapter Nine: Year 42 (Independence)
Chapter 10: Year 43 (First child got married)
Chapter 11: Year 43.8 (First grandchild)
Chapter 12: Year 44 - 55 (many more grandchild)
Chapter 13: Year 55 - 80 (many stuff happened but may not be in detail)
Conclusion (Summary)
So there you go, a comprehensive story of grandma’s life, a very Wide AND Deep topic.
