FADE IN.
Act 1
INT - SLEEPING ROOM - DAY
Waking up, PETER checks time.
PETER (V.O.): I slept well, after a number of hectic days. Let me entertain some Quoran's curiosity.
Lying against the bed back, Peter grabs his phone and reads notifications.
PETER (V.O.) (Cont'd): What was the most incredible experience of my life?
Pausing.
PETER (V.O.) (Cont'd): It happened in 1981 when I found that I got a BA in Philosophy (Hons) (Lond) after 5 years of self-studies.
Pausing.
PETER (V.O.) (Cont'd): The structure of the course was a mystery to me initially. There was just one final degree exam - 8 papers on Philosophy.
Pausing.
PETER (V.O.) (Cont'd): As there weren't any exams in the interim, I had no idea if I had learned anything in my self-studies.
Pausing.
PETER (V.O.) (Cont'd): So, when I learned that I had passed the degree exam, had got my first university degree with honours, it was the most incredible experience in my life.
Pausing.
PETER (V.O.) (Cont'd): The degree was from London University, but I had never been to London then. And the external degree programme was incredibly cheap too.
Peter types his reply swiftly on the phone.
Act 2
INT - SLEEPING ROOM - CONTINUOUS
PETER (V.O.) (Cont'd): Looking back, not just getting the degree, but also the whole learning experience was incredible.
Recalling.
PETER (V.O.) (Cont'd): Initially, I'd no sense of direction. I read the Philosophy books that I could buy. I felt that I didn't learn anything in my Year 1.
Recalling.
PETER (V.O.) (Cont'd): From my Years 2-3, I focused on Logic and Methodology, Epistemology and Ethics. They're hard subjects, equipping me with the structural and critical thinking skills.
Recalling.
PETER (V.O.) (Cont'd): It was only in my Years 4-5 that I began studying Ancient and Modern Philosophies, and other thematic papers ie Political Philosophy and the Philosophy of Religion.
Recalling.
PETER (V.O.) (Cont'd): I also wrote a dissertation on Perception and Reality.
Recalling.
PETER (V.O.) (Cont'd): Before sitting the degree exam, I recognized that not only that I had accumulated knowledge, my philosophical knowledge had also grown exponentially.
Recalling.
PETER (V.O.) (Cont'd): The University's goal was to develop the students so that they didn't just learn from others' philosophical thinking, but should also develop their own.
Pausing.
PETER (V.O.) (Cont'd): Before I learned that I got my Philosophy degree, HKU had already admitted me to read law there.
Recalling.
PETER (V.O.)(Cont'd): At HKU, the only law subject I was anxious to learn was Jurisprudence, or Philosophy of Law. But it was a final year subject.
Recalling.
PETER (V.O.) (Cont'd): Then, I found the conventional law degree programme rather unbalanced. For example, Criminal Law was just one paper, but that could be the bread and butter of criminal lawyers throughout their career.
Recalling.
PETER (V.O.) (Cont'd): Looking back, the studying wasn't that hard as I had general knowledge of law in my previous 3-year Housing Management studies. I was taught by HKU law lecturers. But the peer pressure were great.
Recalling.
PETER (V.O.) (Cont'd): When I attended the Jurisprudence lectures in my final year, I was totally disillusioned. It was kindergarten stuff to me.
Recalling.
PETER (V.O.) (Cont'd): When I sat the Jurisprudence exam, I tried to be bold and included in my answers my own philosophical thinking.
Recalling.
PETER (V.O.) (Cont'd): I thought I deserved to get a distinction. But I was shocked to find that I only got a bare pass!
Act 3
INT. SLEEPING ROOM - DAY
Peter checks another new notification.
PETER (V.O.) (Cont'd): How many books/pages do I like to read in 2020? Do I think it is achievable?
Pausing.
PETER (V.O.) (Cont'd): I didn't even think about that when I was in my teens. And I didn't understand the difference between output and outcome.
Pausing.
PETER (V.O.) (Cont'd): The number of books/pages I read didn't mean anything if I didn't understand them. Just like my Year 1 in reading Philosophy.
Recalling.
PETER (V.O.) (Cont'd): I only learned how to learn when I investigated why my exam grades weren't as good as others, although I read books/pages.
Pausing.
PETER (V.O.) (Cont'd): Now, I appreciate more the accumulative and exponential power of knowledge. With a richer base of knowledge, I find it a lot easier to learn more.
Pausing.
PETER (V.O.) (Cont'd): While Quora's answer requests are pretty easy to answer, I try to include in my replies some simple but deep messages.
Peter types on his phone.
PETER (V.O.) (Cont'd): In the knowledge transfer process, I learn something too.
Pausing.
IPETER (V.O.): There's also a strange feeling. I feel getting richer, intellectually speaking.
Peter lies down in bed again.
FADE OUT.
THE END
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