Positive or Negative? It's Volta's Job

What's in a name? I tried once to look behind my name. I found nothing but meaning - if meaning is something worth my thought after all. What's behind negativity? Ah, there, I guess, lies creativity.

I was moved when I read a comment on the timesofmalta.com blogs defining a contribution a friend of mine gave as negative - way too negative for the reader's liking. He - chauvinism of the undersigned permitted - argued that since education on this tiny happy little island of Malta is free then there shouldn't be any complaints from its users. And there again, the nail was hit bang on its head.

"You should be proud of receiving free education. No complaints are allowed". How many times have we heard this comment from our fellow citizens? Well, I do have some bad news: I am being trained to complain - all the time.

Imagine university as a big grooming house for dogs where rather than learning how to sit and do all the little tricks we learn how to complain, all the time. "No complaints allowed", this is the rule which I seek to break every single day of my existence.

Over the past weeks I have had the opportunity to discover Jacques Derrida, a philosopher who argued that the meaning of the concepts we apply is somewhat contaminated with the meaning of the opposites to that concept. Derrida was inspired by the Swiss linguist Saussure who argued that when I say "white", I also mean "black". May sound a bit abstract but let's put it to practice.

What shall we see behind negativity? Sadnesss, ingratitude or a thinking mind? I'd prefer to see the latter.

Negativity implies absence but it also implies a presence. It implies a presence of mind but an absence of the conditions for change. Thus, when we students are negative, we are showing we are grasping something in that labyrinth of ideas, exams books and - sooner or later - a condom machine - we are thinking.

But isn't University supposed to be a place for innovation, for ideas, for research? Indeed, but, is it serving its function? Is it making us students transform the negative intuitions we get into ideas? If the process were so efficient, then there wouldn't be a multitude of complaints as the general perception suggests but creative ideas. Thus, is there really a space for the thinking minds or a general hush up on Tal-Qroqq?

When I was still grappling with the impossibilities of language, I attached no meaning to my name. I called myself "Pettu", being somewhat similar to my official name and easier for me to pronounce. I then discovered that my name properly pronounced had a meaning - it showed identity, it declared to the rest of the world who I am.

Complaints have meaning. Let's care about them.

Matthew Mizzi is Development Officer of InSite, the student media organisation. www.insite.org.mt