I've stumbled into my first significant disagreement with an instructor: a memo assignment pertaining to California law about negligent infliction of emotional distress.

I was born with a gene that gave me a low threshold of pain for illogical reasoning. It gets in my brain and makes me crazy, and I cannot let it go until I conclusively win or lose. I almost don't care which: while it's nice to be right, it's the ambiguity that drives me nuts, and it's the certainty I want, not the affirmation that I was on the right side.

Generally this has been a positive in my career, but not always. Certainly there are plenty of times I wish I could've said "whatever" and moved on (and probably should have) Over time I've learned more about how to present ideas with tact and clarity. Also the importance of picking your battles.

In this dispute, I'm quite sure I'm on the right side. Other students agree with me, but -- the professor and the teaching assistant do not. On some level I feel I should drop it. Yet it's a non-trivial issue affecting everyone who takes the course. Hard to know what to do.

23 Oct 04