Hello uniformity. Why are you so beautiful?

I snapped photos of flowers this past summer (see below). Photos that I now recognise have one thing in common: uniformity. Flowers within my images tend to repeat. Where there appears to be one flower, another grows. But what did I find so attractive about this sameness? Why did I find this invariability, stability, homogeneity, consistency and conformity beautiful? Do these images symbolise the status quo? Is beauty in the eye of the beholder or in the "eye of society"? 

McGill Dances for Cancer Research Lipdub

See, scholars like to have fun too. Really.

ranking the system

School rankings tell the public what schools offer the "best": programs, teaching staff, scholars, researchers and so on. 

Courtesy of Clker.com 

I find it amusing that we (society) depend upon these rankings to tell us that we are getting a good education. But just because a ranking tells us that the education we are receiving is good, does not necessarily mean it is good. After all, education is a commodity and rankings are simply another way to convince consumers to buy a specified consumer product. 

Education is a unique process; one where the learner plays a critical role in what is learned and how (if at all) they engage in the learning. Therefore, I would argue that rankings in no way translate into learners receiving the best education. Rather a student may be delivered what is ranked the best education, but this education may not be what is best for the learner.