This semester, I’m going to focus this blog on challenging the way we think – be that in how we label, things we assume to be true, or just perspectives we may not have considered.
Last semester I blogged about existentialism, which I really liked, but it was pretty limiting. I’m hoping that by opening the topic up a little I can explore some things I was constricted with before.
This week though, since it’s the first post, I’m just going to give you some examples of where I’m going with this, because I’m sure some of you aren’t too clear on that right now.
1. We’re taught that a happy, successful life proceeds as follows: Do well in grade school, go to college, get a degree (maybe more than one), get a job, get married have kid(s), and raise them to do the same. Have you ever considered if there are other good, viable options?
2. We label literally everything. Friends or Best Friends? A fling or a relationship? Is it a date or are we just hanging out? Hipster or unique? A good person or a bad person? But why do we feel the need to do this?
3. Speaking of labels, who ever got to decide what was moral and what wasn’t, or what made a person good or bad? Let’s consider this a little, why does following the rules make someone a “better” person than someone who doesn’t?
4. Now we’re going to get deep – what’s the meaning of life? Does life have meaning? There’s a lot of different theories on this – most of you probably have some concept of purpose or meaning, but sometimes it’s good to revisit this question. I know my answer tends to change over time.
Essentially, I’m just going to be giving you all some food for thought.
Hopefully you end up getting something out of this – if you have any suggestions/questions, please please please just post them. I’d love to hear what you guys have to say/anything YOU think more people should be exposed to/think about.
I really like some of the points you plan to bring up, specifically number 3: I think there is an endless amount of historical and modern evidence that rule-breakers can often be the most successful or enlightening individuals (whether it’s for good or bad reasons). If no one broke the rules, how would we have things like investigative journalism, civil rights, or a democratic government?
Honestly, I think this is so cool. Since coming to college, the questions you posed are ones that have been bothering me a lot too. I’ve been trying to wrap my head around the ideas of what is considered the correct, moral way for us to live, and I find it more and more difficult every day.
I think it’s human nature to want to categorize things and resist change. (I mean, how many people literally go crazy if Facebook changes their layout). I think this is a big contributing factor to our inability to shed labels and deem certain behavior the right way to go. We’ve had these preconceived notions (like a girl who sleeps with a lot of people is a slut or a whore, rather than just someone who has sex – although thankfully not everyone thinks like this) for such a long time throughout our culture, that I feel like everyone is afraid to admit that maybe there isn’t a right way to lead your life. I think it’s almost unnerving for some people – to realize that what you thought was true may not be right.
I like this idea of getting into labels. You’re right that we label everything (often to extremes): “best” “good/bad,” etc. Why do we do this? Do we feel a need to compartmentalize things? ….
This sounds so interesting!! I love talking about this stuff and I love hearing what other people have to say about these topics, probably because while, yes, I have my opinions on all of them, they aren’t fully developed, they’re subject to change, so by hearing what others thing actually helps me to further solidify what I believe.
Quick note on the meaning of life- last year, my final English project was to present the meaning of life, and it was a totally cool experience seeing what people did because we not only had free rein in terms of WHAT we presented, but also in HOW we presented. Some people did power points, some filled a shoebox with trinkets, some people just spoke- it was really cool and actually kind of humbling. I was in class with these people for a whole year, some of them I’ve known since elementary school, and yet I didn’t know how deep their thoughts were on the subject! It was really neat and I’m excited to see what you have in store!