Our enemy is thoughtlessness.
My favorite Ted-talk is called Philosophy in prison by Damon Horowitz, who is a professor that teaches the convicts in prisons philosophy. He is one of my favorite presenters on Ted-talk because he explores humanity in a way that is so familiar with the process to grasp the beating hearts hidden within people’s bodies. By introducing the audience about his student, Tony, who was sentenced for murder and incarcerated within prison, he eventually demonstrates the ideal of philosophy that reveals the fundamental mechanism of how philosophy works.
When we think about philosophy, actually most of us, always make it so hard to interpret the term itself. Why do we fear philosophy? Why do we fear this term? Why does the term philosophy make you feel it is something so sophisticated and difficult to understand? Where does this misconception come from? Simply because you have never learned or explored within the kingdom of philosophy. We build the boundaries around us, so we are not able to see all the possibilities in the world. But this boundary is semi-permeable. We still have sensors. We know facts, we know the mainstream, we know how to live with smart brains. Undoubtedly, Horowitz, is the man who stands at the edge of the boundaries we create for ourselves, and he implements a gun that shoots directly at the target- the heart of the audience. He knows how to break down the boundaries of humanity.
We all know that the issue of teenage violence is what threatens and damages our community. And this is a commonplace we all choose to accept and agree to be able to see. We know such an issue. Horowitz uses this topic of little Tony to make us develop a sensor to sense this fact, and later on we start wanting to hear what is Tony’s story. We open our heart to listen to him because we do care about what happens to Toni. How can a four minutes talk introduce the whole ideal of philosophy? How does Tony’s story relate to philosophy? All these wondering are drawn upon his magic. Gun control is also a serious issue now appearing in our society. Horowitz has mastered how to grasp the audience’s attention.
Immediately followed by the story of Tony, he starts connecting Tony’s life of thinking with the insight of philosophy. The philosophy is the beginning to wonder. One part of our humanity is that we tend to follow others blindly without ever doubting or questioning everything in life. We never take anything into consideration if it is not directly connected to us. However, we neglect the fact that everything is connected to us somehow. What is philosophy then? Horowitz says, Let’s do this!
Within a few of the most significant ideals from influential philosophers, Horowitz demonstrates what philosophy is. His words are powerful, his style is both serious and numerous, and most importantly, he knows how to persuade the audience within 4 minutes to introduce them with something they might have developed fear before. The story of a boy incarcerated because of murder is linked to our ethical understanding about the standard in the society. The story of a boy realizing his problem to his identity that will be stamped with criminal drastically links our pathos to his future. The story of how this boy named Tony reveals the fundamental truth of what is wrong and what is going on is a direct reflection of the logos of philosophy: this is what philosophy simply does- we examine, we explicate, we think.
Yes, our enemy is thoughtlessness. Yes, we are here to think. Yes, Tony is in prison but his mind is free.
I think I have heard this Ted Talk before, and your blog entry was a nice refresher of it. The idea of teaching philosophy to inmates is so logical, yet so under appreciated. If prisoners can’t understand what is right and wrong in their actions, how can they possibly improve when they leave the slammer.
I agree with your perception of creating our own boundaries. When it comes down to it, we are the only ones preventing ourselves from growth and prosperity. If one does not put themselves out there, they will never achieve what they wish to achieve. This relates back to your whole theme of feminism as well. Yes, women do generally have less opportunities than males (wage gap, expected to care for the children, etc.), however a lot of times the opportunities for women are limited by their own personal actions. If a woman wants something, she needs to fight for it no matter how scary the situation is. So, although boundaries can be important, we must pick and choose in ways that will allow for ultimate success.
At one point, I used to think very little of incarceration and thought that it was such a trivial process. I came to realize that from a legal standpoint, there are so many things that can go wrong. Your blog introduced me to a whole new aspect, the philosophy. It definitely made me think and I can definitely see why you really enjoyed this TedTalk.