I think
that Monday’s class was one of the best classes we've had this semester. I was
having a little trouble understanding the readings before going to class, but
both groups did a terrific job of translating the material. Both groups did a
really good job at getting the class involved especially the second group with
the sheets of paper they handed out at the beginning.
One of
the main points brought up during the first half of class was “the herd”.
During the discussion I was thinking of situations in my own life that involved
the herd. And I must admit that I cannot recall a time in my life that I was
not part of some kind of herd. Growing up I was involved in a lot of activities
and constantly looking for more activities to participate in, I was not alone
in this you see because there where others who did this as well. That is an
example of being part of a herd and accepting it. Another occurrence involved
participating in an internship in Disney World. A lot of my friends, people in
my neighborhood and school were opposed of the idea of someone going off on
their own. A lot of those people “members of the herd” felt that everything
they needed was already there and therefore objected to going away to try
something different. Though I was adamant about trying something new I was
forced to leave the herd. Upon doing so I found myself in a new herd of people
who were like me and wanted to try different experiences. What I am trying to
say is that we are always part of a herd. Though we may sometimes think we are
leaving it and going off on our own we are still part of some sort of herd.
Another
thing that was mentioned during the first group was would we rather follow
science or religion? My response to this was that I would rather follow
religion because I feel that it has good moral principles that improve our
lives. Though science teaches us why things are and gives us explanations about
events in our lives, I don’t think it teaches us how to live happy lives and be
kind to one another. To sum up my thought on the subject I would just like to
say that if there is anything we can take from all the religions in the world
it is to be kind to one another, science on the other hand teaches us survival
of the fittest.
In the
second reading “truth” played a big part. The way that I define truth is that
it is something that we passionately believe to be just. I think that most of
us share the same observational truths, and what I mean by this is that if someone
is wearing a blue shirt that a group of individuals would be able to observe
that that shirt is truly blue. But I think most people’s truths differ in terms
of what we passionately believe in. For example someone who is confused with
their gender has different truths that someone who is not. I was born a male
and I truly believe that I am a male, and I’m sure everyone would believe that
to be true as well. But what of the person who was born in a male’s body but
truly believes that they are a female. Who are we to say that that person is
wrong and that they truly are a male? Nietzsche says “There are many kinds of
eyes. Even the sphinx has eyes – and consequently there is no truth”. I think
that by saying there is no truth our beliefs are being stripped away from us. I
believe that a life without truth is a life without meaning. Life is full of
different events, why can’t it be full of different truths as well?
Most of humanity has a tendency to move towards a certain group or herd since we are very social as a species it would make sense that we would want to try to belong to a certain group. This does leave us heavily influenced by what the group does and quells individuality. Like you said even when we move away from "the herd" we become part of another type of group that draws themselves away from the typical people of society. So regardless no matter what we might do we will belong to a certain group of people even if we might not associate with them we will still have the same ideas so in a sense that would still be being a part of that group.
ReplyDeleteReligion does to a point give people a moral basis for their lives, but at the same time would cause us to be a part of a group that is usually more close minded to certain ideals. Morality is something that people set for themselves not what other people would want us to follow. Many people usually get their morals from religion, but there are plenty of non religious people that are still good to others because they realize that one of the only ways we can be happy is if everyone actually appreciates you as a nice person.