Wednesday, September 12, 2007

Graduates

This blog is a space to talk about theories in our personal lives. To discuss how we see the world in terms that are more specific than what we see on tv and what we say in passing. I want this blog to a place to post ideas about our personal philosophies.

Erin made a good point the other day. This time in our lives is more important than people think. Poeple includes us, and the time is "after college".

I think for most of us, independence (real independence) is an idea that we only started considering in college, and has only really been a life experience for a little over two years.

This is significant. For our entire lives we've traveled in tracks of other ideologies and values. We've used other people's definitions by necessity and lack of alternatives. We still do this, but we no longer really have to. The great adolescent dream of being without boundaries and managers is finally upon us!

Of course, we don't embrace such freedom. Freedom of that kind is limiting and endangering. We still assume other people's definitions, have managers, follow paths. We've graduated from the world of enforced conformity and into the world of voluntary conformity.

However, as many of us have felt for a long time, while conformity is valuable and necessary, it too is dangerous. Thoughtless conformity leaves us vulnerable to thoughtful manipulation. The dangerous element of both freedom and conformity is thoughtlessness.

I don't think we talk about theory enough as a culture. We as youths have become independent in an environment that nutrures independence more than most in history thanks to the information highway. However, information is not thoughtfulness. Information is also generalities, summaries, assumptions, biases, prejudices. I'm not sure philosophy has ever been popular, but I think philosophy and abstract theory is important to make sense of complicated things. And people do talk about philosophy. They call it values, principles, morales, standards. Yet all too often these things are not upheld, or even understood by the people who propose them. Of all things, globalization requires principles, standards and values. Being responsible in an environment of kelidoscopic backgrounds and perspectives means that we understand our ideas beyond annecdotes and generalities. We can't simply be confident with decisions by following our social compass. We are too aware of our own fallability and the influence of our subjective past.

I think it's high time we talked about our personal philosophies. We're becoming whole people and represent a real and valuable world perspective. Let's talk about that perspective. Lets define the terms that we use that are ambiguous. Let discuss why we do the things we do. Let's talk about how we see the world.

7 comments:

Erin said...

Is this our manifesto?

Ev said...

So basically, this is our place to comment, embrace and vent about the world?

SnrIncognito said...

it's my explanation. we'll see how it works out. im hoping its not bitching, im hoping its a salon.

Anonymous said...

For hair.

Marinator said...

Ok as far as being a screenager, I've done my fair share of being unemployed and not doing anything all day except playing WOW and surfing the net. For the first month its fine, but then you notice that the lack of social interaction, face to face as opposed to screen to screen kindof sucks. In other words, I got lonely. Nothing will ever take the place of social interaction with friends and family. Not until we have brain plugs that perfectly copy real life. But that won't happen in our lifetimes.

Marinator said...

Whoops I left a comment for the wrong blog post. As far as real independance, I didn't know what to do after graduation, and guam. People kept on asking me what I would do so I just said 'grad school' as a cop-out answer without really thinking why I was going.
Then I started applying, then I got here. Now I'm here and saying whoa this is crazy hard. At least I don't have to make any more big decisions for another 5 years. :D

Stoodert said...

I forgot why we call this blog "infinite potatoes;"