I think I could live in a cabin like Thoreau for awhile but eventually I think I would get sick of it. I am taking the challenge and have found that I do need technology for work and such. I am vice-president for one of the clubs I am in and I had to break the rules and make a few phone calls regarding a club event. I also found myself having to send emails. The reason I am bringing this up is because I feel that the only reason we are so obsessed with technology and everything is because we have to use it to communicate to people around us to set up events and things to do. You socialize to tell each other when you are going to dinner, what is going on the weekend, everything involves technology in a way. Its a way to communicate to each other without being in the same room. We are not used to going out and finding someone when we need to talk to them. That is why I feel like I could go without technology if I was in a cabin like Thoreau was because don't think it is technology that is distracting, it is the people that are behind the technology that matter to us. I really feel like going out to a cabin so you can "live deliberately" is not such a crazy idea. You might find out a lot about yourself that you didn't know about yourself. You may in a sense "find yourself" while you are out there. You might also discover what you take for granted, because when you realize that you can't or don't have something you discover its real value to yourself. I have discovered that I take the ability to talk to people back home and off campus for granted. I never realized what a privilege it is to talk to mom, since I have not talked to her in awhile. I find it really inspiring that Thoreau is so sure as what he wants. He wants "to drive life into a corner",that's a pretty strong statement. However I feel like he took the simplify paragraph to the extreme I like to eat three meals a day and don't think it is complicating my life.
As for Emerson I really like a lot of what he has to say. The sentence in his passage that stuck out to me was the "It is easy in the world to live after the world's opinion; it is easy in solitude to live after our own; but the great man is he who in the midst of the crowd keeps with perfect sweetness the independence of solitude..." I find this very interesting. I hope that in every aspect of my life I make every attempt of staying true to myself.
The quote from Emerson in the movie clip from Dead Poet's Society is a powerful quote. What will my verse be? I don't yet know but I have some ideas of what I would like to contribute to the world. I want to make a difference. I want to make my time here on earth worth while, not only for myself but others around me. I hope to be a friend to everyone, put my footprint on the world. I just don't want to be another set of bones and organs taking up space, I want to be of use and make an impact on people.
I definitely agree with you when you say that we take things for granted. There are a lot of people that need to step back and go into the wilderness in order to realize what they take for granted. However, I realize that there are SO MANY things in life that I should be thankful for, and I am. There are so many things that we do not need in life that we are handed and we think that we need in order to survive. I think this goes back to the plentitude that we discussed in class, we never have enough.
ReplyDeleteI like that you bring up the true self. It seems like getting back to nature and where it all really began brings out ones true self. Technology is in a way stealing our individuality; all of our lives centered around the things that tell us when to do something, what is the current trend, etc. If our generation was to have grown up without these items it seems that it would be easier to get to know the true self. No one would be able to hide behind text messages and social networking sites, instead interactions would be face-to-face and in a sense more sincere..
ReplyDeleteI have long been torn between the desire to enjoy the world and the desire to improve it. I think that we as humans see ourselves as more worthy if we add back to the world we live in. It is fulfilling, it gives us purpose. However, is it possible that things as instinctual as volunteer service as charity are ingrained in our minds by other people. Why do we volunteer our service and donate to charities? In order to make other people's lives more enjoyable. If all people's times be better spent trying to make their own lives more enjoyable would be all be generally more well off or is this method more efficient? I'm not making this personal, I do find my time well spent helping others but I find it important to be content with myself all the while.
ReplyDeleteI do like the point you made about the reasons behind why we find technology so important. Obviously we could all do without technology but not many will because they need to keep up with everybody else who isn't going to stop either. Is it really worth spending so much effort trying to keep up?
I think technology is a key part of everyone's lives and living without it wouldn't be impossible but a work in progress. Due to the fact that most of us grew up with technology it would be hard to just take that away and be fine with it. We are so dependent on technology that some of us can't even do the challenge.
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