Below is a quote from an article titled: "Philosophy is Back in Business", which was posted on Bloomberg Business*.
"When I say we need to return to a philosophical approach in relation to problem-solving, I mean that we need to broaden our understanding of problems by looking deeper at our own beliefs, values, ethics, and character, and then understand how they relate to those of others who share a stake in our problem-solving efforts. Needed: broader questions and goals." Looking deeper at our own beliefs, values, ethics and character is something that Americans as individuals and groups of people in power hardly do. Individuals are told to be their authentic selves while simultaneously and discretely being manipulated by those in power. By fashion and food industries, news channels and "science" journals. It isn't just magazines anymore folks, it's devises that make an appearance in our lives multiple times a day. Reader willing, they pump aggressive opinions into our heads, disguised as bubbly buzzfeeds and trendy articles... I mean here I am doing it to you now. However, what I have to say is a criticism of the jumbled and contradictory field of sources that we too easily resort to, and how we read the content within these sources. We all know that there are issues in our country and in our world. We are aware that our car produces carbon dioxide into the atmosphere; we are aware that factory farms are abusing animals; we are aware that we have hit a high in the number of shootings that have occurred in past years. In response to these issues, instead of critically thinking about our reactions of emotions and ideas, we resort to the swirl of media that surrounds us to fill our questions with appeasing and shallow answers. Our patience has run dry and we can't imagine having a question on or mind for more than a few minutes. We have gotten comfortably used to the term: "Just Google it!". No, don't Google it. Open your eyes to your surrounding community, see the issues that are happening right in front of you, and think about them. Yes, question things for so long that your brain begins to steam. If you can't answer it right away, it is most likely a topic that deserves attention and drawn out consideration. Don't wait for CNN to tell you the bad news that is happening in your backyard and what the government is going to do about it. It is okay to read up on topics of interest, but do so as an extension to your own thoughts, not a filler for them. This is not an attack on our society, I understand why we have evolved to live in this way. I empathize. I am living in this world too. The only advantage that I have is majoring in a field of study where I get graded on how well I understand peoples' questions and their proposed answers to those questions, and how I can logically do so myself. It's a skill that our word needs to get us out of these trenches that we believe we are stuck in. When in reality, our lack of reflection is the only thing deepening them. We have a fear of broad questions and goals. Doing so makes us vulnerable, unstable, insecure, but definitely not free. By forgetting to question, we are degrading and oppressing ourselves in the face of groups in power. As Diane Nash explained: "oppression does not work without the cooperation of the oppressed". Frankly stated, America's citizens are adamant followers for a country that prides itself on its freedom. Next time you feel passionate about an issue, (for me this is the criminal justice system), question why you are passionate, how your community is involved, and how it is affecting the rest of the world. We get to a certain age where we think we should somehow know the answer to everything, including the world's issues. Just because you have stopped questioning doesn't mean that you know everything. We are not omniscient. However, we are rational beings who obtain the skill to think deeply. Don't suppress this ability. Use it. "The things you are passionate about are not random, they are your calling" - Fabienne Fredrickson
* http://www.businessweek.com/bw/managing/content/jan2010/ca20100110_896657.htm
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Now that I have returned to America, things that I used to stress over are now insignificant. Moreover, things that I never noticed before I now take very seriously. My relationships have shifted as well. Many are weaker, and few are much more evolved and solidified. As I was in Japan I was branded with experiences that I can never scrape off. It has been a beautiful challenge to reintegrate as a changed person into a familiar place. I have worked to completely drop others expectations of me and even self-expectations regarding who I used to be previous to my departure. I am in a country that I was born and raised in, yet I feel like I was just born again. However chaotic, it is an extraordinary chaos that I wouldn't substitute for anything.
Some may call what I am experiencing "reverse culture shock", but this term implies that I am going through something unexpected and lacks emphasis on the individual. Replace culture with self and shock with realization, and the term begins to sound a bit more applicable. I am not shocked, but feel that I am finally in the whirlwind of change that I had been anticipating. It is not the differences in cultures that is creating this unique transition, rather it is the new me learning to function in a place where I am used to being the old me. Perhaps it is my American nature that desires a focus on the "self", and indeed, it may seem very anti-Buddhist. However, I alter the term "reverse culture shock" to "self realization" because it is in the self where the combustions of realization have been occurring. Like a helicopter full of valuables, I have crashed into the rock wall of America, where I am forced to slow down and uncomfortably fidget in a spot of transition. I am forced to pick up where I left off, while simultaneously preserving the scattered valuable lessons from abroad. I go back and forth from feeling like I am now greater than my surroundings, the Queen of the Land, to being humbled and accepting this muddy moment in my life. After a time of spontaneity and exploration, my life back at school is comparatively slow and at first seemed purposeless. After going through a stage of sadness, I have come to acknowledge and appreciate the constant ebb and flow of life. In one of my current courses we are studying the Chinese philosophy of Daoism. Included in this philosophy is the concept of yin and yang. According to this idea, everything has an opposite, and all things are constantly rotating between their opposites, ever turning back in an endless circle. Here's to life, which is always changing yet always whole. |
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