My House Of Cards

I am at the point in my life where I am attempting to reevaluate my own ideologies that I had been living life by, while taking into account the immense amount of new information I have been exposed to. I obviously had my own philosophy prior to college, but after studying the brilliant ideas of philosophers such as Plato, I find it important to utilize these new viewpoints to better craft my own ideas. As we had discussed in class, I feel like I am willingly giving my mind to my teachers and various other people whose literature I am required to master, with little or no fight. All of this new information effects be in ways that are quite obvious and sometimes in ways that are much more discrete.

A plethora of people come into college with naïve openness to all of the new material being introduced to them, myself included. I came into college with a relatively blank slate when it came to subjects such as the history of philosophy. Having a novice understanding of subjects, I have found it hard to sift through all of the information that I am being fed. A diverse amount of people’s rhetoric is now being introduced to me, which can render my mind malleable to an entire new way of thinking. Similar to Apollodorus in Plato’s Symposium, I felt I had “drifted aimlessly” until I began to further inquire about my decisions, views, and way of life in general.

There can be a paralyzing sense of helplessness when studying new subjects. I have found the vulnerability to my professors can be similar to my vulnerability I experience when I watch the movies, politics, or even the news on TV. Everyone has their own agenda they are trying to push on you, and only when one does there own research can they form an opinion really worth having. It is easy to rip off your favorite person of TV or professor and regurgitate everything you have heard to someone else.

An extensive examination on your life is necessary to carefully structure how you choose to confirm your lifestyle. It takes diligence and self-control to be exposed to a wide array of new ideas that can affect me so greatly at a time when I am most susceptible to other people’s beliefs. I must lay down a robust frame work for my way of thinking so that I can then build upon it with innovative ideas from outside forces.