In the recent weeks I have been heavily reflecting upon the nature of virtues and whether they are inherent or taught to one by his/her experiences. As seen by my previous blog entries, I have come to the conclusion that people are born with predispositions and a varying affinity for human excellence, with society shaping the majority of our perceptions. The more and more I think about it and the more people I ask about concerning the subject matter, it has become rather apparent to me that the many people believe we are conditioned by our culture to a great extent.
Last week in Political Science my teacher had mentioned how desensitized our modern society has become. He referenced the TV show Samantha Who?, which is about a successful businesswomen who has developed amnesia. As she begins to live her life with ignorance to how she used to live, she becomes dismayed to learn how she treated those around her. She then tries to compensate for her previous morally questionable actions by treating those she had wronged with a newly found niceness. The protagonist of this story, Samantha, had become so heavily influenced by outside forces that she had greatly deviated from the values that had been originally instilled upon her.
This TV show is a testament to how impactful the limitations of society are on people. People conform to the general consensus or the skewed view of those we admire and look to imitate. We see the actions of these around us, and then act in accordance. It is as simple as the cliché “Monkey see, monkey do.” If enough people agree on a subject, the majority of people will eventually fall in line.
It is ironic that I referenced a TV show to display my point, when so many TV shows actually deceitfully calibrate people’s moral compass towards ill-advised guidelines. I have no doubt that Plato would dub Television as the modern day Homer. Increasingly large amounts of the people own a television and are convinced to act a certain way by the fictional characters, whose mere purpose is to entertain us.
Furthermore, in the article “Point of View”, previously discussed in the last blog post, I though it was interesting when the student reminds the professor “of the willingness of the leaders of German and Italian universities to embrace Nazi and Fascist idea.” These wonderfully brilliant people had been inhibited by society to readily implement these radical ideals into their way of thinking. They began to define what was a just action based on the general consensus. It is scary to analyze how adversely one can be affected by the ridiculous ideas of a few powerful men. One can truly distort how they view life to align with his/her ideas that one would previously oppose.
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Jordan,
ReplyDeleteThe "monkey see, monkey do" mentality of the general masses is particularly troubling as you have demonstrated in this post. Here's a link to a joke, but the example used is largely relevant to what you discuss:
http://www.stumbleupon.com/su/2VgFpu/paws.kettering.edu/~jhuggins/humor/banana.html
It seems that your illustration of mass conformity only highlights the importance of Plato's Allegory of the Cave. It also appears that another conclusion you draw is that the masses suppress individual creativity.
I wonder though, what kind of responses you view as effective while also encouraging moral goodness? You referenced the television show, but did not respond to Samantha's efforts to compensate or to change. Do you think that Sam's actions were valid? Did they contribute to her morality? Or do you think that humanity cannot change?
These questions make me think of an old poem and I hope that you'll further detail your thoughts :)
"When I was a young man, I wanted to change the world.
I found it was difficult to change the world, so I tried to change my nation.
When I found I couldn't change the nation, I began to focus on my town. I couldn't change the town and as an older man, I tried to change my family.
Now, as an old man, I realize the only thing I can change is myself, and suddenly I realize that if long ago I had changed myself, I could have made an impact on my family. My family and I could have made an impact on our town. Their impact could have changed the nation and I could indeed have changed the world." --unknown monk 1100AD
love this last quote it reminds a lot of Zosima's speech in the Brothers K, where he talks about begging forgiveness from the world; if I had been upright perhaps other would be also. good idea
ReplyDeleteDo you think that the world has always been this way? Or is this more of a modern trend, that has been emphasized by media and television? Also, do you think we rely to much on entertainment instead of betterment? I think this might be the case. And as Brittany pointed out, I also think that you can create change in others by first changing yourself, because you often omit a sort of goodness that others can sense and are inspired by, which is beautiful.
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