Please, read his post first, before you read mine!
Hey there Wayne,
First off, let me begin by saying that it’s awesome to
see somebody I know getting into blogging.
I think it’s a great way to learn and grow intellectually, as well as
foster debate in a friendly and well-thought out manner. So, keep it up, I’ve enjoyed reading your
posts! I hope you don’t mind me playing
devil’s advocate a bit, and feel free to do the same on my blog as well!
I’d like to talk about your second post mainly, the one
I’m commenting on. I answered your
question in typical law-school fashion in the beginning of your post. In response to, “Are people smart?” I said:
it depends. I know you said you didn’t
want to spend too much time on whether people are smart or not, but I think not
to do so is leaving out a big part of what you’re talking about.
I understand your assumption “Being smart doesn’t exist”,
but I also disagree in part. I think
maybe the concept of “smart” versus “not smart” is a bit lacking. You touched on this when you mentioned that
some people are simply better at certain things than others. I think this is really important, because in
a way this can be interpreted that everybody
is smart at something. It essentially
means that, if one plays to one’s strengths, others will regard that person a
“smart”. Take me for example, I know I
enjoy the law (even while I’m writing this on my half-hour break from work
between classes) and therefore I focus intently on it and do my best to excel.
However, throw me in an
operating room, or even an artistic studio, and I quickly look like the
dunce. I think the most important
takeaway is that in each of these situations, other peoples’ perception of me
is vastly different. On the one hand, I
come across as intently focused on my goals, and on the other, as someone who
clearly does not belong. Does that
effect whether I am smart or not? I
don’t think so. I simply believe that
all people have a “place” in life, and we , as humans, need to realize and
accept that.
I think this also ties into your clean slate
statement. It’s a very popular
philosophical ideology, and one that is firmly tied to the American perception
of justice and democracy (in brief, in one is a clean slate then one is
responsible for one’s actions, good or bad.
Therefore, we can justify capitalistic economies and prisons with
individual freedoms and rights). I think
you may, however, be giving a little too much weight to effect of parents. I think parents have a huge impact on mental,
physical, and social development, but what about friends, school, teachers,
mentors, and role models? All of these
factors (and more of course) effect who we are and change what we believe.
I do
agree with your assessment of determination and will though. I think you’ve pretty much got the nail-on-the-head. Humans are capable of accomplishing amazing
deeds when we set our minds to it, and this is something that is so often
ignored in today’s busy electronic notification life.
As per your examples:
Example 1: If any non-German speaking person were placed
into Germany, that person would begin to pick up on the language. They would not starve to death as you
suggest, communication is only very slightly words, and much more tone of
voice, inflections, and body language.
You would actually become quite proficient in German once you spent
enough time there, after all, that is how you learned English.
Example 2: I’m not
sure exactly how this would play out, and as you say, a lot of factors are
omitted (what level of business are said employees engaged in, are they
managers? Mid level managers? CEOs?).
However, I think that this example is more of a description of the
volatility of human emotions, rather than the inability to communicate. In fact, they’re communicating quite well
that they’re extremely upset, so obviously (hopefully) whatever they’re arguing
about is actually quite important.
I happen to agree with your youtube comment assessment. I
try to avoid reading those comments like the plague.
Finally, I was surprised by your ultimate conclusion to
simply read. I very much support
that. If more people read, minds would
expand and viewpoints would shift. It’s
so hard to convince people to read when they can check out and watch TV or sit
on facebook. I find myself guilty of
exactly that type of mental check-out when I’m super tired from working all
day. I don’t want to sit down and read,
I just want to “veg out”. I’m not sure
how we address this as a society though, and it’s an interesting topic for
future discussion.
I have to run to class now though, so hopefully you
enjoy/appreciate my comment! Have a good
one,
Tim
