This week, we studied the uplifting ideas of Transcendentalism, a movement which placed emphasis on the power of the individual mind and the inherent goodness of man. This was refreshing, especially since people my age (including myself) spend so much time on the internet, and it sometimes seems like the only opinions that matter are other people’s. If you’ve ever scrolled down a YouTube video and read the comments, you know what I’m talking about -- witty and hilarious observations, aggressive comments alienating other commenters for their beliefs or opinions, critical comments that the uploader is “hot” (or utterly hideous), added to the fact that even these comments are evaluated by other YouTubers through the thumbs up/down feature... These same effects are magnified on facebook in that the responses are from people you directly know (admit it, you feel a little embarrassed when everyone else’s comment has 10 likes, and yours doesn’t have any). Even though the internet does a great job of connecting the world, it has completely amplified the value of other people’s opinions...
We spend so much time worrying about how other people will react to whatever we do. An embarrassing moment is likely to last forever in our own memories, but to a stranger is forgotten in a day. In the end, it is often these moments of embarrassment that give us the experience to succeed -- small failures are inevitable on the path to success, and wondering whether others will accept these failures is a waste of time (albeit one that is difficult to avoid).
I really liked your post! We do spend too much of our time worrying about what others think of us. I also like how you view embarrassing moments as steps to success, because I have had plenty of them and never thought of them that way!
ReplyDeleteYour post was quite simple, but extremely amusing. The shocking blatancy with which you address our simple yet embarrassing insecurities forces your readers to rethink our preconceived notions about others' opinions. We are left musing about your blogpost long after we've finished reading. Good job :)
ReplyDeleteAccording to Sneha, I need to use smaller words... so yeah. This was a very interesting post, not only because you used anecdotes to make your point, but because you effectively used 2nd person to point out our own hypocrisy. And now, I unapologetically must say antidisestablishmentarianism.
ReplyDeleteI really liked your post! People really do spend too much time on electronics (me included, I think it is starting to become a problem) when we really need to get outside and relax from all the social pressures!
ReplyDelete