Friday, August 10, 2012
Being accepted.
While I was writing my prompts for Brave New World I thought of something. When Bernard went to the Fords Day celebration, everyone was “experiencing ford” Bernard wasn’t experiencing anything at all. But then he does something unexpected, he fakes experiencing ford. Why? Then later on after the Fords Day celebration, Bernard and Lenina go to see the Semi-Demi-Finals of the Women’s Heavyweight Wrestling Championship. Lenina then presses Bernard to take some soma to which he replies, “I’d rather be myself, myself and nasty. Not somebody else, however jolly.” (89) Isn’t he being a little hypocritical of himself? Now can’t we directly relate what he just did, to our society? We do things to make us feel as if we’re in the “in crowd” Has our society came to the point where we have to be like everyone else to fit in and we are isolated if we are an individual? Or like in Brave New World if you’re different from society you’re sent off to an island with other people like you. The main question im trying to ask is, is it in human nature to want to feel accepted to the point where you go against being yourself?
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Well we do live in a world where being different is something that many can ridicule. I think it's definitely in our human nature to try to fit in. Many just want to feel accepted so they won't feel bad about themselves or to please others. Although for most people I don't think it would be going against themselves, it would just be an adjustment for them, maybe even a major one.
ReplyDeleteHumans are never satisfied with themselves. We all want to be what others want us to be. There is a point of self acceptance that prevents this deep thought from coming through, however. If one is pleased with them self, one will always question if others are pleased as well. Humans think the same. We live for each other's attention and acceptance. It is a rarity to find someone that does not ponder about opinions or acceptance. It is disappointing to believe this, but I do not know otherwise. The thing is, does anyone know their true self? How do truly know what you believe in after being exposed to other people's beliefs?
ReplyDeleteLet's face it, we're on both ends of the problem in this situation. When there are people who tend to stand out due to their personal preferences, we don't exactly look away and forget about them. No. We give them the full-on head-to-toe examination and if they seem so different, we even talk about them with our friends. Because we perform these actions ourselves, it is instilled in our heads that people will do the same thing to us, making us afraid to be different. This causes us to cave into the pressure of blending in with the rest of society.
ReplyDeleteThe fact that we perform these judgmental actions ourselves makes the issue inevitable. We crave to belong in society. We fear being ridiculed. Why? Because we ridicule others. This issue doesn't apply to everyone, but for the most part, this statement is relevant to a great deal of our population.
We live in a world where the social network puts the "perfect" people on a pedestal for all of us to look at and admire, whether it be for what to wear or do. Those of us that do not look at these "perfect" people for an example are seen as different or weird. We judge people on what the trends at that time.If you saw a kid a couple years ago wearing a snapback hat, they would have been made fun of . Today snapbacks are one of the newest trends, every person who wears any type of hat will probably own one, so they can fit in.
ReplyDeleteTrying to fit in with the crowd is just how our society works, but I see it as a weakness of the mind that makes us do this. If you are happy with the way you are, then you will not worry about what people say or think about you. This symbolizes you are strong minded, and you know that only your own opinion about yourself matters.
I don't think that this society is the reason we shun those that are different from ourselves. I blame part of it on human nature. We love the feeling of being accepted, but we find it hard to relate to people who are very different. As humans, we learn to like people who are similar to us. When one person is a little more different than others, we tend to shun them because we do not relate and we do not want to understand them. I think that as our society advances, this should become LESS of a problem. We are obtaining new technology and our government improves to adjust to this changing world. We have learned to accept different races and religions in our world and although many people are still outliers in our society, I believe that if more human beings practiced the concept of empathy and tried to understand people different from themselves, we will begin to become more united. Then we will hopefully begin the process of being more individual and loving ourselves than worrying about conforming to society.
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