Here is the link to our reading for Friday, "Group Minds" by Doris Lessing. Do you agree with the way Lessing suggests we "in the West" perceive ourselves, that we are separate, independent individuals, limited only by our financial capacity to do whatever we choose?
I mostly thought that "in the west" we do perceive ourselves more individually than most other parts of the world. I believe we are more independent than most other places because we are democratic rather than communist. With that said do most people think becuase our political views change the way we percieve our independence?
ReplyDeleteMarcus C.
I think it might change the way people view us in the west because most countries have a leader telling them what to do and how to live and to participate in events or they will be punished. Some countries may be jealous of our individualism and they percieve us as different.
DeleteAmanda M.
In Group Minds it talks about this, but then says that we are less independent than we view ourselves. That even though we do have freedom that other countries don't, we still do have laws and we still have to have legal guardians until the age of 18 etc. Do you think that we have a distorted view and understanding of our freedom and Independence?
DeleteKirstin H.
I think that Lessing was asserting that we have misguided views of our own independence more because of social factors, not governmental ones. Our laws are pretty solid and rational, but our perceived "independence of thought" is what she says are more influenced by the views of others than we think.
DeleteWould you like to live in another country were you had a leader constantly telling you how to live your life? I would not.
ReplyDeleteAmanda M.
I would not want to have a leader telling me what to do. When we give into group pressure and say that "black is white", essentially we are giving into a "leader" or group. So pretty much every day when we dont stand strong by our ideas we are letting a leader rule us.
DeleteBrock Richins
No I would not want to live in a different country like that. That is why i live in America.If we had a leader that always told us what to do,then everybody would be the same their would be no individualism!
DeleteDavid Ramey
I would hate to live in another country where someone would be telling me what to do and how to live. That is why i live in America so i don't need to face people like that who tell me how to live.
DeleteChristian Farr
I agree, Marcus and Amanda. Others see us as a country where we always have our own independence, which in fact, we do. But I see your point Amanda, I would not like having a "leader" telling me what to do every move I make. Some people make assumptions about us, what our political views are, our religion, and they're going to judge us for it. Whether they know our story or not.
ReplyDelete-Carly Valdez
I agree with all of you. Our freedoms in this country are awesome. We are more independent and have the option to improve ourselves in alot more ways than others. Although being stuck thinking like a "group mind" can be trouble, but we have the choice to get out of what we do not want to be involved in.
ReplyDeleteBrad C
Do we take the initiative because we do have those freedoms? Or do we even realize the power and indenpendence we have in our hands? What about all of the laws we have now because of those that have taken advantage of those freedoms? Has that changed our independence dramatically?
DeleteKirstin H.
I couldn't help but think about the dialouge between Dash and Elastagirl in Disney/Pixar's Incredibles: "Everyone's special, Dash." "Which is another way of saying no one is." So, if we all think that we are individual people and if we all have the same view on life, are we really different from our neighbor here in the U.S.?
ReplyDeleteIf we look at the results of Asch's experiment on conformity, then we obviously aren't the idealist, independent-thinking, society that we may think we are--or that Lessing paints us to think that we are--because we are her animals. If I really had my own views, was startlingly independent, and had only brilliantly original opinions, then I wouldn't base my political views off of what my politically-inclined friend thinks. I wouldn't be reading these silly articles, in fact. I would be living in the middle of no-where living off the land, but since I'm still here, and since I am reading silly articles, I guess I'm just another out of the herd exercizing my lovely free speech.
ReplyDeleteDevin,
DeleteI can truly relate to your comment of living in the middle of no-where. There are alot of places I'd rather be also. That has given me thoughts of higher education. We are a group that needs to do what is required to obtain our degrees.Don't you think that we, as students, are definetly the herd that follows the sheep herders?
Brad C.
I do believe that we think of ourselves to be above the rest of the world becaue of the independence we have. Do we really use that independence to the fullest though? Just like Lessing talked about, we are strong individuals until we get into groups. We think we are individuals but every day people give in to the pressure of todays world and take on others ideas just to be accepted. So in reality we are not as independent as we think.
ReplyDeleteBrock Richins
I agree with what your saying Brock. I think we tend to see ourselves as independent and out spoken people all the time, and that we will stick up for what we believe when we're put in certain situations. But in reality I don't think that many people will stick up for what they believe when placed in a group of people.
ReplyDeleteAshley Bench
Kirstin H.
ReplyDeleteThat is definetly alot of questions to think about. I feel that we, as people, do take the initiative because of the freedoms we have. Laws have been established to protect us from the ones who abuse our freedoms. The natural person always wants more; therefore, laws do have to be established. Can you imagine the even more crazy world we would have to live in if there were nothing to keep us somewhat in line?
Brad C.
In response to Brad if there were nothing to keep us in line than our world would turn into 3rd world countries. There would be chaos and no control because people would be able to get away with everything. So that would be a very crazy world if there were no restrictions or consequences for our actions.
ReplyDeleteMarcus C.