The Individual and Society

We are beholden to society and society is beholden to us in a relationship that only works because the responsibility is reciprocated. We elect to office those who would do what we believe in and share our ideals. We put our faith in the government and, in return, it takes care of us by delivering our mail, paving the roads, and sometimes pumping our sewage and bringing us water. For the most part, our leaders put us first and do whatever they can to help and protect us. If we choose people to govern our society and they do so much for us, why wouldn’t we follow the rules? Also, we know how chaotic it would be if we simply didn’t follow the rules for no reason. Overall, society has a responsibility to the individual because the individual has a responsibility to society, and vice versa.

We are always required by the society to follow the law; that’s why they are called “laws.” However, whether or not we realize it, we have the choice to follow all of these rules. If, for any reason, one disagrees with a rule, he or she may decide not to follow it. That’s not to say there aren’t consequences for disobeying. Furthermore, sometimes a mass of people disagree. When this happens, they typically join together to rebel. On a smaller scale, this could mean protesting a law until it is overturned. In severe circumstances, revolutions are started. Although the government has power, that power is gained by support of the people. If the people don’t support their society and all break the rules, there is a change in power and in the structure of society.

Know Thyself

In Psychology, we’re learning about intelligence. Howard Gardner’s theory of multiple intelligences considers eight different intelligences, one being intrapersonal intelligence. Clearly, having self-knowledge is so important that it contributes to intelligence. Knowing yourself, or knowing how you feel and why you feel and act the way you do, is crucial if you want any control of your life. I can’t even count the number of times I’ve had to ask friends with boyfriend problems “Well, what do you want?” I tell them you can’t possibly expect the relationship to go how you want it to if you don’t know which way that is. It’s hard to be satisfied with any outcome if you don’t know how you feel or what your position on it is. Also, it’s difficult to have any control over what you do if you don’t know why you do it. Psychologists are often helpful in uncovering people’s deep emotional problems, which leads the patients to have a better understanding of why they may do certain things. Gaining self-knowledge is the first step in solving many issues in life.

I believe my weakness is that I don’t get close enough to people to let them get to know me. I tend to come off as a very quiet, introverted person. However, only with very few people, I am loud and don’t stop talking. I don’t get close to many people because I choose my friends very carefully, which is a strength, but I should probably be more accepting of others and let them in. I have tried to combat this weakness and become closer to more people but none of those relationships have lasted. I just have to keep trying until I find the right ones.

My strength is that I have always been able to remain my own person. I don’t make friends with certain people just to fit in and I only want to surround myself with genuine people. Anyone would be lying to say that he or she doesn’t care what people think about him or her, so I’m not going to say that. I admit that I care, but only a very little bit. This is why I’m not easily influenced by others. I haven’t caught either of the college-crazy or boy-crazy diseases. I do my own thing and I am proud to have that as my best quality.

Surprisingly, I didn’t find it all that hard to think and write about my own strengths and weaknesses and I didn’t mind having to do it. I suppose this is because I know myself. I’m not saying I know myself completely and I have it all figured out because I’m not sure if I ever will, but I think I’m off to a good start. I generally know what my strengths and weaknesses are; the difficult part was choosing one of each because I have some qualities that are equally good or equally bad.

Book of Job

I don’t necessarily believe that good generally ought to be rewarded. In order for something to be good, it has to reward someone in some way. Even if the person doing the good action isn’t the one who is rewarded, doing something good for someone else is a reward itself. Therefore, it is not necessary for good to be rewarded by God. However, evil deeds don’t work the same way; one is not automatically punished for doing something evil like one is for doing something good. Evil should be punished in some way because otherwise we don’t know the action is evil. We first learn the difference between right and wrong, which is good and evil on a much smaller scale, when we are young. Our parents reward us for good and punish us for evil. Eventually we are expected to know the difference without their reinforcement, although evil still needs to be punished in some way because people seem to forget.

Humans ought to act ethically even if they might be punished for doing so. We have to live with our choices and do the right thing at all times. It’s like the expression “you’re the one who has to be able to look at yourself in the mirror in the morning.” If we choose to act ethically, that must mean our actions are creating some good, which probably outweighs the punishment.

In the “Book of Job,” God seems to punish a good man. God does this to prove and remind Job that he is still in charge. Even though he is blessed with good fortune, God wants him to know and never forget that there is still a higher power. In the story, Job represents every man, even in the present day. That is why the “Book of Job” is a wisdom text; God punishes good people just because he can. He always has and always will because that is his way of reminding people he is the almighty ruler of humankind.

Carpe Diem

One thing that I want to have done before the end of my life is visit other places and experience different cultures. This is important to both me and humanity because knowledge about other people in the world is key to understanding yourself and others. Understanding humanity results in more peace, tolerance, and acceptance. This leads to my next goal, which is to make a difference in someone’s life.  I have always found helping others to be gratifying and I do what I can in community service projects, but I actually want to change someone’s life because even helping just one person is one step in helping humanity. Another thing I want to possess when I reach the end of my life is a successful career. I’m not sure what kind of career that will be, but I know that I will love what I do, so I want to be successful and climb as high as I set my sights. However, my career, along with the next thing I want to do, is more selfish and personal than valuable to humanity. Lastly, although this is solely for me, not humanity, I want to be in love at some point before I reach the end of my life. I know that sounds trite, and it’s not like I’m on a mission to find it; I just want to experience this supposedly incredible emotion.

We can judge other people’s lives as much as we want, but we’re really just wasting time that could be used to increase the values of our own. Overall, a life’s value is in the eye of the beholder; the value could differ based on the perspective. People may feel their lives are valuable because they are happy, but from a societal perspective, their lives may not be valuable because they are selfish and have never done anything to help anyone else. We can make this decision regarding the value of a life at any point during that life because a person can always change the value of his or her life. However, lives are typically assessed once they are over.

The meaning and purpose of life is to achieve happiness while being a good person. Being “good” is obviously subjective, but I added this part because even though criminals or mean people can be happy with their lives, they make morally unconscious decisions that harm others rather than help them. Part of being a good person is valuing another people’s lives as much as your own and doing what you can to better their lives, rather than just your own.

Utnapishtim Replies

Utnapishtim replies to Gilgamesh’s painful search for immortality with simplicity: “There is no permanence” (106).

Our world has always proved this statement to be true. There are so many examples of extinction, from the dinosaurs to the Neanderthals and everywhere in between. This means that even humanity is impermanent as well, although the thought of the entire human race disappearing is not one that frequently crosses most our minds.

When Gilgamesh hears Utnapishtim say this, he replies with disbelief and disappointment, saying that he sees no difference between his appearance and that of Utnapishtim, an immortal god. Today, every knowledgeable human knows that Utnapishtim’s statement is true and that all humans eventually die. Utnapishtim’s simple answer symbolizes life’s simplicity. You live, you die, the end. Death ultimately gives us meaning in life because it forces us to make our lives meaningful. People get up and go about their business every day because this world is fleeting and ephemeral. Some people sacrifice their own lives for causes that they think are important as a way to create a sense of order and eternal life. Examples of this are suicide bombers in Israel in the past and in Iraq more recently. They think the only way to establish any order is through violence, and their religion tells them that martyrdom leads to salvation in their afterlife or eternal life. However, there still are many who view the world in the opposite way: death scares them into hiding, and their fear keeps them from having any experiences that could make their lives meaningful. It’s like seeing the glass as half empty or half full; you can either use death to inspire you or to terrify and debilitate you.

Thinking About the Hero

The word “hero” is defined in the dictionary as a man of distinguished courage or ability, admired for his brave deeds and noble qualities. The two works of literature about heroes that I am most familiar with are The Odyssey and The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn. In these works, as well as most others, the hero embarks on a life-altering journey. Therefore, I believe a hero is someone who not only possesses valor and other admirable qualities, but also sets out on journey that results in a new level of maturity or understanding of himself or something greater. Heroic actions and behaviors are meant to better someone or something, whether that may be the hero himself, another person, or even society. Heroes conduct themselves as an archetype of man. They are righteous and successful in achieving something: usually knowledge or understanding.

As a society, we tend to associate heroes with being male. This is because only in the past few hundred years have any women been recognized as heroines in literature. We have been molded to think only men are brave and strong enough to be heroes by reading about characters like Odysseus. However, more and more modern novels are beginning to have female heroines.

As humans, we use heroes as people to look up to and teach us lessons. I think we need them to continue to use as models of the people we aspire to be like. Nevertheless, we should not focus on imitating previous ones. Bertolt Brecht once said, “Unhappy the land that needs heroes,” meaning that heroes appear in a time when there is some sort of problem to be solved, so we only need heroes when we are unhappy and in need of help. Humans learn from the actions of past heroes to limit the number of heroes and heroic conquests in the future. The more knowledge heroes share with us, the less we need them.