The Bed of Procrustes

Last one!  Excerpts from Nassim Nicholas Taleb's The Bed of Procrustes.  The document contains the first six sections.  If you're the "owner" of this week, you should read all of them thoroughly.  If you're not, then pick two sections to read thoroughly and skim the rest.  Enjoy!

How to Lead Your Life?

My paper is on Randy Pausch’s “The Last Lecture” briefly about never losing sight of what is important or right in front of you. He was diagnosed with severe pancreatic cancer, and was given approx... 3-6 months to live. With the time he had, he spent it teaching, given lectures so before he goes, his memory and knowledge will live on through many. My paper is about introducing his childhood dreams and how he managed to achieve them as well as compare his life through our other readings, and what past philosophers may have thought about his life and ideas.  His lecture is uplifting, fun, sad, and provides everyone watching or reading hope that everyone’s life though comes to an end at some point we all have a choice as how we would like to spend it.

my paper:

Julianne Ferguson

                                                 How to Lead Your Life?

  Randy Pausch a respected professor at Carnegie Melon, wrote “The Last Lecture” when he was given just 3-6 months to live, due to pancreatic cancer. He chose to spend his remaining time doing what he has always done so well, lecture. In this specific famous lecture “How to achieve your childhood dreams”, he discusses his childhood dreams and the journey he took to achieve them or at least get close to that dream.

  As he goes through the list number one being in zero gravity. He never went to space, but did experience what it would be like to be like to be floating through air. Number two, playing in the NFL, he did not get to achieve the dream of playing in the NFL, but did achieve a practice with the Steelers. Number three, authoring an article in the World Book Encyclopedia, which he did, he was asked to write a section. Number four, being Captain Kirk, he may have not been able to be Captain Kirk, but did settle for meeting William Shatner, one of many famous well- known actors.

  Another dream he wanted to accomplish was winning stuffed animals, not just any stuffed animal, the great big ones at the circus, or amusement park. He sufficed this dream and more, he had won at least four or five big bears at Disney World.  Ever since he was a kid talked about becoming a Disney Imaginer, the ones who take part in deigning all digital sets for films. After so many years in college at Brown University, talking and writing in to Disney he finally proved himself worthy of taking part in the Aladdin Project, where he helped many build an incredible design for the film Aladdin.

After working on the Aladdin Project, when asked to work full time he turned it down because to him teaching was more important, and he did not want to give it up. After hearing his answer they gave him another proposition to work once a week as a consultant, he said yes and did that for ten years, while teaching full time.

One of my favorite quotes he says in his lecture is when he is talking about his football practice when he was a kid recalling how hard his coach was on him, “when you’re screwing up and nobody’s saying anything to you anymore that means they gave up” (p.5). He added to this by saying “your critics are your ones telling you they still love and care” (p.5). To push you to your best is real love and takes hard work to be better to allow yourself to grow.

   Referring to a previous reading we had about the will to live by Shopenhauer. He talked about drive and what pushes you Shopenhauer, who never really felt he knew the point as to why on earth would people want to keep living in a world with heartache, pain, and suffering. One section in the reading I really responded to “only apparently are people drawn in front; in reality they are pushed from behind. It is not life that entices them on, but want and trouble that drive them forward” (p.360). Pausch acknowledged his troubles, as he said in the beginning of his lecture his cancer is the big elephant in the room. He knows it is there, but does not dwell on dying, he focusses more on the want of wanting to be there for his kids and wife now, and embrace whatever time he has left with them, and leaving valuable life lessons with them, and for others. He talked about how he has achieved his dreams by doing so through hard work and determination, he mentioned how football taught him about life, working hard and never giving up. He stated “brick walls are there for a reason there not there to keep us out there there to give us a chance to show how bad we want it” (p.8) He also said toward the end of the lecture “never lose the childlike wonder. It’s too important. It’s what drives us” (p.19). To be a kid is to have that creative freedom we take for granted as we get older as we are afraid of opinions holding us back.  

In relation to this reading, another reading we have read about living for others I feel is important when discussing Randy Pausch. “Man’s Search for Meaning” by Viktor E .Frankl about a man’s experience in a concentration camp during the Holocaust. I liked how despite everything that was happening around him he managed to stay positive, and lived for others making sure those he volunteered to help were doing well and giving food to those he felt needed it. He states that there were few people like him who would help, “they may have been few in number, but they offer sufficient proof that everything can be taken from a man but one thing: the last of the human freedoms-to choose one’s attitude in any given set of circumstances, to choose one’s own way” (p.75). No matter one’s situation there is always a way to live your life, one always has the choice to do something, but depending on certain circumstances those choices may be limited, but they are still choices. Pausch could have chosen to be depressed, but instead he chose to be strong, lively and an incredible source of positivity for himself and those around him.

In comparison to his life choices, Aristotle, one philosopher I have found interesting wrote “Nicomachean Ethics” about goodness always aiming toward something. In this case relating to Pausch, Aristotle would classify him as followed “the happy man lives well and does well; for we have practically defined happiness as a sort of good life and good action” (p.568). Pausch during his “Last Lecture” gave advice for young girls, believed to be aiming at his daughter he said “ignore everything a guy says about you, focus on their actions instead” I found this advice to be strong and noteworthy because it is true that anyone can say anything to show they are interested in you, but it is their actions that weigh more to actually show how much they care.

  On the subject of expectations, Iris Murdoch used the example of a mother-in law becoming frustrated with her daughter- in law who she felt was a kind hearted person, but came across “unpolished” in terms of the way she would use certain words in a different way. This example relates to Randy Pausch’s life as a kid who never thought his dreams were too out of reach, and as we get older people expect us to think more practical. Through his life he was able to do everything he wanted or at least a variation of his childhood dreams such as, despite not being able to play for the NFL, he still got to practice with a team who plays for the NFL, as well as not getting to be Captain Kirk, but getting the chance to meet the man behind the role. We as people have these assumptions or preconceived notions of who we think people are before we meet them, as a way of categorizing them to mentally prepare us in a way to avoid getting hurt, or even disappointed. Even if we are wrong which can happen often we can always learn from those judgments. Pausch learned his dreams with hard work could in fact be achieved.

    Reading Randy Pausch’s “The Last Lecture”, and seeing the live viewing was incredible to be able to put a personality to the man behind the words people have found comfort and meaning behind. He till this day has inspired many to go after their dreams and he has proven it is never too late to go after what you want. He gave tips as to how to achieve your childhood dreams. He said supporting parents, teachers, mentors, and collogues it was his teacher who stressed he should go to grad school and earn his PH.D the reason behind this he states was because “you’re a good salesman, sell education”. It is a job he said he loved very much. He in his last words he wants his legacy to be learning something hard, while having fun. He spread some advice to many watching decide if you are a Tigger or an Eeyore (p.19). Meaning decide whether you are a fun person or a downer. Never lose your child like wonder, and help others.  To end my paper with his last famous words “it’s not about how to achieve your dreams it’s about how to lead your life” (p. 22). I like all of you should live like Randy Pausch’s examples to take life in strive; don’t focus on the future or the past, but the here and now.  

How Should We Respond to Our Circumstances of Existence’s idea of perfection?

How Should We Respond to Our Circumstances of Existence’s idea of perfection?

            Iris Murdoch’s “The Idea of Perfection” is a culmination of all of the philosophers we have analyzed thus far. Murdoch analyzes the human desire of perfection; perfection internally and on a social level as well.  She calls into play Plato’s analysis on love, Simon Weil’s use of language, and Aristotle’s ability to know “the place if science in human life” (p. 427). It’s not about what or how the philosophers philosophized, it’s how love comes into play with the idea of perfection. It’s about how language affects an individual’s idea of perfection, and how science influences an individual’s idea of perfection.

            Before these major factors in the construct of perfection, I’d like to analyze is the idea of perfection realistic? I’d argue hoping to attain “perfection” is completely unrealistic- both as an individual and as society as a whole. Murdoch uses a small case study between M- the mother in law and D- the daughter in law, and analyzes the initial relationship to the relationship between the two at a later date. Murdoch calls out a specific trait that is in both individuals and society: change. Morals can change, evolve, grown, weaken, strengthen, etc. More importantly: context. Your understanding of things can change, as you better understand the context of things. This is why wanting perfection is unrealistic. There is no straight path for how to be the perfect person in a perfect society, because you are not always the same person, and what you think you know might not actually be so.

            Yet, as individuals and a society we still seek and work towards perfection. So what does love have to do with perfection?  Love is a value. Love is something many people have philosophized about, and as Murdoch mentions “has been driven by science and logic into a corner” (p. 424). Love is an important part in the idea of perfection because psychology and science ignore the moral value of love.  Love and moral values aren’t seen as concrete factors in the human circumstance in the idea of perfection; they are mostly seen as something abstract. They are abstract because love and morals are “concepts themselves changing” (p.423) as you learn, see, experience, etc. Yet still your idea of love and your morals are concrete factors in this idea because just like you strive to have a perfect GPA (which is a concrete strive) you equally strive to love just as perfectly and to uphold your morals just as perfectly. What Murdoch really calls out here is that perfection in individuals is more than just concrete things such as work, school, material gains, but it’s also in the abstract as well that individuals seek such excellence.

            Alongside love and moral virtues is science. Science tries to measure; it enters the philosophic realm trying to create exact ideas or concepts, while philosophy treats morality on the basis of human nature. Science creates an issue in the idea of perfection in which it doesn’t differentiate that it is a question on human nature and not a concept in psychology that can be clearly mapped out as a chemical reaction in someone’s brain essentially. Science tries to turn something so personal into something that can be explained as “here’s the idea here’s the reason”. Why human’s are always looking for perfection isn’t clear cut, because it is influence by more than just science and psychology. Really, what “perfection” is can even change as language and context come in to play.

            What would the idea of perfection be without language? Language affects all factors when it comes to the idea of perfection.  The use of language affects science, it affects love, and it definitely affects your morals. Words are just like eyes and ears, they are used in the idea of perfection as another way to analyze what we see as perfection, and to judge if something or someone fits in our idea of perfection. Murdoch mentions Plato’s idea of language stating: “…words themselves do not contain wisdom. Words said to particular individuals at particular times may occasion wisdom” (Phaedrus). Two very important things Plato mentions here: time and who you are speaking to. This is how language specifically affects the idea of perfection: the time period and who is speaking. The time period means that there is a specific idea of perfection; that there is a social construct already there probable influencing this person to believe in a certain idea of perspective. Who is speaking is just as influential. Take into account Murdoch’s case study on the relationship between M and D: how the daughter in law spoke heavily misled the mother in law to believe she wasn’t the idea of the perfect daughter in law she had in mind.

            Murdoch sums up the idea of perfection perfectly (I believe) at the end of her piece. It’s not something psychology can map. It’s not something only influence my morals, or love, or language. The idea of perfection is everything, and then it’s nothing. The idea of perfection changes, or it might not. It’s something that is social and individual. Really the idea of perfection is an individual obsession, because we don’t want to be failures. That is why everything influences so greatly this strong idea of perfection. We all want to be perfect, because we don’t want to be imperfect.  

After a week off, we resume on November 18 to discuss Iris Murdoch.

Then, the following week, we'll look at a popular philosophical text of the last few years--Randy Pausch's Last Lecture.  In this, please look for and "excavate" the philosophical meanings underlying his work, and the resonances with some of our other authors.

The Last Lecture became a book, but for our purposes we're looking at the original lecture.

Here is the transcript.

And here is the video.  Watching the ENTIRE video is optional, but please watch at least a few minutes of it to get a feel for the experience of it as an oral text.

Murdoch reading

Iris Murdoch, The Idea of Perfection

Needs for the Soul

My essay on "The Need for Roots" by Simone Weil focuses on rights versus obligations and the difference between them. I wrote about three of the many needs that are important aspects of the human soul, that feed the soul to nourish a person's need. Three of the needs I focused on are Liberty, Honor, and  Hierarchism.

 

Julianne Ferguson

 

                                                 Needs for the Soul

      “The Need for Roots” a prelude to a Declaration of Duties towards Mankind by Simone Weil, with a preface by T.S. Eliot, is about compassion in relation to suffering. There are many interesting sections in the reading that discuss needs for the soul, certain needs such as order, to be able to conceive what order is depends on the other needs. There are two important characteristics in what those needs are “the first which distinguishes needs from desires, fancies, or vices, and foods from over indulging, needs are limited” (p.11), meaning one man feels he had enough and the other craves more. The second characteristic is connected with the first, there needs to be some balance to every need, for example “man requires food, but also an interval between his meals; he requires warmth and coolness, rest and exercise, etc…” (p.11), among the need of order there are other needs mentioned as with, liberty, which is the ability to choose.

      In addition, to liberty another reading that demonstrates liberty and the ability to have a choice was in “Man’s Search for Meaning” by Viktor E. Frankl, about a man who survived the Holocaust and wrote to tell about his experience. On page 59, the last paragraph, he chose to volunteer his time to assist the sick patients with medical duties pertaining to the patients in the camp who had typhus.  He did this in spite of people advising against it, and despite others not volunteering. He writes that every prisoner had the decision to make for or against an escape attempt (p.67). Before escaping the camp he recalls making a last round to check on his typhus patients, the ones specifically that were dying that he felt he had to make it his life’s work to save. He chose to stay and help comfort them in their last hours (p.68). He had the choice to stay instead of leave, he chose to volunteer, as well as choosing to give his last piece of bread away to someone he felt needed it more (p.75). He lived for others and with liberty.

          Hierarchism is one of many needs that are essential to the human soul. It is a devotion to those who are more superior and who have more power. A reading that acknowledges those more superior in power overlooking those beneath them is in “Marcus Aurelius Meditations” Marcus being someone of higher power who wrote a list of how to act; to citizens he declares “it would be wrong for anything to stand between you and attaining goodness as a rational being and a citizen. Anything at all: the applause of the crowd, high office, wealth, or self-indulgence” (How to Act, #6). He is saying not to let anything stray you away from goodness such as indulgence for oneself, money, praise, and hierarchy. Even though he was one who was high up on the social spectrum, he knows all too well what can hold you back if you let it. So he writes from experience to show what to do versus what not to do, or at least to be aware of certain things so they do not get the best of you.

        Honor is another important aspect of the human soul. Human beings to satisfy this need require help from their social surroundings, specifically from other people. People need public acknowledgement to share in their nobility. For honor to go unrecognized it would become meaningless and forgotten, as he states “for the noble traditions possessed by those suffering oppression go unrecognized, through lack of social prestige” (p. 18). Honor would only go unrecognized if those of social surrounding didn’t praise one’s nobility. If those who we know today went unrecognized we never would have learned the greatness behind their achievement. People like Joan of Arc, as in the reading “had France been conquered by the English in the fifteenth century, Joan of Arc would be well and truly forgotten, even to a great extent by us”
(p.18). People need public acknowledgment in order for their goodness and achievement to be respected.

       In addition to honor this relates to a reading by Aristotle “Nicomachean Ethics” there was a section on honor where honor is believed to be a part of what makes people happy. People who pursue honor do so in hopes they will be assured of their goodness (p.566). He states it is better to bestow honor rather than receive it because to bestow it means one may be rewarded for their pursue, whereas someone who receives honor can have that honor taking away, though the feeling of being rewarded will still remain.

      I am for the section on liberty because I agree that everyone has a choice, the section on hierarchy I agree it is people looking up to those of superior power who give out orders to maintain an organized system of a higher class verse a lower class. I am also for the section on honor because I agree that people for the most part only do well in hopes that one day they will in some way be rewarded. Goodness and honor only for some have any meaning if their actions are acknowledged by others. The opening on the difference between rights and obligations the difference being between object and subject made some interesting points, such as for rights it explains, a right is not effectual by itself, but when in relation to an obligation, meaning “he, in his turn, only has rights, when seen from the point of view of other men, who recognize that they have obligations toward him” (p.1), whereas when a man in isolated by himself he does not have any rights, but only obligations within himself. Overall I found the reading to be interesting, and enjoyable to read, and even found a new point to add to my final project topic.