Gabe Van de Sande
Donnell/Stogdill
City of Angels
October 8, 2015
Friday Roundup for October 9th
Donnell/Stogdill
City of Angels
October 8, 2015
Friday Roundup for October 9th
All reminiscing aside, lets zoom in and analyze what this history means to us, as teenage individuals, each a product of our own past. I do not mean to urge a dialogue of Nature vs. Nurture, but I cannot control the outcome of eighteen minds working together to create purple. whatever purple may be. I mean more to pose a general question, that can be regarded as an umbrella to other smaller ideas: What effect does our unique past have upon our individual persona? Does it have an effect at all? Allow me to rephrase. Are we caught in the roots of our family history? In my personal case, I would argue that my upbringing has been effected immensely by events that have taken place prior to my birth or consciousness. A specific example would involve the conflicting opinions of my parents when it comes to discipline. My father, being raised in a strict Catholic boarding school, has always resorted to conventional forms of social discipline: If a rule is broken, you are punished. Contrarily, my Mom was raised in an environment in which independence was crucial. Consequences would not entail direct punishment, but rather the coming to a mental realization by oneself that an action taken was wrong. These two conflicting viewpoints have formed the fusion of discipline that my parents enforce, a practice that has, in one way or another, formed the person I am today.
The example I have presented is minuscule in relation to the infinite influences upon one's upbringing and personality that occur, however it does reflect on a smaller scale the effect that personal history has upon my life. So I ask again: What effect does our unique past have upon our individual persona, if any? Are we bound by our roots, or can we break free?
What you are asking is almost a question of fate. Is it possible to change what your future holds or are you bound to it? But you have to realize how useless this question is. It is impossible to answer since you can't experience two timelines.
ReplyDeleteOn the other hand you question whether we are ourselves because our parents or individual backgrounds have made us that way. I believe that most of who we are is made through experience and little is natural to our being. That is the reason we study history, to study ourselves. Also, luck has a lot to do with who we are and what we like to do. I love to paint and perhaps if I didn't grow up in an environment that had art supplies, I may never have found that hobby and that hobby would never have turned into a talent and that talent would never have turned into a label to define "Terra".
I think a more interesting question to add to this would be what differentiate history and recent past? When does something turn into a topic we learn about in school? There are current events or history... is there a middle ground or does the recent past just get forgotten for the time being?
I can't think of a way in which we are not a living representation of our part (generations, experiences, relationships, connections). Scientifically, we carry the genes of thousands and thousands of our relatives from generation to generation: while we may be only one unit, we are comprised of the leftovers from people in our pasts, and each is represented (though some very little). Combine science and history, and we still would not exist were it not for shockingly specific experiences. An arrow shot from the bow of a Norman invader lands an inch higher than it did in the year 1066, King Harold lives, and I do not exist. Every second, I could be doing something that would produce another piece of living history, and every second that I am not, that hypothetical person never exists. In a sense, my existence is the 1/infinite chances that every one of my ancestors has ever had to reproduce. Because of this, each of us is so stunningly improbable that we are helpless but to feel like our unique pasts are massively impactful on our lives. We are a product of our pasts because, just as our parents learned to be and then imparted their learned and specific wisdom unto us, they also participated in the exchange of pasts that is genetic recombination. History follows us no matter how far from it we stray.
ReplyDeleteTo differentiate history and recent past, I believe, is to trace the history back to a place where modern opinions will affect perspectives and analyses of history in a less biased way. History says that this effective-historical-time is about 20 years, but really it is unique to each person who analyzes the history.
Your question reminds me a lot of the dilemmas faced East of Eden. Cal's crucial question seems to be: do I have to follow the pattern of my DNA, or is there a choice in my actions? Ultimately, I think that the choice is the most fundamental part of ourselves. Maybe we've been talking a little too much about growth vs. fixed mindsets, but I believe very few things are every set in stone without any room for personal choice. As Brennan, I am made up of Christian and Shawna Hart, my grandparents, my great-grandparents, etc. I have certain traits that come from my predecessors--brown eyes, my height, a genetic predisposition to autoimmune diseases--but beyond the physical, many are not set at birth. When people say I take after my mom in my writing/humanities abilities, that is not because it was necessarily genetically inherited. I read and write the way I do because it was heavily highlighted in her training or form of "nurture," as opposed to me being born with a pencil and notebook in hand writing sonnets. Okay, so that example kind of took me a little off topic, but basically, what I mean to say is that beyond the physical, most of what makes up a person is a compilation of their experiences. Those of their forebears certainly added up to make a unique situation at a unique point in time, but overall, a person's history begins at birth.
ReplyDeleteI firmly believe that we are more a product of our upbringing and real-life experiences than by the history that defines our family and past relatives. Having two parents who attended Ivy League schools, enjoyed working til they cried, and always yearning for the next A, I can't believe that I am destined to end up a similar way because of their experience. As someone who struggles in test taking but excels outside of the classroom, my parents and I have formed a mutual respect for the things we do differently, but how they are both just as important. When I started going to Poly my parents sounded like many of my friends who's parents sound like broken records forcing them to go and apply to the best schools. As I began to struggle, my parents adapted to completely mirror my own interests and needs in a college (Liberal Arts all the way). If the past really formed how I was brought up, there is no way they would have adjusted and let me take a different path with so many unknowns. I realize this is a singular and closed example but it shows why I have a hard time believing my upbringing was influenced greatly by the past.
ReplyDeleteLike Jake, I agree that we are living representation of our past. I share similar DNA with my grandparents, my parents and my brothers. But we are all so different compared to one another. We all have had different experiences in our lives, that has shaped the person you see today. Although we are shaped by the different experiences we all have had. There are traditions that are rooted in our lives that have been carried out for many generations beforehand, that cannot be broken. For example, Chinese New Year. Every year my family and I have the tradition to set up an alter that has food, tea, incense and pictures of my ancestors. This one of my favorite parts of Chinese New Year because I am able to see different generations of my family. I think the bigger picture of our past is also the culture behind our past as well. To what extent does culture play into our past, present and future?
ReplyDeleteI couldn't help but smile when I read Jake's remark about King Harold. The entire concept of fate is scary, intriguing, and freaking insane when taken apart. About a month ago, when driving on the 134 back from Burbank, something parasitic lodged its way into my mind. This idea got so deep that I was forced to pull over the car. I sat there, gripping the rubber wheel so tight that black flakes snowed off onto my shaking legs. My heart seemed to beat in unison with the sound of the whizzing cars, just feet away from me. The thought that had provoked such a radical reaction was an oddly familiar one. I had just pressed play on my Nick Drake playlist. I was humming along when I suddenly heard my dad's booming voice. I had accidentally recreated a Bohlinger tradition: road trips in the Civic, with my dad performing his favorite new wave and alternative hits for his passengers. This almost paranormal deja vu was frightening, but after I had settled myself down on the shoulder of the freeway I could not stop giggling. It probably would have been a weird site to the people driving by: red-faced, sweaty kid laughing maniacally to himself. That's okay though. I was so delighted because it had struck me that this was a role I now took on. It had become my responsibility to make choices, whether it be the simple music selection, or something much more serious. I got to choose which song to play on my own road trip.
ReplyDeleteThe past is inescapable, but the future is somewhat ours. We can make the choice whether or not to follow in our parents' footsteps, while remembering that fate is pulling a few strings as well. Of course I want to set out on my own, but when it comes to music my dad has pretty good taste..
I think our decisions to behave and carry on specific mannerisms and behaviors that our immediate families have exposed us to, is more complicated than we are able to understand. I’ll use Conor’s example of straying from some of the academic practices of his parents. I agree with previous statements that our histories or “fates” are greatly determined by our own choices and actions. Conor’s habits and behaviors are not an exact replica of one of his parents or a mixture of the two. He is his own independent person able to, for the most part, make his own choices. However (although I have no scientific proof to back this up) I believe that the choice Conor has made to make his own choices is impacted by genetically inherited behavioral habits. For example, (and I am just making this all up) although Conor has adopted a behavior that does not replicate one of his parents, maybe he has made this choice because he has inherited a behavioral habit from his parents of being stubborn, and so he has overted from following the same course them . Or he has inherited a behavioral habit to be a completely independent thinker, and so he has overted from following the same course. This raises a kind of scary question: can choices we make ever truly be our own- foolproof to any outside pressure (whether we are aware of it or not) that works to alter our “pure” and completely independent choice?
ReplyDeleteFree will is an illusion. It’s a bold claim, so here we go. Modern psychology, even when it’s being generous, posits that decisions can only be partially free. We think we possess autonomy because we "control" what we do. But we don't control why we do it, therefore we don't truly control what we do at all. We don't all get some uniquely human ability to rise above our nature and nurture. From the very input of information, affected by cognitive bias, to its synthesis, done largely subconsciously, to its application, our decisions are the products of uncontrollable dispositions. Yet we are not solely the product of the immutable. What makes us distinct is the part of the conscious mind that can think without consequence or objective. We have a wondrous power of imagination that allows us to lose ourselves in some etherial plane of introspection or circumspection. That is what sets us apart from the apes, as they say, for it seems to be less advanced if at all present in other animals. So don’t fool yourselves. You probably won’t be the sole arbiter of your decisions, maybe not even the most influential one, but there is a place in your brain where you are omnipotent, the realm of the hypothetical and the inapplicable. Treasure your abstract thoughts, for they are as close to your own as any that you will ever attribute to yourself.
ReplyDeleteRegarding Becca's last question, I do not believe anyone can make a completely independent choice because we are always influenced by other's knowledge and opinions. We are at an age where many of us feel comfortable straying from our parents beliefs, yet we are not abandoning dependance by establishing separate views from your parents. In an act of rebellion, one might purposefully make the choice to oppose every view of their parents; however, these separate views are still examples of a belief based on another belief and are therefore not made independently.
ReplyDeleteTypically, when one makes a significant decision or forms a belief, one will research and base that decision from experience, conversations with other people, or listening to others opinions. For example, when I first paid attention to politics and became active in political discussion, my first initiative to establish my own views was to listen to speakers, read articles, and start a dialogue about political topic. With new knowledge from this research, I was able to compile separate ideas from different people to create my own, personal opinion and then possibly make a choice with that opinion, therefore, a "pure" and independent choice can never exist.
Past, like Gabe wrote, is a subject that can be broken down into several parts. Family heritage, my parents' choices, and my very own choices make up my past, and do have an effect on me. My heritage on my father's side is southern, but on my mother's side South African. These both play a role in who I am. When I was a child my dad and I would take a road trip to Texas almost every summer, this takes two days. My dad and I would talk about his past usually, about how he played football at Permian Odessa, the school from "Friday Night Lights". These stories led me to play football and I think I would be a different person without it. My mom on the other hand had a completely different story, from South Africa, a brother who was five years older whom was also in a locally famous band. My mom has all these stories about growing up during apartheid which, I think, helped shape my view on the world and acceptance.
ReplyDeleteMy choices also shape who I am and continue to but I am not inward enough to know how they are just yet. Maybe when I'm older I will look back and see this and think how far I've come. In response to Gabe's last question about "breaking free" I would say that is entirely up to the person living their own life, they can fall back onto the route that has been forged for them of go off and establish one for themselves.
Despite whatever choices we make and the qualities we develop, at the end of the day we still carry on th literal name of our family. So whether you like it or not, whenever your name is spoken of you are associated with those who share that name. Jake followed more of the genetic approach to this discussion, but didn't necessarily take into consideration how being adopted would connect you to these roots. I only bring this up because I am adopted and have never taken the incentive to trace back my own blood-related ancestors, and I don't know if I will ever be audacious enough to do so.
ReplyDeleteI have always been a strong believer that parents are the ones who form what we value in life and that we do reflect certain traits of theirs whether it is wanting to pursue the exact same occupation as them or just having the same favorite beverage. Parents even help you realize conclusions that may steer you towards opposite of them. I know many people that say they will not raise their kids with the same rules that were enforced upon them.
Bill Burr once sardonically joked about how parenting is all about taking your upbringing and how your parents raised you and just trying to improve upon that. While this is simply just a part of his comic routine, the notion still holds relevancy to our discussion right now. We might not have experience as parents personally, but every person here has, in a way, been raised by multiple generations of ancestors' experiences and ideas. In this way our roots and history are important to us and effect us, but still aren't defining our personalities.
ReplyDeleteOne of the perks of our specific situation, and by that I mean our location culture and class, is that we aren't defined by what generations before us did and didn't do. We aren't part of a long standing royal dynasty, or a line of peasants that have been farming potatoes for generations. I might be descended from an irishmen that traveled here by boat fleeing a famine, or I might not be. It doesn't matter to my current situation and I'm not defined by it. My great great grandfather could be a murderer or a philanthropist, and either way I, and by this I mean we, are defined by our personal actions and ideas. It doesn't matter what our grandparents did, and this is a luxury that we are fortunate to have.
I am not a major history buff either, nor do I like reflecting on the past, but I do think that the ways in which we are brought up by our parents, and the things and habits that we grow up around play into a big part of who we are. Whether we end up being like our mom or our dad, the ways they think and act, and the actions they make affect us no matter how we look at it. They affect what we do and how we act, and they also make us take note of different ways of looking at things. While one may argue that our upbringing has nothing to do with who we turn out to be, because we may be nothing like our families or our parents, we do still have to take into consideration that while we grow into our own persons, whether we end up like our parents or not, we still notice and observe how the people around us act and feel, and we become open and aware of ideas, thoughts, and actions different from our own.
ReplyDeleteOur upbringing and family history also embraces who we are, as well as makes us who we are I believe. As we grow we create our own ideas and ways of being, and our backgrounds can embrace those sides of us. They can also introduce us to new aspects of life as we grow that can become a big part of ourselves, and can add to who we grow to be. I think that there's a balance within how much our backgrounds add to who we are, but I do think that there are many positive things that come out of it.
I'm very engaged with the ideas and questions Terra brings up. She says the we study history to learn more about ourselves and I agree that studying history reveals patterns of human nature and in turn we learn more about ourselves, but people initially study history out of curiosity. They say history has a way of repeating itself and that to me is a result of adaoting certain characteristics we hear about in history books or observe in our day to day lives. Each generation is just the compilation of the past generations, so to go back to Gabe's original question asking how do our unique roots shape who we are? I don't think there is anything unique about our roots. Yes, we may all come from different places, which may make our past unique relative to each other but not unique relative to history.
ReplyDeleteTo also answer Terra's other question when does the past turns into a we learn in school and if recent history is forgotten. In the history classes I have experienced, history lessons often seemed very detached from emotion. Once all the people are gone and we no longer have people with immediate connection to the event- the dates and content of the lecture becomes facts. So yes, we do forget about the recent past in classrooms, but the recent past isn't forgotten.
I agree with Jake and Brennan. As Jake states, I think that we are little strands of our previous generations tied together, and everything that has led to us is special in its own way. Brennan brings up the point that we have the option of choosing to follow the same patterns as the generations that came before us, or have a say in how we choose to live our lives.
ReplyDeleteNow, to answer Gabe's question, my unique past has shaped my individual persona. The part I feel is most interesting is that the reason that my unique past has shaped who I am as a person correlates to how I am bound to my roots. For example, my great-grandfather was born and raised as a sharecropper in the deep south. He grew up with basically nothing except family and a poor education. But he worked his ass off to not end up like his prior generation. He worked every day on the farm to save enough money for him to go to college and start the life his prior generations couldn't. Now, what my grandfather did was break away from his roots by staying with them. He wanted to add something positive to his families history. That is what motivates me everyday. I want to add on to my family history and go down as someone who had a positive impact on my family. So, by being unique, I am not breaking away but rather sticking to my roots.
Obviously, we all contain DNA from our ancestors, that's just how it works. So saying that you believe that you contain little bits or parts of your ancestors is ridiculous. Even though we do contain unique strands and combinations of DNA, it doesn't effect your personality the choices you make. Every single moment of your life you make decisions, and based on those decisions you go down one of millions of alternate paths that couldn't possibly be influenced by people who have been dead for hundreds of years. Our fate and our future is unpredictable.
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