Every aspect of Welton Academy points to the founders' particular beliefs: the necessity of conformity. The beginning of the film starts with the students reciting "Tradition, Honor, Discipline, and Excellence". Expectations are as defined by those four words. When Mr. Keating becomes teacher, he encourages the students to express themselves in their own way. In his unconventional teaching style, he is misunderstood and rejected by the staff. Despite the danger of losing his job, Mr. Keating encourages non-conformity through expressing the idea of the Dead Poets Society. This results in removal from his job in the end of the film.
Neil, representing non-conformity in the film, places himself in danger by his actions. It was expected of Welton Academy graduates to continue to become distinguished doctors and lawyers. When his father found that Neil wanted to be an actor, he demanded that his son quit acting and focus on his studies. The result of his father's demands was Neil's suicide. Non-conformity could have lead to a superior teacher and a successful actor. Due to the conformist ways at Welton Academy, the results were firing Mr. Keating and Neil's suicide.
Sunday, November 20, 2011
Sunday, November 13, 2011
Google Transcendentalism
Everyone has heard of Google, and probably used it- the popular search engine and web browser. Being one of the world's largest search engines, Google leads the way in computer usage. The Google Company could be considered transcendentalists for many reasons. Google is a company like no other. They supported transcendentalism since the very beginning of their company. The founders used their imagination and went with their gut feelings when they had the idea to capture the world’s knowledge and provide it for all. Google has a philosophy- ten things that they know are true and stick to when they are working. These things make the difference between Google and other companies. They use the company’s personal beliefs to guide their actions in the business world. Google believes that if they help the customer, then everything else will fall into place. Most companies focus on how they can make money rather than how they can help the consumer. Google takes the risk of hiring people who think out of the box, who have potential to create something important, rather than a person with experience as most companies would.
The work environment is an example of how Google feels about how things should be done. A traditional work place is a place to buckle down and be productive as possible. At Googleplex, Google’s base in California, they believe differently on how a workplace should be. They believe it should be a fun and inspiring place. They feel that it makes their workers more productive and happier to be at work. They provide special classes like yoga, healthy lunches and dinners, and snacks and drinks. People can travel through the building on scooters or bikes from meeting to meeting. Google is a transcendentalist company in that it took a new turn on running a business. They believe that work shouldn’t be a punishment, but something you want to do.
Sunday, November 6, 2011
Walden Essay
Compared to present times, a simplified life was much easier to obtain during the time period in which Walden was written. Life nowadays moves at a rapid speed, overloaded with information and technology at an often overwhelming pace. The struggle to achieve more, possess more, and learn more is human nature. These instincts encourage us to progress in order to try and improve our lives. Desire for a better life pushes humanity irreversibly into a world of complexity and modernization. The advances humans make cannot be taken back, they only add to the already complicated culture. The condition of modern humanity makes simplification of an individual's life a rare and nearly impossible feat.
Complexity and technology are a human passion. People thrive on the hope of the latest advancement that would effect their lives. Simplicity seems like a far-fetched dream for many. The thought of abandoning structured lives for a solitary cabin in the woods would be a joke to most. In the writing of his book, Henry David Thoreau describes the structure of many lives in the one sentence. "We do not ride on the railroad; it rides upon us (Thoreau, 491)." He means that people make the things that shape their lives. They strive to create and build, while simplification would pull humanity away from an individual's natural want to progress. Instincts tell people that simplicity is a form of deterioration of the progress they have made.
Progress sends humanity down a path of no returns. Simplicity is the road going in the opposite direction. Even the most basic modern lives have passed the point of simplicity. Once a level of complexity is reached in a society, there must be regulations or laws set in place to control what they have gained. These restrict the ability for the people to return to the simple lives they might have led before. Everything a person does is to either progress, or secure that progression. Anything achieved by a person cannot later be undone. It is not possible to take away progressions that are already successful. In order to lead a simple life, a person cannot progress. Continuous progression is a characteristic that makes a person a human being.
Humans don't want to give up what they've achieved in return for simplicity. It seems that it is human nature to want. Desire keeps humans from being able to attain simplicity. Modern advertising and new technology make it even more difficult. If a person's basic needs are met, including food, water, and shelter, then they are left with a desire for more. Contentment leaves people with a feeling that they can achieve even more. Modern culture is shaped by these desire, making it so much more diffucult to achieve simplicity than ever before. Thoreau writes in Walden, "We are determined to be starved before we are hungry" (Thoreau 491). He means that no matter how much an indiviudual possesses, they convince themselves that they need more. The only way to achieve simplicity would be to not have desires, and that is not a realistic human attriubute.
The characteristics of humanity do not allow for simplification of human lives. Life is one way, things cannot be taken back or reversed. Our passions and obsessions with modernization discourage a simple life. A natural desire pushes humanity away. We thrive on progress, which also discourages simplicity. Only a person who has no desires, no interest in progression, and has never progressed can simplify their life. And none of those are characteristics of a human being. A person in modern times cannot simplify their life.
Complexity and technology are a human passion. People thrive on the hope of the latest advancement that would effect their lives. Simplicity seems like a far-fetched dream for many. The thought of abandoning structured lives for a solitary cabin in the woods would be a joke to most. In the writing of his book, Henry David Thoreau describes the structure of many lives in the one sentence. "We do not ride on the railroad; it rides upon us (Thoreau, 491)." He means that people make the things that shape their lives. They strive to create and build, while simplification would pull humanity away from an individual's natural want to progress. Instincts tell people that simplicity is a form of deterioration of the progress they have made.
Progress sends humanity down a path of no returns. Simplicity is the road going in the opposite direction. Even the most basic modern lives have passed the point of simplicity. Once a level of complexity is reached in a society, there must be regulations or laws set in place to control what they have gained. These restrict the ability for the people to return to the simple lives they might have led before. Everything a person does is to either progress, or secure that progression. Anything achieved by a person cannot later be undone. It is not possible to take away progressions that are already successful. In order to lead a simple life, a person cannot progress. Continuous progression is a characteristic that makes a person a human being.
Humans don't want to give up what they've achieved in return for simplicity. It seems that it is human nature to want. Desire keeps humans from being able to attain simplicity. Modern advertising and new technology make it even more difficult. If a person's basic needs are met, including food, water, and shelter, then they are left with a desire for more. Contentment leaves people with a feeling that they can achieve even more. Modern culture is shaped by these desire, making it so much more diffucult to achieve simplicity than ever before. Thoreau writes in Walden, "We are determined to be starved before we are hungry" (Thoreau 491). He means that no matter how much an indiviudual possesses, they convince themselves that they need more. The only way to achieve simplicity would be to not have desires, and that is not a realistic human attriubute.
The characteristics of humanity do not allow for simplification of human lives. Life is one way, things cannot be taken back or reversed. Our passions and obsessions with modernization discourage a simple life. A natural desire pushes humanity away. We thrive on progress, which also discourages simplicity. Only a person who has no desires, no interest in progression, and has never progressed can simplify their life. And none of those are characteristics of a human being. A person in modern times cannot simplify their life.
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