I feel that Banach is being too idealistic when he say that "[the] value one gets from within is infinitely better than the value one vainly attempts to get from outside". What if our family was the factor that makes us happy? What if our family was taken away from us? What can we really say is making us happy? I think that there has to be a physical object, whether that be a person or a book, in order for one to be motivated, rejuvenated.
It does not make sense to sit there and say, I am happy because I found happiness from within myself (that I do not think exists). There is no feeling of happiness if there were no external factors influencing us. We cannot say that we are happy without anything that makes us happy.
Sure, happiness does not come from the Bamboozlers and Dingdangers; but without the idea of Christmas, the physical state of the colorful Christmas tree and the jolly music, there would be no point of Christmas. Christmas cannot just be a word that people interpret happiness from within oneself, there has to be an external celebration of the holiday.
I thought part IV was pretty interesting. The fact that attempting "to enslave others to use them as objects" makes one "a slave and an object". It makes sense, to have slaves is to create expectations of you so that you can keep them in order. With expectations, you cannot be yourself and you are confined to what you can do; causing you to become a slave of the expectations.
And the question, are we really free? According to what I discussed above, it seems as if we are not free; either we are a slave of someone, or we a slave of expectations. Banach also thinks that "[a painter's] freedom is a freedom of synthesis constrained by the material she has to work with and the requirement that she make some one unified thing out of it". I partially agree with Banach; the painter is limited to what materials she can use to paint so we are not really free. But when he says that the painter has to make someone out of the materials, I was thinking the opposite. I believe that a painter does not have to be under the influence of expectations. Painters should paint whatever they wish and it is up to the interpreter, the audience, to make of the painting.
Our own thoughts are not circumscribed. We have the freedom to think whatever we want but it is our physical being that has to hold back. If there are no materials to fully satisfy a painter, the painter cannot make what she intended to paint. But, the painter can still think, imagine, what she wants to make. Likewise, we can think of killing someone, but because of laws and rules, we cannot. Basically, we are physically restricted but we are free mentally.
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Maggie,
ReplyDeleteI enjoyed your post so much. It's clear and I can understand the points you were trying to make and why you thought that way. I agree that it is difficult to understand how you would find happiness within yourself when happiness is usually defined as a feeling you get from something that happened or from someone you love. But happiness can also be viewed as finding peace within yourself and being satisfied with the person you are excluding the outer world. But that type of happiness seems too hard to achieve as well. Like you said, Banach's beliefs do seem too idealistic.
I liked your explanation of the slave masters and how by becoming slave masters they're now subjected into a role where they have set expectations. They're now slaves of their own expectations and go about their lives living with this set of restrictions. They've lost their freedom by taking away others' freedom. This makes me wonder if expectations are necessarily the good thing that most people say they are if they're as bad as Banach says. Are expectations - something that's supposed to be seen as motivational towards human growth - also the gate that keeps us from being free and authentic?
I agree with your argument against Banach's viewpoints of a painter's freedom. We may be limited to the resources given to us, the landscape, the colors, etc., but our imaginations are not limited and we can think of whatever we choose to think of.
I think you've covered a lot of ground in this one post, so I don't really see any areas you need to expand on or revise. Your post was really insightful. It made me question the idea of happiness and what it really means to be happy and how you know when you're happy. It made me think about how I can find something in myself that is "infinitely better" than the things I find outside or if I have already and I just didn't realize I have.
I can't wait to read more from you. Your ideas are so clear and well written. (:
Hi Maggie,
ReplyDeleteYour post was very interesting and you gave a bunch of examples to support what you are saying. Your examples such as Christmas was very funny; the words "Bamboozlers and Dingdangers". As well as the images you created was helpful (like the painter).
I believe your points were that we are happy because we influenced, "motivated" by "physical object(s)". You cannot find happiness just within yourself but there are other things that would make you happy by seeing it or experiencing it. Then you also talk about how we are not as free as it sounds. You said, "Basically, we are physically restricted but we are free mentally" was for me, a very agreeable point and that telling us we are "slave of someone, or we a slave of expectations" was a good...point.
I agree how everybody has to use everybody to achieve something of their own or for the society. And our own happiness can be in there as well like the holidays, we make decorations and sell the lovely stuff to make others happy when looking at it. Like anime and manga makes me extremely happy xD. I don't think it is only in within that you find happiness but like you said, we have something that we found that makes us happy.
Yes, I agree with Carrie, that I don't see where you need to develop or add ideas. Your ideas are "insightful" and made me think about the objects that makes us happy that we are free to think what we want in the inside because no one is going to object it. It is our opinions and whether they like it or not, it's not their business. It is our choice to pick the opinions (you know, like those people who are afraid of their own opinions so they chose with the big crowd, or the scary crowd o.o). Additionally, the "slave" point was new to me and thank you for sharing that out. It made me think a lot too ^-^.
Always glad to read your thoughtful post. Hope to read more next time~.
Ciaossu~ ^-~