on Orson Scott Card
stupid cold
I got my hearing back thanks to Amy! (and her sudafed) hehe
Some of the points I liked about Orson Scott Card's lecture:
Challenge yourself: Read stuff you don't like/don't have any interest in.
Learn as much as you can.
He had no official expertise in what was going on in the Middle East but he saw something that there were so many wrongs against and something that could be done about it and he's working to correct those wrongs.
It's funny because I didn't think anyone shared my weirdness of challenging yourself. Challenge your opinions, leave room to doubt yourself.
9 Comments:
OSC writes a (sometimes conservative-leaning, but fairly realistic) column at http://www.ornery.org/ I used to read them now and again. I think he's a great writer.
Have you ever read his Alvin Maker series? It's pretty cool.
you said:
It's funny because I didn't think anyone shared my weirdness of challenging yourself. Challenge your opinions, leave room to doubt yourself.
maybe i am misreading your intentions, but what drove me to comment on this was this observation:
each of us only knows at most a few millionths of the people on earth. we probably don't know all of them as well as we'd imagine at first, so it seems awfully arrogant to think that few people question what they are living for, that no one shares your "weirdness of challenging yourself."
it's certainly not weird for people to challenge themselves. i used to think many people didn't, but then i realised i don't see everything they do in their spare time. (think about all your friends, all the people you know, and how much you think you know them, how much time you spend with them.) most people challenge themselves when i'm not looking, without telling me, in ways i cannot or do not imagine. the people who i believe don't challenge themselves, i usually don't know them well--my opinion is based off a first impression.
(and on another note, i am constanly surprised how few people i truly know. most of them are not at mit.)
woah. You misread my post because I think we look at the world in different ways. I was trying to communicate a surprise of discovering someone. I don't assume that the people I know don't challenge themselves. In fact, now that I think about it there are definitely people I know that challenge themselves. You're right, challenging yourself is a subtle thing to see.
I wasn't talking about questioning what we're living for but that's a good point. How often do you think people generaly do this?
or maybe more importantly, what do people decide?
now I am more confused than before..
Well, at least I can declare that I do NOT challenge myself. I have high aspirations but they are never acted upon.
Thank you.
all three of you have sincerely lost me now.
what i do know is this. i don't know you fellas as well as i'd like, but what has been made apparent to me is a notion of reaching. always extending yourself in new and exciting ways. i think both of you have grown so much as people since i first met you... in ways that you probably wouldn't even note being worthwhile...
anyway. point being. it's good that you're always questioning yourself. because it forces you to not settle. and it makes your growth dynamic. at the same time... questioning isn't the same as doubting.
i rambled off into another tangent sorry.
i'd never know how often people question or doubt (or whatever you want to call it) what they live for, let alone the answer they come up with, because i can't read minds.
what i live for is something i ultimately can only find out for myself. and i'd feel lucky if i stumbled into it.
but there's a difference between questioning and doubting. i think there is anyway.
questioning involves a certain confidence in one's past actions, but always being open to change. a probing. a challenging kind of mindset.
whereas doubting is treading lightly without a strong grounding in reason and without confidence in one's ability to make good decisions. a hesitant sort of "neither here nor there" existence that doesn't take life by the reins. coincidental outside forces mold you rather than you actively trying to mold yourself.
um. anyway.
no one has the right to judge anyone else in this matter. so i guess ultimately all of this is moot.
One thing...
I may be very guilty of this, but it's important not to question your actions, direction, and motivation to the point of worthless and paralyzing self-analysis. I often err in analyzing my situation constantly...
I decide to do something, discover it is difficult, and then re-analyze and decide to do something different, because "I am in a rut, I need a change". I'd be better off just buckling down and working for a good bit of time, and then questioning my decision later if I'm not satisfied, then.
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