The conversation in class has led to the conclusion that all that is is opinion or perspective about truth (and universal or absolute Truth seems lost). With examples like moral truth, family values, and education, we have stated that opinion not an objective, absolute reason or truth guides our decisions about why we do what we do, i.e. not kill each other, go to school, teach and learn the same way for so many years etc.
The question is -- Why do we (people) all seem to go along with what we are told (go to school, work a regular 9 to 5 job, not be cannibals) if the power choose is based in our own opinions? Are we all simply victims of cultural and paternal influence and lemmings to those dictates and therefore conform or is there another reason for the continuity we see in people's actions?
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Why do we as people go along with what we are told? I think most of us follow unwritten rules (holding doors for people whose arms are full, saying 'thank you' and 'you're welcome', etc.)and written rules (laws) because of how we are brought up. As a child you are told you aren't allowed to take someone else's block without asking permission first. So, when we grow up we know to ask first before borrowing something, because when we were young we were taught to ask permission. Even if someone disagrees, and has a different opinion, they may not say anything because throughout their entire life they were taught differently. If we are told that stealing, killing, cannibalism, etc. is wrong our entire life, we are generally inclined to follow what we were taught for so many years. This is also how our opinions are formed; constant reinforcement of what is and is not acceptable in society, family life, etc.
However, there are always 'exceptions'. People are generally raised to believe that killing another human being is wrong, which is also the law. Although many people do follow the law and what they were taught, some go against what is considered acceptable in society and murder. Many people are taught to ask permission before borrowing, but some people just take without asking.
To sum everything up, I think people do as they are told (even when they are able to form their own opinions) because certain thoughts are drilled into our heads from birth; don't steal, don't kill other people, don't eat other people. Our parents or guardians got these ideas from their parents or guardians, and so on and so forth until the basics of society and morals were built.
Everyone usually forms a perspective and an opinion based on what their parents think. their parents want them to go to school and frown upon the cannibalistic ways. therfore their kids will follow in their footsteps. just like when their father has a fsavorite football team, usually the kids will share that same favorite football team. i believe we are all victims of paternal influence, but if we really wanted to steer in a different path, although it would be different anddisliked it would be allowed. but most of the time the kids will follow their guardians and do as they are told even though they do not have to.
I think there might not be an "absolute truth". There are so many things in this world that we don't have the answer for. For exmaple...How did everything start? Scientists have one idea while religious followers have another. There are theories and ways to back up your belief, but there is no absolute truth that is clearly evident of how things really did start.
I think we, as people, go along and do as we are told because it is simply what we think we are supposed to do. I know i go to school because i want to get good grades, go to college, and go on in life doing whatever i have an interest in. If i decided i did not want to go to school, my parents would probably force me to.They'd probably make me because they think thats what right. Because thats what most people think is the right thing to do. So maybe the power isn't based on our opinion, but the opinion of the majority of the people. Thats the way most things are decided, in this government at least.
As for other things, like morals and values, i think it depends on how you were raised. If i was raised in a world where killing people wasn't a crime, i'm not so sure i would think it was an immoral thing to do. I'm not really sure where i stand in the whole debate of whether humans are born naturally good, evil, or it just depends on how they were raised. But i do lean to the side it depends on how you were brought up. I think these morals are conformed in us and its quite possible we are victims in cultural and paternal influence just following the crowd.
I think that people instincly do that which they feel will be most profitable/least penalizing. People may talk about having morals but deep down they just follow the conforms of society because it makes them have fewer enemies and feel like they "fit in" and have companionship, which is something that all people enjoy. Those people that do not follow the "norm" simply feel that it would be more to their advantage to do things their way.
A perspective is based on the world around us, and how we perceive what happens in life. To many, their perspective is equivalent to the way they must live their life. This is why many people live similar lives to their parents or their upbringings. They feel it is right because they see others who seem perfectly happy doing the same thing. It is a mentality much like that of animals being herded, not to necessarily say it is a bad thing, but to instead suggest that we may just be following our own inner nature.
Our own opinions do not seem as important because society views our desires on a whole as selfish, carnal, and animalistic.
Due to cultural influences, people view only a few ways of life as "correct" to live, which leads to the routine of our daily lives and culture. This is hwat causes us to do work every day, to go to school, to work nine to fives, and we view it as okay, because everyone else does it too!
Such is the life of a cultural lemming.
We all seem to get along as well as we do because that is how we are all brought up. In the US, our parents, teachers, and anyone else around us shape our beliefs and what we know to be truth. In a way, nothing and everything is true because no one actually knows the Truth, so therefore anything could be true or false. Since there is no actual villain, we are not victims, however, the fact that we are not able to change our customs and decide our way of life. If we really wanted to, everyone could change their ideals, values, and beliefs to become separate from society. In that perspective, everyone has their own mind which can be controlled however they want, rejecting the thought of us being victims.
We go along with it because it works. When you ask why we go to school and get an education your parents/mentors can say well look at him/her and how well they did thanks to their high level of education. When you see people making billions of dollars and being incredibly intelligent it doesn't take rocket science to realize that maybe i should be educated. Maybe you won't be a billionaire, but at least you'll be a well rounded person. Nine to five's follow roughly the same idea. People want to be promoted, and the best way to do that is to work hard and efficiently. They want to show their employer that they deserve that promotion. We have the want to do better and succeed. For some this is in the form of wealth, for others success can be defined as millions of other things. However, our culture covers everything. If suddenly we started saying that cannibalism can lead to billions or a spiritual awakening or a good president than our society would be a lot different.
We, as a community, whether we know it or not, choose to make these morals that mostly everyone follows on a day to day basis. When we were younger, it was drilled in our minds that highschool dropouts would amount to nothing. We start school around 4 years of age, and ever since then, we have attended the same lifestyle. We teach the same way because there is not one person to tell us otherwise or another way to teach the future of the country. We are forced to rely on the fact that even though this style of teaching does not work, it must be implemented because the people of the past has declared it right. Though we make our own decisions in life, we truly only make these decisions based on the "code and rules" shown to us by our parents, grandparents, and ancestors.
We are victims of our own community. We base our decisons off of experiences from our life that contribute to us knowing right from wrong. We see the 9 to 5 job as "normal". Everyone must do some type of customary job that conforms to that time limit. People do not see another way to support a family besides that. That is because their family members before them also worked constant hours as well as other people they know around them.
One universal truth, though cannot be found, is based on our perception of the community. Based on this idea, the community controls our actions and beliefs like not to be canibals. It is seen as wrong because our society has deemed it incorrect for many many many years. Not many things can alter the decisons made hundreds of years ago. Change happens slowly.
Humans in gerneral are creatures of habit. They tend to follow those before and conform to society. I feel, that morally there is an unwritten code or Real Morality that all men follow. We feel obligated not to steal, kill, or skip school because it disappoint our parents and come with repercussions. That is why in most cases, criminals are individuals who are out of touch with society and come from broken homes. Our society is very cowardly, which is why people tend to do what they are told and not think for themselves. People conform to society, which is why changing our habits is so difficult.
We do fall victim to paternal influence, following what the parent thinks is right to there perspective. Going to school at an early age, filling your brain with positive influences, saying that failing in school will get you no were, so you just follow the daily routine jammed into your head. We all just follow morals and cultural values that the rest of society does, believe that it is the write thing to do.
We believe what we believe as a society simply because it's the one thing that keeps us going. Whether it be completely false or factual. For example, religion. Why believe in Heaven? There is no actual proof of it, right? So why believe in something that is so obscure, yet fulfilling? It's because without a "Heaven," to many, life would be pointless and we would just all be counting down seconds till our judgement day. "Life's just a pace-car on death, only less diligent" (Pete Wentz). This goes along with "The Absolute Truth." In my opinion, I don't think there is an "Absolute Truth" in the terms of what philosophers think it is. I believe that each one of us has our own path to follow and we all learn along the way. Childhood is one of the main reasons and contributers to the morals humans carry on with them into adulthood. Parents are very influential, but at the same time taint children's perspectives. If they are raised strictly and were hidden from the actual world, they most likely won't know anything other then the life they live. So in a sense, their actual world is different from the world we believe is the actual world simply because of how they were raised.
Laws are another thing that should come to thought. Why is it that killing is such a bad thing? All the people that have killed others could possibly have been doing them a favor and relieving them of the misconstrued world we live in and sent them to a better place. Now I do not in any way believe that is even the slightest bit true, but why don't I? I mean, terrorists in the Middle East don't seem to care who dies as long as they get their point across. The reason we do is because our minds are programmed to at such a young age by adults that it's almost impossible to corrupt. Obviously there are some exceptions, but still. But to counteract that point, we as a society curse every single day. I know I do. However, I was raised not to curse. I'm pretty sure that all of us weren't raised to either, but yet we still do it. Now I bet most of you would respond, "Well it's not against the law so it's fine." Drugs are against the law. We were for the most part raised to stay away from them yet between 30-50% of American's have smoked a joint in their life time. What is right, pro drug use or no drug use? Why is taking another human's life, but not a pig's or chicken's, so unacceptable? There is no direct answer but the broad answer is that it suites our needs. We are comfortable with whatever we believe in. Reassurance is always needed and perspectives will change, but the reason why is that it is the easiest way out. We are living in the same world, but living different lives.
We as humans are all made in God's image and likeness. Humans are made with feelings, both physical and emotional. Things such as rape, murder, stealing are all morally wrong due to the fact that they all hurt people's feelings physically and/or emotionally. Any human who has the ability to kill or steal or rape has no moral values/doesn't care for other humans. Life is enjoyable, so why should we be the only ones to enjoy it? Everyone should be given equal happiness, so morals protect ourselves/each other from getting hurt/being hurt. Treat you neighbor as yourself. It is indeed true that morals have simply been passed down through the ages to every human born, but they're passed down for a reason. God insures that morals are passed down. God carries these moral values, so he wants us to carry the same moral values, because he knows all, and he knows these are right.
Without knowing Truths and foundations, we only know our perspectives or opinions on the matter. In Plato's writing, the prisoners can only see shadows of the people walking by and don't know what it is that is walking by because they don't know the truth, but only their opinion or perspective of what is happening. People won't be able to handle the absolute truth because they have believed their opinions and perspectives they were told for so many years.
We go along with what our parents and other "officials" tell us to do because they are just that, our parents and officials. From a young age, we are taught that we must do what older people tell us to do, because they "know more than us" or they "know what's right and wrong". And the people who teach this are our own parents, who we (or at least should) have a respect for, since they gave us life, so we do as they say and learn from them. Our parents teach us the basics for our opinions, planting our seeds so we could grow them into the opinions we will have at a later age from experience, knowledge, etc. Our parents also teach and influence on us that we should respect and listen to these "officials" (Police, Firemen, Teachers, etc.). They say that these people can help us live easier lives, save us from trouble, and teach us, but only if we listen to them. What I'm trying to say is that, our parents infuse these morals in us, and they soon become part of our opinions, that we should listen to these people and do as we are told, that these people can help us live our lives. And though we SAY we don't agree with listening to these people, in reality, we want to, because we "know" that these people are there to help us (Or at least we "think" they are). If you really didn't agree with these things, you would have been doing something to change it by now
Most people decide fo conform with society because it is much easier than it is to resist it. Sure a boy may dream of being an astronaut one day but it is much more realistic he will be a teacher or another 9 to 5 job. People try to obtain happiness by going outside their comfort zone and exploring the unkwown butmost are scared to risk it. Life is all about making and having money and a person may not be willing to risk their reliable steady job to try to strive ahead. People follow the unwritten guidelines of life because its the most common path to being able to live a self sustaining life.
I think people do what they're told/what everyone else does because it's easier. It's much simpler to be a follower and not a leader, and if you're different than everyone else you might lose friends, be an outcast, etc. People are afraid of stepping out of the crowd. We all have our own opinions, but not necessarily the power to choose in all circumstances. We may have to do what our parents say, what the law says, etc. Also, we just naturally go with how we were raised and our influences from when we are young. It's hard to change a person's beliefs when that's what they thought from the beginning.
Why do we always do just as we are told, even when we do have our own opinions to put into use? Mainly because most people do not follow their own instincts. As children we cannot be expected to know where to go in life. Naturally, not only do parents teach us what we should and should not do, but also teachers, friends, peers, and even mere acquaintances. A lot of the time, we look up to those we admire on television or a supermodel. They may not always make us see the real world, but it is percieved to most as the real world. Therefore, how do we know what is real and unreal? We don't; it's just something we have to learn for ourselves. As for following others rather than ourselves, eventually with age and wisdom comes one's own decisions and conflicts. This is when we truely begin to follow our own thoughts. However, I do not believe we will ever, as natural human beings, ever stand solitary, without the influence of another human being.
Everyone usually has a perspective on things as they grow up and get older because of what they are taught by their parents. They tell you what to do therefore you think they are smarter then you because they are the authoritative figure, but we as children will be learning the same things as they did and will know the same stuff so we will be equal to our parents. i think we are all victims of influences. we dont know that we can go another way and do something else. we just listen to our parents, go to school,do everything we are told, and follow their morals. we don't really have our own perspective on things, its our parent sway of thinking about it we just follow them. we are allowed to do things our own way, but just havent had the chance to go and explore that power.
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