I am reading the book "Beyond Feeelings" and this is my summary of the general ideas for the Chapter 1. By doing this, I found that I can get a better understanding of what the writer is talking about and the structure of the Chapter. I'll keep doing this in the future reading.
Who are you
to answer the questions such as "Who are we?" and "How did we get the way we are?" can be quite a chore. We may answer something like this: We're this way because we choose to be. The sentiments and attitudes we have chosen fit our style and personality. In part it's true. But in a larger sense, it's not true. The impact of the world on all of us is much greater than most of us realize.
First, the influence of time and place. that is to say, living in a different age or culture would make you a different person.
Second, the influence of ideas. the kinships between ideas can be expressed as two types:
- When one idea is expressed, closely related ideas are simultaneously conveyed. This kinship can be called as sequitur, Latin for "it follows", meaning the conclusion of an inference.
- an idea can imply other ideas.
if we are fully aware of the closely linked meanings and implications of ideas we encounter, we could easily sort out the sound ones from the unsound, the wise from the foolish, the helpful from the harmful. But the thing is, we are seldom fully aware. The author takes the following idea and the series of events set in motion by this idea as an example. The idea is "intelligence is genetically determined and cannot be increased."
Third, the influence of mass culture. in the past, the influence from family and teacher are dominant, while today the influence exerted by mass culture including the Internet, the newspapers, the magazines and so on, often is greater.
Fourth, the influence of psychology. Dr.Maxwell Maltz demonstrated that self-confidence is important in success, Abraham Maslow proposed the hierarchy of human needs in the form of a pyramid afterwards. The popularization of this work kind of explained why the more global concept of self-esteem has become so dominant. At the pinnacle of the pyramid is the need for self-actualization, or the fulfillment of our potential. Another notable theory is Viktor Frankl's, which is based on both Frankl's professional practice and his experience in Hitler's concentration camps. Frankl's theory takes the self-transcendence rather than self-actualization as human's higher need. Self-transcendence refers to the need to rise above narrow absorption with self. Finding meaning of our life is what life expects us to do daily even hourly.
Becoming an Individual
In light of the discussion on some major influences on us, we should reconsider the concept: Individuality The definition of individuality in Wikipedia is as follows:
Individuality is the state or quality of being an individual.
according to the discussion above, we should realize that individuality is not something we are born with but rather as something we earned. we can't avoid be influenced by others and circumstance. The author thinks that:
the essence of individuality is vigilance.
And the writer offers some guidelines:
- treat our first reaction to any person, issue, or situation as tentative, refuse to embrace it until we have examined it.
- decide why you reacted as you did. consider whether you borrowed the reaction from someone else and determine what specific experiences conditioned you to react this way.
- think of other possible reactions you might have had.
- ask yourself whether one of the other reactions is more appropriate than your first reaction.
original sentence:
The innumerable ideas you have encountered will affect your beliefs and behaviors in similar ways--sometimes slightly, at other times profoundly. And this can happen even if you have not consciously embraced the ideas.
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