self-evaluation
i think i've finally come to as full of an understanding of myself as is possible at this point in my life. my personality and/or flaws can pretty much be summed up into one nice little package. i am inclined to addiction, a vigilent supporter of just about any underdog and a tireless devil's advocate.
any new idea, song, place, thing, food, person that i really like becomes my temporary obsession. ok, maybe not obsession, but definitely fixation. i listen to CDs literally ad naseum and then have to stow them away for a 2 month period. it's a big part of the reason i develop such deep associations with music. i can pop in almost any album i own and be transported to another time and place - feeling the emotions, smelling the aromas, sensing the weather.
i try approach issues from the standpoint of whoever's getting the shaft in the situation. sometimes my opinions are based more on gut reactions and emotions than on facts or over-intellectualized reasoning. i know that this is frustrating to some people (mike), because it makes me really difficult to reason with. there are just some things i sense are right or wrong largely based on my faith and empathy for down-trodden.
in classes, i find myself always countering arguments. not really because i disagree with what's being said, but because there's only one opinion being expressed. i'm not quite sure if it's because i just like being difficult or if i'm striving to make myself stand out or because i like to challenge people or some odd mix of the three. all i know is that i'll find myself mid-argument and think, you know, i don't really care about this all THAT much. arguing for the sake of arguing - it's the mahan curse.
i'm quirky and weird, but at least i've learned to appreciate it.
any new idea, song, place, thing, food, person that i really like becomes my temporary obsession. ok, maybe not obsession, but definitely fixation. i listen to CDs literally ad naseum and then have to stow them away for a 2 month period. it's a big part of the reason i develop such deep associations with music. i can pop in almost any album i own and be transported to another time and place - feeling the emotions, smelling the aromas, sensing the weather.
i try approach issues from the standpoint of whoever's getting the shaft in the situation. sometimes my opinions are based more on gut reactions and emotions than on facts or over-intellectualized reasoning. i know that this is frustrating to some people (mike), because it makes me really difficult to reason with. there are just some things i sense are right or wrong largely based on my faith and empathy for down-trodden.
in classes, i find myself always countering arguments. not really because i disagree with what's being said, but because there's only one opinion being expressed. i'm not quite sure if it's because i just like being difficult or if i'm striving to make myself stand out or because i like to challenge people or some odd mix of the three. all i know is that i'll find myself mid-argument and think, you know, i don't really care about this all THAT much. arguing for the sake of arguing - it's the mahan curse.
i'm quirky and weird, but at least i've learned to appreciate it.
3 Comments:
You wrote that "sometimes my opinions are based more on gut reactions and emotions than on facts or over-intellectualized reasoning... there are just some things i sense are right or wrong largely based on my faith and empathy for down-trodden."
I was reading "One L," which is Scott Turow's memoir of his first year in law school. Your quote is reflective of one of Turow's classmates. She laments, similarly, that the study of law has angered her because it does not mesh with her senses and beliefs-- ideas, thoughts, and opinions that she holds that are based largely on such intangibles as emotion. She, like you, also would like to be an advocate for the underdog, the "down-trodden."
While I do not think that any event or action can be over-intellectualized, I do think there are instances where rationality and empirical thought are no help to our understanding an event.
But how do you convince someone to do or believe in X when all you can offer is you feel good about and believe in X. What if they feel just as good about Y as you do X? Certainly you would agree that you have reached an impasse with that person.
By
Michael Ward, at 8:41 AM
you're right mike, it does make it hard to sway people. thankfully, i don't feel like i have to make everyone agree with me all of the time.
By
martha, at 6:04 PM
But what about when you do?
By
Michael Ward, at 5:42 PM
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