During my first few months at the University, during the extensive meeting and forgetting of people, there is one human trait that I have encountered more than any other: Pride. Pride of one's physical appearance, pride of one's achievements, pride of one's culture; a pride that permeates through the Grounds, a monotonous pride that is subtle during the week but altogether deafening amidst the repetitive post-party stories.
If one were to classify humanity through the lens of science, a convenient metaphor could be drawn comparing human character with the states of matter. I think most of us are aware of individuals in the "solid" state, people whose stubbornness prevents them from changing under any circumstances. Also evident are persons in the "gaseous" state, those "free spirits" who have few worries about themselves or life, choosing instead to "go with the flow." But far more frequent, and far less obvious, is the liquid state. "Human nature," once wrote the poet Wallace Stevens, "is like water. It takes the shape of its container." Under the guise of individualism and free will, many people instead act in the manner found most reasonable under their circumstances. Henceforth, among such a large University population, you cannot help but observe many people of the same character: Different variations on a theme. I feel a vague familiarity toward many people I have met, as if they chose one of the preset builds in the "Create-a-Character" of a real life Collegiate Sims or something. Dorm life has been similar to scenes from Dead Poets Society, and people go out of their way to replicate Animal House on the weekends. A wealthy person discussing the rightness of trickle down economics? A stoner pointing out the benefits of legalizing cannabis? Yes, people acting in the manner you would expect them to. Is this true? And even if it resembles actuality, why is it relevant?
Well, this pride has really prevented me, and I'm sure others, from truly getting to know people. Pride can blind you toward your own character. Often, upon asking another person "Who are you?" I am met only with a detailed description of their interests, passions, achievements, and experiences; they can tell me everything they have come into contact with, without shedding any light about themselves. They take pride in everything surrounding them but know little about who they actually are. Consequently, people find themselves in situations where they do not know how to act, often following suit with the readily available choice of popular opinion. But so it is in a culture that promotes social acceptance rather than individual development.
I recently read some works - John Locke especially - that express the beginnings of property in man's ownership of himself. He is in possession of his body and therefore owns anything that his labor bestows upon him. But really, what is the relation we have to ourselves? The circumstances to which we are born are random or providential, nothing relating to our own choice. Why take so much pride in ourselves? I find that no one is more foreign to me than me. I am as confused in understanding my own being as I am any other person. Yet, we demand that people "take pride" in who they are! We differentiate among minority groups, ethnic groups, people of different sexual affiliations and many others, distinctions that we have had little to no control over to this point. It is my belief that the University not only tolerates such pride but acts in a manner to facilitate and increase it. The most prominent of these notions is that constant promotion of diversity. Not only stressing our differences, but celebrating them - people take pride in their individual heritage and culture as if they had chosen it specifically out of all possibilities. The constant paradox of American society is found at the University in that we talk about assimilating cultures (the melting pot idea) but instead have witnessed the phenomenon known as self-segregation. What is a possible resolution to this? To build a University community, applying the words of Martin Luther King, Jr., where we "will not be judged by the color of [our] their skin but by the content of [our] character." And if there is no alternative, we should at least extend this forced celebration of diversity to all living beings that deserve it. You dislike rats? Racist! You killed a large cockroach in your room? Such is genocide and you will be charged under the full force of the law.
There is so much opportunity for us at this moment in our lives. Not merely in the academic sense, but in the far more significant realm of individualism. And this all starts with thinking less of yourself, confronting such pride with the utmost humility - to step out of the shadow of your experiences and develop on your own. You are not only the son or daughter of your parents, a follower of a certain ideology, a listener to a favorite band, but a person who should be esteemed on his own merits.
But who am I to express all these half-truths and simplifications? Is it not with egotism, and therefore hypocrisy, that I write this? That may be true. I may be ignorant and na
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