In order to truly feel successful and satisfied, we must create our own ideas of success. I do not want to spend my whole life working toward certain goals, then when I fulfill my goals, wonder why I am not happy. That feeling is created by not fulfilling my true goals. Instead of letting society tell me what being successful looks like, I create my own image of it, personalized for myself. Therefore, when I reach that point, I know I will truly be successful. In the TED Talk "A Kinder, Gentler Philosophy of Success," de Botton brought up a lot of points that made me think, including the idea of success in contemporary society. He proposes that there is "a correlation between a society who tells people they can do anything and low self-esteem." To me, this makes sense. If we constantly tell someone they can do anything they dream of, then that person will constantly feel like they are not reaching their full potential, that they are not doing enough. So by encouraging people to reach their full potential, we are making them feel like failures. This is where tragedy is introduced. De Botton says that tragic arts trace how people fail. This is an interesting interpretation of tragedy. By looking at tragedy from this much simpler perspective, it seems much easier to understand. As de Botton argues, do not think of Hamlet as a loser, he is simply someone who has lost. This key difference affects how we see ourselves and how we read tragedies.
|
AuthorWrite something about yourself. No need to be fancy, just an overview. ArchivesCategories |