Transcendentalism is an intersting philosphy that we've had to read over the last couple of days. It revolves largely around the concept of self-reliance, and self-worth. It says that we should worship the God within, and that determination and confidence in ourselves and our own ideas will lead to enlightenment.
"Speak your latest conviction, and it shall be the universal sense."
As a Republican, I agree with the concept of being capable of being self-sufficient and not absolutely relying on others. But if we push others away, we do lose a great deal of potential. I belive the pinacle of genius lies in collaboraton; did Lance Armstrong personally design, build, and launch the rocket that took him to the moon? No, he's just a grunt with the bowels to withstand high g-forces, who rode into space on the most advanced vehicle ever made.
On the other end of a spectrum, throwing a talented person into a group of other perfectly talented people could result in that's person's talents never having a chance to shine. It's a balance of both giving a person room to grow and develop while still having others nearby to collaborate with, and this is a balance that transcendentalism does not promote.
So no, I am not a transcendentalist. I agree with a few points that it makes, but overall it just doesn't fit with my beliefs.
After reading your post, it makes me think differenlty about mine, because I agree with what you are saying. I feel that although we do need to rely on ourselves, we also need others, because we aren't capable of doing every single thing on our own. Though along with this I feel that we have to be our own selves and the idea that Emerson makes, "trust thyself", is a huge concept that even with the help of others, we still need to trust our own selves because we don't know when someone could take advantage of our trust and stab us in the back.
ReplyDeleteVery good points Shea, I concur with your thoughts for the most part. I strongly agree with you idea of best ideas coming from collaborations although it conflicts drastically with the ideas of transcendentalism. Balance is key, I say as well.
ReplyDeleteI like how you examine both sides of being self reliant, and I agree with your point that you need to be somewhere in the middle. Moderation is best in most cases.
ReplyDeleteFirst off Lance Armstrong is a biker who has the Tour de France multiple times. Neil Armstrong was the astronaut who said the famous lines, "That's one small step for a man, one giant leap for mankind." Otherwise I agree with most of your points especially "It's a balance of both giving a person room to grow and develop while still having others nearby to collaborate with."
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