Response to Banach's Lecture, Part 2

While reading David Banach's various parts of his lecture, I feel like my mind has been in a tornado. There are many parts that I understand, and many parts that I do not understand. There are parts that I do not like hearing about, as well as parts that I agree with. Yet I believe there are several important questions, all revolving around whether we are as free as we think we are, and what 'absolute freedom' really means.

I believe that everyone has the opportunity to make their own decisions, and that no one else can make those decisions for you. I also feel like everyone is accountable for their actions, and that they should take responsibility for those actions. Something that I really agree with David Banach on is that 'we [all] attempt to deceive ourselves and act as if we weren't free, as if we were really determined by our nature, our body, or the expectations of other people." Some people do let others make the decisions for them, while some are also too weak or scared to make the decisions for themselves. It's like those cliques that have one leader, and the rest of the people follow the leader without questioning anything that the leader is saying. Even though I do not feel this way, some people may feel safer having someone tell them step by step what to do in their lives. Yet life does not come with an instruction booklet, people have to learn for themselves how to live.

At my table we had a discussion about puppets, like how Banach said, "even if I were a puppet, my body and its actions completely controlled by some malevolent master, what I am, my mind's eye would still be free and untouched." I was picturing a person actually tied with strings, and society pulling at those strings. Puppets cannot move their bodies by themselves, they have a puppet master to move them, so I was thinking about people that let others make them who they are. While Jacara was saying how she thinks it's talking about how people think and their actions.

My favorite part of Banach's lecture was where he said "what we make ourselves out of these materials is up to us alone (just as what the artist makes of her subject is up to her alone.)" I really like this quote, because he compares us to artists and discusses us like a big piece of artwork. I can relate to this example because I am a painter, and I often work off of pictures. Yet I take pictures and do my own version of the painting, using different colors and ways of painting what I see. To make it mine. Banach was talking about how we take things that we see, yet we make them into ourselves.

I feel like people act in “bad faith” to try and separate themselves from other individuals. (Mr. Manley’s question.) It’s like when you try to punish a teenager, they sometimes act worse because they were yelled at. Some people like to do things just because others told them not to. This might be a sort of embarrassing example, but I can connect this to an experience I’ve had in my life. One time I was sitting on the train with my boyfriend at the time (who is now my ex) and his best friend. The best friend told my boyfriend to never let me read Twilight books because all of the girly girls read them. So when things were falling apart in our relationship, I started reading the Twilight series just because my ex and his friend told me not to. I was not acting in bad faith, but I was doing something purposely because they said not to.

There is this card in my house that says: “dare to be remarkable” on it, which really reminded me of this whole unit we’re doing on absolute freedom. I think this card is really cleaver, because for some people it is difficult to be out there and noticeable. There was this group of girls that used to go to SOF who I used to call “the rain-boot crew” because they all dressed the same, and on a rainy day they would all wear similar rubber rain boots. I feel like all those girls acted the same, and that they we not trying to be individuals. Groups like the rain-boot crew don't just happen in School Of The Future, there are examples of the rain-boot crew happens everywhere you go. I can even admit to trying to blend in sometimes, even though I think it is much more fun to dress in ways that are out there. Yet on the first day of school I tried to blend, because I hadn’t met any of the people of my class yet so I didn’t know if the people in my class could handle what I wear when it’s not like everybody else. Even if they cannot though, it’s too bad for them. When Banach’s lecture was summed up, the slogan said to “be authentic”, which is a really cleaver saying, which I agree with. People should act real and individual, not just a reproduction of everybody else.

I would continue what I’m saying in even more detail, but I feel like I could be rambling about being an individual for hours and hours. So for now, I’d just like to say not to fall into the cookie cutter mold, but to try and be as unique as you possibly can. Yet if that is not possible, just try to be yourself.