2008 Woodie Awards
The Paradox of the Human Collective
John Ferreira
Issue date: 4/14/06 Section: Opinions
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Every individual is special, that is after all what how we exist, as distinct entities, separate from others. The thinker Hannah Arendt discussed in her work that one of the most difficult things to deal with in the modern world, and something that she says states and politicians take advantage of, is isolation. That is the paradox that the human race exists in, we are proud of our individuality yet at the same time "we", the collective human kind, struggle with the loneliness and isolation that is so prevalent in the contemporary world.
That is often the cause of friction between our Western ideals, founded upon Judeo-Christian traditions, and Eastern ideals that are far more collective in nature. Many a thinkers, better than I, have pondered the odd place that we inhabit in our society. Why is that as our society gets larger, with more individuals together, we actually feel like we know less about people and to a certain extent about ourselves.
In our modern life in this country, there are two very different images of loneliness. One image is that of the lonely cowboy, or that of a sleepy rural town. The populations are small, everyone knows each other, and there are large expansive spaces of empty plains. The other image of loneliness that exists is that of the city. I was recently talking to a friend of mine who goes to school in New York and she told me that she was surprised at how happy people were that day. I inquired as to why people would be unhappy living in New York, it is after all one of the greatest cities of the world. She responded that New York is one of loneliest cities in the world because no one cares about anyone else.
That is after all, the paradox we exist in. It seems so very alien to our human nature that the more people are around us the less we care about those people. Take the differences between large colleges and small colleges; one of the reasons I came to Rollins after all was because of the smaller size where I knew I would be cared for.
That answer I believe is in our state of mind, and in our culture which has somehow corrupted the caring side of our nature. Today too many people view others as a nothing more than assets to be used and abused. Our humanity, and the individual quality of each person has been rubbed off so that we can be entertained. It is amazing to walk by a building and to see all of the gleaming television lights from each window, each person watching the same channel, so close to one another, but no realization that the other exists. Too much emphasis is now placed on the individual and that which the individual accomplishes is measured not by moral fiber but my dollar signs.
This only means that we must work overtime to bridge the gaps of our current lifestyle and our culture.
That is often the cause of friction between our Western ideals, founded upon Judeo-Christian traditions, and Eastern ideals that are far more collective in nature. Many a thinkers, better than I, have pondered the odd place that we inhabit in our society. Why is that as our society gets larger, with more individuals together, we actually feel like we know less about people and to a certain extent about ourselves.
In our modern life in this country, there are two very different images of loneliness. One image is that of the lonely cowboy, or that of a sleepy rural town. The populations are small, everyone knows each other, and there are large expansive spaces of empty plains. The other image of loneliness that exists is that of the city. I was recently talking to a friend of mine who goes to school in New York and she told me that she was surprised at how happy people were that day. I inquired as to why people would be unhappy living in New York, it is after all one of the greatest cities of the world. She responded that New York is one of loneliest cities in the world because no one cares about anyone else.
That is after all, the paradox we exist in. It seems so very alien to our human nature that the more people are around us the less we care about those people. Take the differences between large colleges and small colleges; one of the reasons I came to Rollins after all was because of the smaller size where I knew I would be cared for.
That answer I believe is in our state of mind, and in our culture which has somehow corrupted the caring side of our nature. Today too many people view others as a nothing more than assets to be used and abused. Our humanity, and the individual quality of each person has been rubbed off so that we can be entertained. It is amazing to walk by a building and to see all of the gleaming television lights from each window, each person watching the same channel, so close to one another, but no realization that the other exists. Too much emphasis is now placed on the individual and that which the individual accomplishes is measured not by moral fiber but my dollar signs.
This only means that we must work overtime to bridge the gaps of our current lifestyle and our culture.