The
schizophrenic state that India is in, as described by Roy, speaks for beyond
the personal circumstance to which he is referring. I do not mean to dismiss
the sentiments of the article, but the larger point he addresses at the
beginning of his article speaks volumes about modernity. History and
progression are such independent phenomena that their meshing reflects the
highest degree of complexity through out society. The words progression and
history are not fundamentally antonyms, but the two words are contradictions.
As any society progresses they have to let go of certain parts of history.
Because society is made up of some many different people how comfortable they
are negotiating progression is a reflection of their homage to history. I am
not trying to say that progressive people in society are devoid of the value of
history. What I am saying is the negotiation between progression and history
becomes complicated by the varying allegiances to different aspects of a
countries history.
At
the end of the article Roy speaks about, in my opinion, the biggest obstacle
the citizens of the world must overcome. People in positions of power are more
focused on progressing personal vendettas than making progressions for the good
of the people. It can be seen in something as insignificant as a NBA coach
refusing to change his offensive system to fit the talent of his players, to
the current tug of war over any issue with democrats and republicans in
America. I am not trying to compare the two things I just described, but they
both reflect a similar pattern, and a pattern Roy attests too.
Roy
also continues by explaining that artists are the ones who can bring the
situations of reality in to the focus of every person through their art. (third
to last paragraph) Although I completely agree with what Roy is saying I think
that this explanation is something that is legitimately holding society back.
Modernity has shifted into a realm of specialties. As this is the case it is
not encouraged for people to develop an eclectic intellect, they are channeled
into areas of specialty, and they only concern themselves with their
capabilities within that specialty. This dos not encourage people to question
the sentiments of experts, it keeps people from asking truly revealing questions.
Designating the recreation of reality to the arts discourages everybody else
from trying to accomplish what our artists have. Those people should be valued
for their skills, but everybody should be encouraged to do the same thing as
these people. It does not have to be to the same caliber because these people
are professionals, but recreating reality in a way that is relatable should be
a fundamental part of every day life. There is such much diversity in the world
that being able to draw personal parallels is a fundamentally valuable skill. It
is a skill that keeps one relevant to the world in which they live.
Although
Roy directly explains that what is going on in India is going on in all
different places, the importance of that connection are understated. This
directly leads into my review of this class. The most valuable thing that I
learned is that as different as cultures are from one another, the more people
are the same. What I mean by that statement is that the negative aspect of
culture can victimize any person in any society, unless that person understands
that society. In formal education the powers at be try to trick you with
undervaluing the importance of education because a lot of professors teach from
the perspective that their words are fact and there is little room for
discussion. An adequate understanding of society not only allows one to
critically think about their reality, but it also allows them to value their
education. The lessons that I have learned about different societies in this
class have taught me more about the society that I live in than I could have
ever imagined. The ability to draw parallels between my life and the lives of
others is an invaluable skill that will allow my to keep the correct
perspective towards a lot of things I will come across.
The
focus of this course review is the skill that I just expanded. The world is
progressing to a place where people cannot see beyond their own lives when
consuming any information. People are so quick to judge the actions or opinions
of others, but most people are not able to make connections to the people they
are judging. Understanding the importance of difference, and the multiplicity
of the human experience, people can make connections to experiences that are
invaluable. I may never go to most countries in the world, but the things I
have learned about understanding other societies in this class will allow me to
make connections to my life that only benefit me as a person. This may seem
like a simplistic review of this class but I honestly cannot think of a more
valuable lesson that has been taught in a classroom. There are so many things
in this world that separate people it is not encouraged for people to find
parallels to their own life. It seems that the biggest secret in life is that
we all have so much in common. We do not have the same things in common but our
interests reflect similarities in the lives of all humans. As humans our
emotions reflect of relationships to different aspects of culture. Although
what evokes those emotions may be different from culture to culture, the fact
that the same human emotions are expressed connects all people. The only
differences are the vehicles of those emotions.
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