Anyone can act: This entry was probably one of my favorites. For the most part because it started off with a quote from Marlon Brando, my favorite actor. I believe it was from his Johnny Carson Tonight Show appearance in the early 70's. His quote, "Acting is the least mysterious of all crafts. Whenever we want something from somebody or when we want to hide something or pretend, we're acting." I believe this, and the further explanation in the entry shows that we all act every day, and are good at it. For instance, a person asks you how your day is going you will have different answers dependent on the person. A stranger or acquaintance will probably prompt you to give them an answer that isn't totally truthful. On the other hand, if the same question is posed by a person you have a very close relationship with your answer will be more genuine. However, even in that circumstance there are many times when the real ideas and thoughts moving around in your head are not what comes out with your words. Everyone acts at all times in the day. The art of negotiation is a huge performance in itself. Each party wants their benefits to outway the others after the ink has hit the paper. These internal motivations are what prompts up to act, in an way. This is everyday acting that we all do; no matter if your profession is acting or not. However, a professional actor has a strange paradox to navigate through. It is the challenge of becoming someone who isn't you; to act like someone else. But with the most truth possible. It is a strange dichotomy to have truth and fiction working simultaneously like that.
Intellectuals and power: Michel Foucault's theories on power are very interesting and persuading. I believe that his ideology of power flowing through every stream of society to be very accurate. I can personally trace this idea back to Friedrich Nietzsche's will to power. The idea that he floated in many of his books, which states that the primary fundamental urge that drives us in life is the will to power. When I first read this I disagreed; I always thought that as humans our primary fundamental urge was to procreate and pass on our genetic line. That is basically the reason that all animals exist. However, the will to power made me think about humans in a different way. This understanding is the framework for the education of a resistance to power. When people are informed about the power structures they live under, they are prompted to clash with them. Which can be a good thing, and a bad thing. I don't believe that any structured society, that generally prospers, (and is not a utopian concept) can exist without some groups having more power than others. There are always going to be the oppressed and the oppressors. When the oppressed ban together and fight for their right to be represented in the same way the oppressors are; it is amazing! In theory no one should ever be oppressed and live without comfort. However, when a new social order takes place of the old "oppressive" one; we are quick to be happy for those now in power. What we fail to see is that now a new organization is the oppressor and there is a new group of oppressed peoples; on top of the people who were already oppressed in the first place, but were not part of the social order that took power. Obviously, we must try and live in the most humanitarian way possible; treating everyone equally. The fight for equality and power will never end, it will just evolve into new struggles. On another note, one thing that bothers me when talking about power, is when we try to degrade people who have reached extreme heights of power. The thing that a lot of people can't admit to themselves is that people who are powerful usually deserve that kind of recognition. They are usually extraordinary individuals in their particular field. I personally admire the people who are extremely "successful" in the world and do not look down upon them; as is the trend in society today. That doesn't mean I agree with their means of attaining that power, or their moral and ethical actions during their tenure on top. Yet, I do like to study people who have power to see how they achieved it, pick out the good parts of their journey, and try to emulate them in my own life.
Consider your audience: This is extremely important in everything you do in life. The people who you talk, who listen to you are extremely important. Who you talk to and how large an audience you can identify with increases your influence and sway in society. That's why there are those producers on television shows who try to increase their viewership of different demographics to encapsulate more people. The more people who identify with your vision the stronger your message can be. It is likely to think that a republican speaking at a rally for socialism wouldn't go over too well. They do not know their audience if they preach their ideologies on deaf ears. On the other hand, I have a major respect for those people. The ones who will go into a room of people who think completely different than they do and still hold firm to their ideologies and not be swayed by the mob. Now, that doesn't mean having a refusal to see the opposition's viewpoints. It means to acknowledge them, identify with the ones that are right, and have them influence your own ideologies. I'll end with one of my favorite quotes from the Roman Emperor Marcus Aurelius' Meditations which reads, "The object of life is not to be on the side of the majority, but to escape finding oneself in the ranks of the insane." That is a much more fun way to live life than to just go along with the masses.
Intellectuals and power: Michel Foucault's theories on power are very interesting and persuading. I believe that his ideology of power flowing through every stream of society to be very accurate. I can personally trace this idea back to Friedrich Nietzsche's will to power. The idea that he floated in many of his books, which states that the primary fundamental urge that drives us in life is the will to power. When I first read this I disagreed; I always thought that as humans our primary fundamental urge was to procreate and pass on our genetic line. That is basically the reason that all animals exist. However, the will to power made me think about humans in a different way. This understanding is the framework for the education of a resistance to power. When people are informed about the power structures they live under, they are prompted to clash with them. Which can be a good thing, and a bad thing. I don't believe that any structured society, that generally prospers, (and is not a utopian concept) can exist without some groups having more power than others. There are always going to be the oppressed and the oppressors. When the oppressed ban together and fight for their right to be represented in the same way the oppressors are; it is amazing! In theory no one should ever be oppressed and live without comfort. However, when a new social order takes place of the old "oppressive" one; we are quick to be happy for those now in power. What we fail to see is that now a new organization is the oppressor and there is a new group of oppressed peoples; on top of the people who were already oppressed in the first place, but were not part of the social order that took power. Obviously, we must try and live in the most humanitarian way possible; treating everyone equally. The fight for equality and power will never end, it will just evolve into new struggles. On another note, one thing that bothers me when talking about power, is when we try to degrade people who have reached extreme heights of power. The thing that a lot of people can't admit to themselves is that people who are powerful usually deserve that kind of recognition. They are usually extraordinary individuals in their particular field. I personally admire the people who are extremely "successful" in the world and do not look down upon them; as is the trend in society today. That doesn't mean I agree with their means of attaining that power, or their moral and ethical actions during their tenure on top. Yet, I do like to study people who have power to see how they achieved it, pick out the good parts of their journey, and try to emulate them in my own life.
Consider your audience: This is extremely important in everything you do in life. The people who you talk, who listen to you are extremely important. Who you talk to and how large an audience you can identify with increases your influence and sway in society. That's why there are those producers on television shows who try to increase their viewership of different demographics to encapsulate more people. The more people who identify with your vision the stronger your message can be. It is likely to think that a republican speaking at a rally for socialism wouldn't go over too well. They do not know their audience if they preach their ideologies on deaf ears. On the other hand, I have a major respect for those people. The ones who will go into a room of people who think completely different than they do and still hold firm to their ideologies and not be swayed by the mob. Now, that doesn't mean having a refusal to see the opposition's viewpoints. It means to acknowledge them, identify with the ones that are right, and have them influence your own ideologies. I'll end with one of my favorite quotes from the Roman Emperor Marcus Aurelius' Meditations which reads, "The object of life is not to be on the side of the majority, but to escape finding oneself in the ranks of the insane." That is a much more fun way to live life than to just go along with the masses.
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