Go with the flow

Freedom of choice… As human being this is our blessing but sometimes it can also be our curse. How difficult it is to learn how to choose correctly!! It seems almost impossible because it is also difficult to establish what is good and what is bad, what means to be a good person or a bad one; there are thousands of views on this issue. When we are kids we are immature, dependent and inexperienced so obeying others seems to be logical but when we become adults we need to we capable of shaping our own life, not just living the life others had created for us. In this sense, and coming back to the orders, how important it seems to think about our actions at least twice before performing them!

-Why should I do this?

-Because it is an order.

-But why should I obey this order? Is this what I believe to be the right thing to do?

This is the reason why we are not satisfied with the excuse of the nazi commandant saying he had obeyed the order of a superior authority when being asked about the killing of thousands of Jews. The fact that he was told to and that many people thought it right, did not justify it or made it morally correct.

Before going with the flow it is crucial to reflect, to think it twice or a thousand times if necessary so as to be sure, not necessarily that it is the right thing to do but at least to be sure that it is what you want and to be responsible for that choice.

Do this, do that !

In connection to the third chapter of the book I would like to focus on the issue of orders. According to Savater, orders are one of our motives; that is to say, the reasons we have or believe we have to behave in certain ways. The different motives have different levels of importance, let’s say. Orders very often, take their strength from fear of what could happen to us if we don’t obey someone; and other times from the affect and confidence we have in others. What we can infer from this is that this kind of motive comes from the outside and is that it is imposed to us. What I believe important to point out is that we shouldn’t always do exactly what we are told to because in many occasions we need to reflect on what would be the best choice and find our way out by ourselves even though this implies disobeying someone.

Conformity is not the best option when deciding what to do with our lives.

The good, the bad and ... the cow

Each day we seem to be faced with the dilemma of deciding what we believe it’s “good” and what is “bad” with respect to what is convenient for us and for the rest of the society. Making this kind of decisions is not easy at all because there are multiple criteria when comes to opt for one course of action or the other. This situation stem from the fact that we are human beings, and as such we are free to choose. Even though, sometimes people prefer to believe they are not so as to avoid being blamed for anything that happens within their society.

I’m sure we can make the most of this “human ability” by searching and analysing as many points of view as possible and then, grounded on this go ahead and MAKE A CHOICE. Of course, we will make mistakes (like me in this post jajaja) but those, together with our good choices will build up our way of living and our identity. Our choices and actions will be the example we’ll be giving to our students in the future.

So, bear this in mind!

Moo