Hateful Things

Okay, last week in my Survey of World Literature class I had to pleasure of reading Sei Shonagon's "Hateful Things"--if you haven't read this piece of work--you should.

Basically this text is a list of things that Shonagon despises and her list made me ponder on the things in my world that I absolutely hate!

These things include:

1.    People letting the door close on your face when you are walking behind them.

2.    When one is having a conversation with one's friends and a person from a third party butts in with their own unwanted "opinion".

3.    Slow ass drivers in the fast lane.

4.    Burger King.

5.    Shorts with sweaters, or flip flops in the cold, or UGGs in the summertime-- are you cold and hot at the same time? And most of all...

6.    CONFORMITY!

Conformity is one of the most annoying concepts on the planet. People everywhere all around the world conform to limits of their culture, sex, gender, religion, spirituality...you get the picture. People (and when I say people, I mean humanity in general) are some conforming ass, go-with-the-flow ass, band-wagon ass, following ass individuals. They thrive off of doing what everyone else is doing, by following trends, mimicking dumb ass movements, and adopting positions on popular issues when they are ignorant on the facts.

Conformity comes in all different kinds of shapes and forms and I can talk on the topic all day long...but I want to note my own ideology about conformity that I think that everyone should know. That ideology: Conformity yields ignorance; ignorance yields to unconscious decision making, belief forming, and assertion on topics, issues, and philosophies that one is not qualified to posit on because he/she resides under the very popular veil of complete ignorance! It is one thing to conform and be ignorant on ideas and concepts when one is not educated, but, for individuals who are products of a "liberal arts" education to still be IGNORANT to the things going on around them--there is no excuse!!

This is why liberality is limited. Its teachings promote dissonance and yet the overall expectations revert back to conformity at its basic level. The real dilemma lies in with the teachings of that same dissonance--so why even include this concept as part of ideology labeled liberality?

DISCLAIMER: This blog will feature my personal OPINIONS on the quality of Liberal arts education, the challenges that college students face, my perspectives on traditionally taboo and conventional topics (i.e. sex, homosexuality, gender issues, porn, etc.), and just a peek into my unconventional thought processes! It is no way related to or affiliated with my institution of higher education.