Unit 2 Discussion 1
In this week’s reading, the author pointed out the question of “Confronted with the unpredictability, complexity and quarrelsomeness of human values, with the apparent lack of any real agreement or uniformity in our personal evaluations and beliefs, the evaluations and beliefs that guide our everyday speech and conduct, how should we respond?” (page 5). The author then constructed a framework to define and compare personal values and I find it very interesting that the author mentioned that we are controlled by the influence of genes on our underlying personality or peer pressure. I agree with the point that our values are being influenced by peer pressure and I have personal experiences with this point.
I think that most people are reactive about other people’s values, although they may or may agree with specific points. When I was in high school, a lot of my peers started to have romantic relationships with a girl/boy from our grade. At that time, I don’t really value romantic life as an important part of my life and in fact, I don’t think it is part of my everyday value. However, I am influenced by how my peers value the presence of a boyfriend/girlfriend and quickly confessed to a female friend of mine. I feel that when I was trying to value romantic feelings, I was more of reacting to peer pressure and trying to go with the flow in terms of determining what values to consider. I think the problem of peer pressure is very significant in people’s life, no matter when we were kids or we become adults with a bunch of responsibilities. I do consider peer pressure something negative in our life because we could easily get lost when facing peer pressure. I consider values as something that requires a lot of rational thinking and not something that should be determined by who other peoples are.
I was very fascinated by your response to the article. I never thought about how our actions are influenced by norms and the culture that we live in but that is a very accurate statement. Especially in high school when “fitting in” is such an important standard to live by, sometimes our own beliefs and values are altered by the social norms. The question I would have for you though would be about what is most important? Fitting in with everyday society or staying true to your own values? You seem to take the stance that this reactive attitude is something that should not be encouraged but what is to happen if your values effect friendships or are against the so called status quo of, for example, high school life. I obviously agree with your side and that our values should not be effected by others, but is there a time when it is necessary to do the opposite?
I like that you discussed the power of peer pressure in your post. I agree with you that peer pressure has a huge influence on people’s values. However, I do not necessarily always think peer pressure is bad. I will admit, that in most cases it is a negative aspect of life, however, sometimes it can be positive. For example, I went to church group every Wednesday night during middle school and high school. There, I would break off into a small group with the girls in my grade and we would discuss the problems we were going through in life. We would give each other advice and there was always a little bit of peer pressure to not only be honest about our struggles, but to hold each other accountable in making decisions that reflect Christian values. I think these small group secessions definitely had an effect on my values and how I rated them. I do think that this was partly due to the pressure I felt to make good decisions.