Apr
2015
Assignment 1-Unit 2
In the latter part of the reading, the passage discussing the idea of ranking our values based on our personal experiences drew my attention. I think it is safe to assume that most people tend to believe in certain morals and intrinsic values based on their personal experiences and feelings about the source of their beliefs. For instance, I take to heart and follow the beliefs and values of my parents, as they are the number one figures in my life that taught me the first lessons in life. As mentioned in the reading, we are also “drawing upon [our] own accumulated sense experience” (16). Although our parents were probably one of the first elderly figures to show us what their beliefs are, we are also influenced by outside sources daily. Our teachers, friends, and colleagues are few of the most influential people in our lives who constantly have us wondering about our initial beliefs and values either through justification of their own experiences and beliefs. When we grow up and become our own individuals, is it possible that we have completely different views on the world around us or do we innately act in some ways more than others based on our upbringing? This also surprised me while reading that our outside influences may also have an affect on our beliefs and values by simply ” ‘selling’ a particular approach to personal values” (16). Some individuals seek out spiritual meaning and support to better certain views on their beliefs. I feel in this sense we are losing a part of our true selfs based on the experiences of others. What if what they were telling us was completely made up to twist our views on our old beliefs when in fact what we had first believed in were to be true?
I also agreed with the analogy of individuals taking a poll about people’s ideas and beliefs on their personal values. It is unfortunate that nowadays and perhaps even back then people would not tell the truth in its entirety. People never really tell the whole truth, which brings me to question why an individual holds this kind of moral? Perhaps due to an old personal experience where they deemed appropriate that less the people know the better? Although through personal experience the whole truth always comes out regardless how much you attempt to cover it up. From that I have created a new personal value of my own to always completely 100% tell the truth even though it may be rude or inappropriate.
References: Lewis, H. (1990). A Question of Values: Six Ways We Make the Personal Choices That Shape Our Lives. Axios Press.Pg. 6-16.
andreap
April 10, 2015 at 4:01 pm (10 years ago)I wrote a little bit about choosing our values myself and the importance some have over others. I completely agree with your post when you talk about how our parents were the first ones we look up to so we tend to follow their stance on values. And that as we become older, we are able to think for ourselves and have more experiences, and then place our importance on values on the ones that mean more to us. One thing I thought was interesting that you talked about was that when seeking spiritual meaning, it could mean that they were trying to “twist our views on our old beliefs”. I am a little curious on what you meant by that in a deeper sense. For me, it sounds a little like people look for guidance from a higher authority, maybe if they were brought up very religious or maybe they just don’t have anyone else to look up to. Either way, I don’t think it is so much that they are trying to “twist up” our views, but maybe give insight, and do with which how we want with that guidance. It could be another form of influence upon values, as you had talked about earlier in your post, but I think it could be interpreted in many ways by different people.
baconlover
April 12, 2015 at 12:14 pm (10 years ago)Hey Andreap! Thank you for your comment. To address your question on my statement regarding the idea of seeking spiritual guidance will twist our old beliefs, maybe I had rationally used the incorrect term. What I meant by this was in event an individual went to seek a higher power for further insight, as you had mentioned, the response they receive may not be as they were expecting. For example, if an individual went to a priest to seek a meaning or an answer for a certain occurrence and was told something completely different, this individual MAY be thinking back on their original beliefs and questioning if what they believe was ever right or even slightly possible. In other words, I feel people could possibly look into their ideology and beliefs after an external source and question if what they believed were ever to be true. That has definitely happened to me a couple times, although I innately felt the need to just ignore what everyone was telling me even though the remarks and statements they made, made sense. Their input definitely caused me to question some of my beliefs and ideas, however I just chose not to listen, which could also be what I have learned to do from my parents teaching. I do agree with the point you made about spiritual guidance gives us an insight to our own beliefs and may not necessarily influence the way we look on our previous beliefs. However, I do feel sometimes you may poke at the idea that the new information you have gained may cause you to be curious if your own beliefs and ideas are still plausible.
Nickolas
April 12, 2015 at 10:46 pm (10 years ago)I think the discussion on how spirituality, and more specifically religious spirituality and our upbringing in certain traditions has a very prominent impact on how we determine our values. It is a combination of the authority of parenting and the authority of the religious structure we ascribe to. However for this to be a true judgment of value as baconlover said there must be a “questioning” of how we come to believe these things and if they are the things we truly believe as the objective truth, or if we only believe them because they were presented to us from a position of authority. In terms of spiritual guidance I completely agree that this can give us a greater insight into what our own values are by forcing us to make a real evaluation of what our belief system is, this can only lead to a deeper understanding of our value judgments.
tianqi@uoregon.edu
April 12, 2015 at 11:21 pm (10 years ago)I think that you did a great job in getting to the different parts of this discussion, then making sure that you had fully discussed your ideas for both us, as well as it seems for yourself. There was one point that you made that I think was very interesting in the way that it was worded. You stated that sometimes people look to spiritual beliefs to better their views. This was interesting to because I was curious if you feel people seek out spiritual beliefs to reinforce their values, or to try and challenge them and find clarity? Or could it possibly be a mix of both? I think that the spiritual values people adopt are an important connection to their core values, sometimes replacing, but it seems more often times reinforcing those values.