by Yza Siy
One of the most striking things that was said for me in the lecture last Thursday was how “ What’s important is the talking to and not just the about”. It is not all about knowledge and information but the acknowledgement talking to/ talking with another person brings forth.
I think this can be related to our past lecture on the concept of the Broken World that was presented by Gabriel Marcel. One of his central observations about life and experience in general is that we are living in this “Broken World”. Day in day out, we find ourselves too preoccupied with the daily grind that life brings. We tend to focus on our goals, our home works, tests or anything that distracts us reflecting and being-with-others. We become too focused on what’s being said rather than to whom and how we say things.
The language that we began to master is a language that forgets what it means to have respect for the other. We forget that the beauty of language is that it allows us to understand not just the present but also something of the past and possibly future of the person we are talking to. Language is something intimate. As what was said in class, it is something capable of bringing out reality and I think this is something we all experience. We all meet different types of people and this particular someone tells us something. Whatever this person shared speaks of his past, possibly how this person will act in the future and therefore something of the present. With the simple act of talking with another person we are able to know the other in three ways and this experience plays as important role as to who we become. After all, who we are is a sum of all the people we’ve met and became acquainted with.
I strongly agree to your point that in the "broken world" of today, people tend to be objective and miss out/ fail to acknowledge a lot of things which may bring significance to their life. Maybe the things that you've said can also be related to David Foster Wallace's "This is Water". We should be conscious and aware of the surrounding that we are in, and the people that we are being with. These words/people/things that we have been seeing as simple and normal may have something in it that can only be revealed when we see it with our heart.
ReplyDeleteI like how you said, "we are a sum of all the people we've met and became acquainted with." It stresses how communication and contact with others allow us to learn and change. I just think it's important as well to remember that we shouldn't be so open to everyone. We should also remember that we have to careful not to lose sense of who we are and who we want to be in this world with others.
ReplyDeleteWe must always remember that language is there for us to communicate to each other and understand each other. We must fix this "broken world" by using a powerful tool which is language and communicate with people and not just fixate on our personal goals.
ReplyDelete-Diane Cheng (A)
Adding to this, is that with language, we can experience the other in a deeper level. Texts and language opens us up and traumatizes us up to see the world in a broader perspective. When we are traumatized, we begin to reflect on our stand in this world and how to be in being for the other.
ReplyDeleteTrixia Tan
Ph102 C
I agree with everything you said. It is true that "what's important is the talking to and not just the about" which I believe is the same as saying how actions speak louder than words. In interacting with the other, it is never enough to tell ourselves that we will do good the next time, but instead, we need to be able to finally come out of our comfort zone to go and interact and help the other.
ReplyDeleteRobert Go
Ph102 A