Personal Application #4

I feel as though I can relate to some of the emotions Sophie is going through as she learns that she may or may not be a character in someone’s book. The existentialism of this idea has been freaking me out since I read it, and it’s making me question a lot of things. It seems silly to assume that we might also be characters in a book, so I can’t say that that’s my main concern. I do relate to the feeling of wondering what is real, wondering if I’m really in control of anything I do, or if I just have the illusion of control. I really do like to believe that I have some element of control over my life and actions, but at the same time I do know it’s entirely possible that some outside force is controlling my “fate”. As I’ve discussed before, I’m not a huge fan of that idea, since I like to have a firm handle on what I do and the choices I make.

One of the points that Alberto was discussing about the Enlightenment really stuck with me. The idea that once the “masses are enlightened”, society would make great progress. It obviously makes a lot of sense. When all people possess knowledge, the world advances and benefits from the knowledge. It just seems like such common sense that people should be willing to try and move closer to this idea each day. Still, I know this is not the case. The idea is certainly nice, though, that we can inform and take care of society as a whole to create something to benefit that entire whole of society.