posted by Sam Richards
I’ve been discussing freedom and determinism in a serious way for about twenty years and I’ve delivered yesterday’s class one hundred times if I’ve done it once. And Tuesday…for some strange reason I was in the zone in a way that I’ve never been with that particular class. I’d like to think that I stirred some things up in people with regards to how they…you…see the world of causality. I know that I rocked my own world in those 75 minutes and I suppose that that is all that really matters.
So why don’t you watch the video below just to jog your thinking and then kick out some thoughts. Perhaps now is a good time to consider reading the ideas of some other people and respond to them and not directly to the class. I’m quite curious about how you manage other people’s interpretations of the ideas.
After reading a couple of the posts from other people, I am kind of shocked to hear what people have to say. If everything Sam said “stirred things inside of you” than I think that is pretty immature of a lot of people. I felt like most of Tuesday and some of Thursday was just common sense. I know Sam is going by the majority of people and fitting that mold but it got pretty repetitive. I am not trying to sound above everyone in the class but I felt that my parents have already taught me that kind of stuff. Yes I know life is not fair and a lot of people are stuck where they start but it is not that way for everyone. My father did not go to college because he had to work to put his brother and sister through college. The only reason my father started his own business was when his boss died and he got his bosses piece of construction equipment. So how come he makes more than both his brother and his sister now? My mother was one of seven with a single alcoholic mother. So how come she is making more than all of her sister? My parents taught me not to get stuck in any mold. I know my parents are only two people and many people are not as lucky but where do you draw the line between luck and hard work? This may sound evil from me but when it comes to being “king of the mountain” I do not care about equal opportunity. Call me smart. Call me smart. Call me determined but for me to make money and to be happy, I will do whatever I have to do. I have always been taught to work as hard as I can so it does not matter who had the fair start, because I can say I worked my hardest anyway. And this may sound bad but when it came to people “deserving” to be in the class; Sam said most of us did not deserve to be in the class, but he never flat out said whether or not he deserved to be a professor. Like I said, I completely understand the lecture and I know life is not fair, but I personally feel that he wanted to give people excuses more than he wanted encourage people to break the mold. We talked about it in my discussion class and most of the other people agreed with me or just did not speak out. And that is why I was shocked to see so many comments about people’s eyes being opened. Last thing. If you watch the show LOST than you will realize the freedom vs. determinism fits pretty well.
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tahirajw Reply:
February 13th, 2010 at 1:53 am
I want to start off saying that I do agree with you on the terms that many of the topics Sam has been speaking of is just common sense, but only once you've thought about it. The thing is, I wouldn't say it is immature of a lot of people. I would say that they are either ignorant, meaning lacking knowledge, or just never took the time to think about these topics. The reason it stirred things inside them is because they never really thought about it before. The whole purpose of the class is to discuss things that the average person would let go unnoticed. Sitting in class, I myself was a little bored because I already had the knowledge instilled in me, but I do understand why Sam feels these are important topics for people to ponder if they hadn't already. Out of all the things we've discussed so far, have you actually taken the time and thought about all of them before Sam mentioned anything? Or is it that now that he's said something, you thought about it and feel that it's common sense? Many people are too busy to think about it, or they honestly don't care. Yes, many adults do sit around and talk about the issues of society, but they probably don't take to time to really see how these issues came about. Most of it is just feelings and what they think should be changed. People do get stuck where they start and it isn't that way for everyone. The whole point is that, statistically wise, most people do end where they start. That is the purpose of discussing these factors that cause it. What would be the significance of discussing an iguana as a pet to a room full of hundreds of people when the most common household pets are cats, dogs, fish, or even birds? People do place themselves in situations where they get stuck and they just have no clue how to get out of it. They key is to look for help when you do get faced with obstacles. People make the mistake and not ask for help when it's needed. As for drawing the line between luck and hard work, the only way to do that is to evaluate a person's personality. If they worked hard and got to the top, then they deserve to be where they are. Your father sounds lucky while your mother sounds like she worked hard. You personally have a good example of both cases, and I'd expect that you'd understand where the line is drawn. Everyone has some amount of selfishness in them, and there's nothing wrong with that. For you to say that you don’t care about equal opportunity and have worked hard for yourself just proves that you really don't have a large care about all the "non-deserving" people. I'm not saying that you're 100% wrong, and I'm not saying that you're 100% right. He did give some people excuses, but isn't he overall trying to get us to think about these topics so we can (either) break the mold or do nothing. I am not shocked by all the "opened eyes" comments because most people don't think about these things on a regular basis.
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Freedom vs. determinism, this is about an interesting as an argument as there is in my opinion. I'm really interested in eastern philosophy/religion and I consider myself to be somewhat of Buddhist. Karma, suffering, etc., we're all subjected to because of choices that we make out of free will. I don't discount determinism though. My father died when I was four years old, and left my family in a pretty bad situation. Luckily my mother went back to get her Master's degree in teaching and saved us from plight in a way. I think about freedom and determinism every day. I could have been in an awful situation had my mother not been so responsible. I never take this for granted, and I like to think that because I have been lucky enough to have such a caring family, etc. that I make choices of my own free will that are skillful, as the Buddha would say. We are given this amazing opportunity as human beings, why would one ever make decisions that are not skillful?
I am in no ways perfect, but I certainly bring this mindfulness into my daily life. That is why it's hard for me to ignore all the bullshit that is going on, especially in the United States. Sam gave his example about how those in power want to stay in power; they control the means of production, communication, the economic distribution, etc. Thinking about this from a Buddhist perspective is shocking and truly disgusting. It is an outrage that those in power (Senate members, AIG CEO's, the "Power Elite", etc.) by their own free will are choosing to continue to screw others over while they get richer. There are people dying in the streets in a country where we are all supposed to be given an equal opportunity to succeed. We're clearly not equal, and while anyone (as Sam said) can advance, it's not likely that you'll see too many children of Walmart employees at Princeton alongside kids born into this Power Elite.
I don't often use this word, but we are truly blessed; blessed to be humans, blessed to be born in this country, blessed to be at an institute of higher learning, why squander these opportunities? Buddhism says that rebirth as a human is a unique perspective, because unlike the gods or the asuras, we are able to see suffering, so we are able to see what we can do to stop this suffering. We can only take credit (or blame) for decisions that we make out of our own free will. Mindfulness is truly the key, once we are aware of all that is around us, we can begin to make wiser decisions.
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I really enjoyed Sam's lecture on freedom and determinism. I believe I am one of those people who fall right in the middle between the two. I think there are some obstacles in life that you just cannot control and there are also decisions that you make to get you to where you are today. I thought it was funny how I could relate to one of those people who just skate through life, because thus far in life, my parents have provided me with many things such as a car and paying for my college tuition thus far. However, they did not just give me these things just for the heck of it, I made decisions causing them to reward me. I believe my life consists of a mixture of the two sides of the spectrum, and that everyone else's life does too. On one hand, it is the luck of the draw, but on the other, it is also the decisions that we make.
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Tuesday class started just as every class starts; Sam Richards states “this will be the best class of the semester. Once he started talking about freedom and determinism he never lost my focus. What made both ideas so true for me was that I could apply both to my life. One reason I came to college was because I had the freedom to go to college and to change my future. Many obstacles came my way and sure many more will come my way. Just as I have the freedom to go to college I have the freedom to over come those obstacles. For those whoever attempted college and failed it was their fault. They had the chance, but they failed because their time was not used correctly. Sam Richard stated that was a nieve way of thinking, not only do one person have the freedom to make their own choice but, determinism plays a big role in how a person life is shaped. I may be using my freedom to go to college, but what can explain my mother and me not having enough money to be in college and rent a house. I must work countless hours to pay for many different bills. I can’t change that. This has nothing to do with my freedom to make choices. They both have any equal role in any person life. That’s why I feel Sam Richards had one of his best classes, because he made me think and apply these ideas to life and it made sense.
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Tuesday's class was definitely an interesting one. The idea of freedom versus determinism is a huge topic I never really thought about. The overall idea had always been in my head but I never really thought of it the way that it was explained in class on Tuesday. As many people have previously stated the best way to be is in the middle of the argument. People on the extremes must have a hard time getting much done because they always have this looming thought that they chose it this way or that they just what they wanted. Every single person in the class has a different view on this issue and each person sees the middle differently. I personally do not get everything handed to me and I have to work really hard to be able to achieve what I have. Yes, my parents do support me and give me money to buy clothes and food so I realize many people have it much harder than I do. However, I am mostly paying for my college education (my parents are chipping in here and there). It's hard for me to think that after college I will probably be in debt that I will have to worry about paying off with only a teacher's salary. Making tons of money is probably not in my future because to me having a job that I love is more important and that's a decision I have made.
I believe that people make their own choices and things outside of their control occur that they can not change. If a family member of mine was to suddenly become very ill, the first thing I would do would be to go home. I'd probably not do as well in my classes and potentially ruin my GPA to get into my major. I mean yea I made the choice to go home, but I really didn't have an option other than to go home and care for my family member. In my like family comes first and then my education and then my social life. However, there probably have been times when I could have stayed in studying but instead I went out with my friends and didn't do as well as I had wanted on the exam. That is a choice that I made though and I had to deal with the consequence. Not everything in life can be explained with answers and logical explanations for our choices. Sometimes we just do things spur of the moment not even thinking about what is going to happen after. That is not always the best way to look at things but sometimes choices are out of our control and we just do what we think is best.
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I really enjoyed Tuesday’s lecture, and after class my friends and I discussed the different aspects of it for about an hour.
First, we talked about having to face obstacles in life. I agree that some people have it easier than others, but overall it catches up with them. I feel that people who have to deal with obstacles are often stronger for it. When a person is used to facing a problem and things not going their way, they get used to going around the obstacle and over coming it. When people who have everything handed to them face a problem, it is harder to deal with because they are not used to not having their way. For example, someone who is used to living on a “tight budget” is familiar with having to monitoring how they spend money, and not buying extravagant things. If a family member were to lose their job, I think this family would be able to adapt easier, from having experience in not spending a lot of money in the first place. Compare this to a wealthy family who is used to living the life of fancy parties and luxurious items, having a family member lose their job. It would be harder for them to adjust to a lifestyle completely different from what they have been living.
Going around the obstacles in general is also what makes a person stronger. I liked Sam’s point of how people tend to stand behind and complain of how things aren’t going the way they are supposed to. Being that I’m a girl, I constantly have to listen to “girl problems” mainly dealing with boys. Girls can sit around for hours and complain about what a guy does wrong, or talk in circles about how he doesn’t like them or issues in the relationship. This is immediately what I thought of when Sam said standing behind the obstacle. Girls are infamous for being in a bad relationship and complaining to the world about it. When in reality, it’s not hard to either go around and be done with the guy, or live a life complaining.
Finally, I think that the choices we make in life are what ultimately affect how our life plays out. If we choose to live a life of happiness and try our best to do the right thing, then I believe that good things will come. A person that chooses to cheat people, and live a life of lies and scams, I do not think will succeed in the end. Sure, they may succeed in making a lot of money, but not in truly being happy. Overall, I think the key to happiness is doing well for others.
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I really enjoy this week’s class, and I completely agree with Sam’s idea. We need look things in a balanced position, not go to extremes. We have freedom as well as some other external forces influence our thinking and behaviors. In the past, I always think this world is totally unfair. People come from different areas and with different background, how could some organization or someone judge us based on same kind of exams or evaluations. For example, how could I compete with some people raised in a well educated family and environment? They went to best schools since they were in kindergarten. If they are worse in study than I did, this makes no sense. So, I told my parents do not expect me to become a scientist or go to Harvard University, because I am not that kind of kids. I am just a normal person, how could I become that successful. I admit that I was really negatively thinking at that point. However, this shows some part of the truth. If we want to make some achievement, the most convenient way is let others help us, especially some powerful person. To tell the truth, my parents help me a lot to study aboard. They are comparatively rich, and they afford for my spending in U.S. So I don’t need to find a part-time job or always worried about how much money I spent. I am lucky, I can’t deny. However, lots people are luckier than me. So, I really like the word “deserve”, some people complain they deserve better life. How could they say this? What is their baseline to say this? It’s interesting. I can’t say if I deserve my lifestyle or not. However, I am thankful. Thanks for God, I could study aboard and have such lovely parents. I am cherish what I already have, rather than complain something I don’t have. I am hard working, because I have this rare opportunity. I know there’re thousands of students in China are smarter than me, they can’t study aboard and get better education just because their family are not rich enough to support them. Life is realistic; I can say nothing about this. I hope they could have this opportunity, but I don’t want to lose mine. It’s a contradiction. I think lots of people have this kind of feelings. So, stand in the middle. I am smart and hard working, also my family supports me. So I can study here and have a better life or I should say a better start point. My suggestion is that learn how to enjoy your life and feel satisfy with it. Otherwise, you will never feel real happy. The reason is you will spend rest of your life on complaining. And you will realize this will only make your life even worse.
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Ok, first thing; Sam did rock that class. I admit sometimes I zone out for a little bit, but I was really into what Sam was saying. I grew up hearing the same things most people heard, that you can be whatever you want. Theoretically I still think that's true, but not everyone can "pull themselves up by their boot straps". Sam made me think about some things I hadn't thought of before. The example of the G.I. Bill only being given out to white people was really shocking. Now though, I don't think this is about race it's about wealth, if you have money your set, if you don't your basically screwed!
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Tuesday’s lecture brought up a large amount of information that I had heard about, but never bothered to investigate. It’s incredible how blind we as a group can choose to be. One thing that really struck me was the graph of family incomes based on ethnicity, because among my group of friends, the majority of us being white middle class college students, we often discuss how difficult it is to pay for college, some more so than others. And it has led me to the overall opinion that people of higher status don’t realize how good they have it because the only direction they look is up and towards what they don’t have. I have two examples.
One of my friends father was buying her a BMW because she needed a car over the summer. A friend and I started busting on her because of how rich she was, and how nice it must be to never have to worry about money. She got very offended and said “BMW’s aren’t that expensive, they’re only like twenty-five thousand dollars.” Now some people may see nothing wrong with this statement. I, however, will likely never use the word only to preface twenty-five thousand dollars.
My second example occurred just minutes ago while my friend was complaining about how the more money you make, the more you get taxed, and that her dad was getting taxed almost thirty thousand dollars for his one hundred and thirty thousand dollar salary. Perhaps I just happen to be friends with very wealthy people but coming from a working class background, I completely agree with the fact that if you make more money, you should be paying more in tax money. There are people in this world who are making barely enough to survive. If you make one hundred and thirty thousand dollars, you’re fine! You’re more than fine; you’ve got enough money to enjoy luxuries.
We live in such a materialistic society that the thought process is ‘I need to make more money so I can buy more stuff’. No You Don’t. I don’t need to drive a BMW to be happy. I don’t even think I would be driving a BMW if I made that much money because it’s not a necessity.
Soc class has made me so much more appreciative of my background, because it could be a lot worse. I really have a strong hatred toward how materialistic this world has become. It’s the “American dream” to own a house, and a car, and a refrigerator, and a washer and dryer, and a second car, and a hot tub, and a third car that no one actually drives it’s just there for looks, and the list goes on and on. That’s not the way to find what’s important in life.
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I know this may not be the majority of my fellow classmates general consensus about Sam's lecture he gave Tuesday but I thought he ended up talking about nothing really controversial and instead about general facts of life that I consider common sense. The whole point of the lecture I presume, and correct me if I am wrong, was how it is not good or as he said intellectually sound to be an extremist. The intellectual person realizes that you have to be in the middle of both extremes. I thought that was common knowledge though that being an extremist in any situation was a bad thing. We live in the real world where things are never black and white; there is this whole gray area. There are always two sides to every story. We do not live in a perfect world we live in a world filled of anomalies filled with “gray” issues per-say. Take for example people getting killed everyday, which is a horrible thing that unfortunately happens all too often. We as a society understand that it is wrong to kill yet a way of handling a murderer is sentencing him or her to the death penalty. It is a gray issue, it is wrong to kill, but some murders are justifiable in the eyes of the law. It is issues like these that made me assume that it was common knowledge that being an extremist of any sort was not a good thing. Since we do not live in a perfect world I did not even know how someone or something could be totally one way and that way only. When I googled the definition of perfect one site said it is to be complete and without defect. This is never possible to be without defect because we live in the world that we do. Therefore by Sam going around Tuesday trying to say to be intellectual and not ignorant you have to realize that you have to be in the middle was just coming off as nothing new or special, just basic knowledge engrained in every human being.
I do realize though that I am a very commonsensical I guess you could say if that is even a word. I notice what I assumed previously to be blatantly obvious may not be so true for others. It has now just occurred to me as I am finishing up my blog that it obviously was not as much of a common sense issue as I thought. Why else would Sam have brought it up then? He has been teaching for awhile so I am sure he knows the general consensus on certain issues better than I do and maybe he has noticed throughout time that people just don’t understand the whole gray issue. I guess I am just one of the few then that look at the world differently than others there is no totally right and wrong just a big mess in the middle called the gray area.
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As interesting as it was, Sam’s lecture on freedom and determinism was nothing new to me. Like Sam, I’ve always felt that everyone, no matter how liberal or conservative, needs to be in the “middle” of the two. Yes, we all have free will to make whatever decisions we please, but there are certainly uncontrollable factors that play a large role in these decisions. However, what many people do not realize is that there are ways to dodge these obstacles. There are many people who come in contact with a situation they have no idea how to deal with so they simply give up. While it is true that life is neither easy nor fair, all it takes is a little determination and motivation to overcome these struggles. As far as socioeconomic status is concerned, it is definitely possible to start at the bottom of the totem pole and work your way up. You just have to believe in yourself and try as hard as you can.
I am one example of these people who have had to overcome a lot of difficult moments in life. I love telling my story because I started out on the path to nowhere, but I learned how to cope with the unfortunate cards that I was dealt. I made a trip to the principal’s office nearly everyday when I was in grade school as a result of my ADD. My younger brother, who I was very close with at the time, ran away from home when I was just 14 (he was 12). He’s back now, but our relationship will never be the same. I was never really interested in going to school or getting good grades. Neither one of my parents went to college and because they had such a dramatic influence on me, I never felt I had to go either. Then all of a sudden, my mom was diagnosed with colon cancer when I was a freshman in high school and that triggered a whole new attitude in me. After witnessing her go through chemotherapy and lose most of her hair, I wanted to make her proud, but more importantly, I knew I wasn’t happy and I wasn’t going to be successful in life if I wasn’t happy. From then on, I chose to take school seriously because I realized that good grades can take you very far. I played on my high school’s field hockey and softball teams, joined various clubs, and visited my mom in the hospital everyday. It was her illness that taught me to never take anything for granted and ever since she was declared cancer free in 2006, I found myself in the middle of the “freedom vs. determinism” track. I enrolled at Penn State in August 2008 and I continue to make the most out of what is in front of me. After all that I’ve been through, now I’m determined that I can overcome anything.
That being said, I completely agree with Sam in that people should never allow uncontrollable forces to hinder them from doing what makes them happy. No matter what race, ethnicity, socioeconomic status, etc., we all have the ability to make the right decisions. Effort and determinism will find a way. Strive for the middle!
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I took Sam’s Soc 001 class when I was a sophomore and I’m not sure I completely understood the interplay of freedom and determinism before his lecture on Tuesday.
I have always had a tough time deciding whether, using the example from class, the person with a gun to his/her head is truly free. Certainly they can always choose death over the demands of their captors, but what choice is that really? While the ‘gun to my head’ scenario seems quite unlikely, I believe it can be applied to much more relevant scenarios.
The role of free will as it contrasts with determinism is to, no matter what the situation, provide a choice. While it may seem that some choices are made for us, this is an illusion. Certainly some paths may be more determined than others but no choice is ever 100% determined. Some choices seem determined for us because we all tend to follow the path of least resistance, giving us the appearance of determinism. I think this is generally how people prefer to see the world, like they had no choice but to make the decisions they did. One group that I figured would be most likely to see their choices in this light is black males. I was surprised to find out that the vast majority of black males said they were most responsible for their current status in society (according to a stat Sam showed us earlier this year). Allow me to elaborate on my last statement. Young, inner-city black males have free will just like the rest of us. However, the current social system sets only certain expectations of these individuals, not allowing them to rise too far out of the situation they are mired in. What choice are these young men faced with and what forces are at work pushing them towards one path or another?
When people find there to be some sort of racial predisposition to crime because such a relatively large portion of the black population is in some stage of corrections, they miss the point. Many poor, young black people (especially males) are faced with the prospect of the easy, fast money that crime can provide. Do they have another choice? Certainly. But if you grew up in poverty and someone offered you a substantial sum of money to sell a drug that people were going obtain anyway, has the young man not been goaded towards a certain life choice based simply upon the poverty he was born into? Furthermore, the mechanism to escape the cycle of poverty, education, is not seen as a cool thing to immerse oneself in. So while we may like to say that everyone has the choice to surmount the obstacles and make themselves better, the truth is that few of us have the resolve to beat some of the worst circumstances.
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Dr. Richard's lecture really helped me realize a few things about myself and others around me. I am one of the ones that he refers to when he talks about having it easy in regards to parents helping out your entire life. When he talked about the students who had to get to college and put themselves through life on their own with very little support from their parents, I realized how much of a difference there really is between us. I do think that determinism and free will both play a role in how far we get in life. We have to have the will to do whatever we want, but many times we care more about the obligations and social factors that prevent us from pursuing what we really want.
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After reading many of the comments here it seems that some people have taken Sam's comments in many different ways. Some of the people seem to have gotten defensive because of Sam equating having your parents pay for college to skating through. While I think that it is much easier to make it through school if you are from a wealthy family, I think people are overreacting to what was said in class. It would be very rare and frankly it wouldn’t make much sense for someone from a wealthy family to make it through school without some help from your parents/guardians. It makes much more financial sense to essentially get a college loan from your parents as opposed to many of the banks and programs with high interest rates and potentially devastating debt. So I think the people that are seemingly defensive about things being handed to them on a silver platter, misunderstood Sam’s points regarding that. He even specified in class that everyone still had to do work to even be able to attend his class at Penn State.
I also think it is interesting to see how many people commented about how much help they did or did not get from their parents and others. I thought one of the major points of the lecture was to say that no one has any control over what family they are born into, which makes it somewhat ironic to me that people are commenting about how differently they started off. It just seems like yet another way people are separating themselves into groups or categories.
Last night I watched the movie “Into the Wild”. In this movie a recent college graduate from a very wealthy family gives up everything to just get away from civilization and connect with nature. In the movie he burns his money and goes through many different experiences while meeting some fascinating people along the way. The reason I bring up this movie, besides the fact that it is a great movie that people should see, is the recent graduate could have easily lived a “wonderful” life based on where he started in life. In other words he would have had very few obstacles to have a large salary and continue the wealth of his family, but he chose not to follow that path. It is a remarkable story in part because he essentially chose and strove for the exact opposite of what many people in society are trying to accomplish. If anyone reading this comment has not seen this movie, it is a great film and it ties in well with the most recent lectures from Sam.
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I will reiterate what everyone has already said: I agree that class on Tuesday was great. It was a passionate lecture and very eye opening for me. My personal experiences have very closely related to what Sam spoke about in class. I am the exact stereotype that he described as having it easy. I am fortunate enough to not have to worry about paying for college and my parents have always given me everything. My high school was filled with teenagers just like me at the time, so I never saw anything else but spoiled kids that had everything handed to them. At the time, I personally felt that I appreciated things more than most of my friends because my father worked very hard to earn a living so that he could eliminate as many of the obstacles as he could for me and my siblings. Instead of just giving us everything we wanted without a word, he made sure to instill a very strong work ethic in each of us. We respect him for all that he did and know that we each want to work to do as well as he has so that our children will not have any obstacles. I am very grateful for all of this and hope that I can someday provide my kids with equal ambition and respect for others.
With this background, I have learned from my dad that it is possible to have many obstacles and overcome them. I have seen first-hand that it can be done with the proper work ethic and the appropriate commitment. I realized during the lecture that I have been looking down on the people who do not make something of themselves. I have simply blamed this on the natural laziness of individuals because I know how hard my dad worked. When Sam spoke about the different obstacles that many people face; however, it brought to my attention a number of different situations that could arise. I know that if I were to face some of those that I would not be able to stay in school and finish my education. I know after Tuesday’s lecture that if I were forced to switch places with certain individuals that I would not be strong enough to deal with those obstacles and get to where I want to be. Although I cannot personally relate, I respect each of these individuals that are forced to make such difficult decisions.
I think that it was brilliant what Sam said about standing in the middle gray area. So many citizens in this country get caught up in arguing and taking sides and it can be very frustrating. It is obvious that people have very strong opinions; however, it is ignorant to not be able to see another’s side of a situation. I think that this is what causes conflict worldwide and it is a lot of what we have been talking about in my discussion group. We talk about why people fight, and I think that this lecture was very helpful in answering that particular question.
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I think the ideas of freedom versus determinism are very interesting. I think that being in the middle is really important because it allows you to see both sides. I was just talking to my friend the other day, and we were talking about how some people are just so close minded. They are so set on one idea, that they never give anyone the benefit of the doubt that there could be another solution to the problem at hand, or a different way to look at something. It completely confuses me when someone is so much for one idea that they refuse to even listen to the other side. I think it's unfortunate if someone is this close minded because it prevents them from broadening their horizons and learning. When someone is in the middle, he or she is in the best position because he or she is willing to learn about new ideas and then make an educated decision.
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Sam, I ‘m glad you rocked your world. Honestly you always deliver a strong and thought provoking lecture, it makes Soc 119 that much more enjoyable. I do agree that we need to be in the gray area. Some people allow political parties to control all aspects of their views. Just because you consider yourself a democrat does not mean you cannot relate to a republican candidate. It also does not mean that everything your democrat candidate is saying is golden. The same thing goes for the republicans. We are all human beings and will have our own unique opinions and views about specific topics. Like Sam said, we are not robots. We need not to be manipulated by a member of a particular party into believing that everything they say is right.
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I once met a guy who was convinced that life had dealt him the worst possible hand. “I’ve got a 2 and a 7,” he’d say. “There ain’t much you can do with that.” I didn’t understand a lot about poker, but I did know that he was using the factors in life beyond his control as an excuse to take himself out of the game. In his eyes, it wasn’t even worth playing. It was true that certain elements of “the cards he was dealt” were incredibly difficult to overcome, but I don’t think that a person’s situation in life should ever stop them from trying their best to be somebody. Maybe, I don’t really know. I’ve been extremely fortunate as far as what I was born into. So, I can’t really say that if I were in another person’s shoes that I would work night and day to make something of myself even when everyone else told me that I couldn’t. What I do know, is that even though I have been born into a great life where I have numerous opportunities at my fingertips, I have experienced some tremendous blocks on my path to “success”. These were situations completely beyond my control and, more often than not, a person who experiences such things will lose their path or lose their minds. I haven’t. I can understand how others like me can no longer function properly, but with strength and determination, it is very possible to save yourself. I am not saying that it always works and I am not saying that it is in any way, shape, or form easy, but it is possible. It may be true that those in less fortunate situations than mine are more likely to experience trauma and the combination may be entirely too much to handle, but I still have hope that anyone can overcome anything if they try hard enough. So, I guess I do believe that both determinism and free will play a part in determining how one’s life will pan out, but, along with that, I think that our free will is stronger. I think that our free will can allow us to overcome obstacles that stand in our way time after time. But, like I said, early, I don’t really know. I can’t judge other people’s lifestyles because I’ve only experienced my own. I hope that I could keep my strength and determination if placed in a less fortunate lifestyle, but to claim that I could easily beat the odds would be a lie. I know that my free will has given me the ability to overcome obstacles that others struggle with and I will hold on to the hope that anyone can do anything that they put their minds to. So, I told my poor hand poker playing friend that it isn’t about the cards your dealt, its whether or not you try to play the game. And he decided to play. Life for him turned out much better than he thought to. He just needed to get in the game.
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This was a great lecture that really brings out the core ideals behind why people are in the position they are today. As far as my opinion on determinism versus freedom, I feel like I have to be in the middle, but leaning a little more towards freedom. I feel like there are better examples of people who have overcome some ridiculous obstacles because they had the drive. It has nothing to do with race or anything, but some people have just the will power to push on through obstacles that others give up on. It may be taught, it may be biological, I'm not really sure. While there are probably more examples of people who could not overcome their obstacles, I just believe the examples of people who do are examples that are better. This argument reminded me of the story of Chris Gardner, or the story of the "Pursuit of Happyness". For those who don't know, the story of Chris Gardner is about a homeless single father who worked hard and was determined to become a stockbroker, and did so, while raising his son, and now is the CEO of his own stock brokerage. I mean talk about overcoming odds.
But anyway, this lecture also reminded me of a discussion I had with two of my friends on our way back from a canning trip. Instead of sleeping, we discussed the ideology of America. Is America really a place where opportunities are endless? Is everyone really equal? Does everyone have the same shot at succeeding? One of my friends argued yes, the other argued no. I was somewhere in the middle. America certainly is not equal. I do not think race is the dividing factor though. I believe money is. For example, I am a finance and economics major and a Wall Street hopeful. Automatically, I know I am at a disadvantage coming from Penn State because it is not an Ivy League school, where Wall Street firms usually recruit the heaviest. Why did I not go to an Ivy League school? I went to a public high school and then one year of private boarding school. I had equal grades and SAT scores of a lot of the boarding school kids, yet some of them got into some pretty outrageously good schools. They could afford boarding school for 4 years and our equal grades, mine in public school, theirs in boarding school, translating into their getting into a very prestigious school and me heading to Penn State (not that I don't love Penn State. I wouldn't trade this school for an school in the country). I see it at home too, where the private day school students are getting into prestigious schools at overwhelming rates. However, the opposite side of the argument says "Hey, I just need to want it more than they do and I can get it". And that is true and it is proven in a similar example. In the past couple years, Wall Street recruiting has picked up at Penn State because the students before me wanted to prove they were better than their Ivy League counterparts.
So again, where do I stand? Somewhere near the middle, but if you want something bad enough, no obstacle is going to stop you.
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Tuesday's lecture had some great points and made me think of my own upbringing. When I was born my dad worked construction and my mom worked at the board of education making $10 an hour. When I was 3 my dad hurt his back and became disabled and unable to work. In order to give us better opportunities my mom went back to school and ended up getting a master's degree from NYU to become a speech pathologist and more than double her salary. If things had gone differently and my mom had never went back to school, my family would not be able to send me to a school like Penn State. I would have ended up going to community college, and this would have definitely made it harder for me to get a better job. This is one example of what Sam was saying about how a child's success is greatly influenced by the parent's social standing. My mother getting a much higher paying job resulted in our family going from lower class to middle class and put me in a much easier position to succeed and get a high paying job. I used to get angry when black people complained about slavery because I felt that slavery ended such a long time ago and that black people today cannot blame it on their circumstances. No one today can blame slavery 100% for their problems, but now I see the ripple effect slavery had on future generations. We all learned in history class about Jim Crow laws and that freed slaves still had trouble finding opportunities, but it was not until Sam's lecture that I really thought about the society they had to deal with. Even the Oprah show video was eye-opening. It is unfortunate that kids who attend Harper High will have such a harder time succeeding than the kids at the nice school. It is ridiculous that this country spends so much money on the prison industry to build new prisons to house drug addicts and non-violent offenders. It costs more money to send a young man to jail for a year than to give him an education for a year, and the problem is that once someone is sent to prison they develop a stigma about them and sometimes become institutionalized, which results in recidivism and more tax dollars to keep him incarcerated.
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I think that it is blatantly obvious that being in the middle, with respect to any two extremely opposing viewpoints, is the most logical thing to do. When discussing freedom versus determinism, this is that much more important. Sam put in to words what I could not, but I have always had this same method of thinking. No matter what your faith is, it is clear that people are born the way they are, to the families they are born to, without any control over the matter. It is also clear, however, that people get to where they are at least partially based on the individual decisions they make. Both of these concepts merge together to determine where someone ends up in life. Neither are solely responsible for an individual’s success. It is possible for one to dominate the other, but not completely.
There are two examples that can be used here. The first is someone who is born into a very wealthy family, but has a very poor work ethic. This person will go through life without doing much, if any, work, but they will ultimately end up still wealthy. Although their individual choices played a tiny role (as in, not losing the family fortune in Las Vegas), the major reason they were wealthy in life was because of their family. In this case, determinism is mainly what accounted for the success (but not 100%). The second example lies in someone who is born to nothing, but ends up with everything. Someone like this could be Bill Gates. Although his family was upper middle class, his own individual actions were what got him to where he is today. In his case, and in almost any case where someone makes more money than their parents, freedom is mainly what accounted for the success.
These two opposite, but similar examples can effectively shut down any argument supporting either strict side of the spectrum. A complicated balance between freedom and determinism is what accounts for the differences between groups of different ancestry. Much like the yin yang, one does not exist without the other. But, this moderation comes with a price. In the intellectual gray, it can be hard to deal with problems such as health care. No, it is not fair to the wealthier people to give money to the government to provide healthcare for the poorer people, but at the same time, it is not fair to the poor people who were born with a disability or who did not get a good education because of where they were born. Another issue along these same lines is the issue of welfare. Again, it is not fair to the wealthy people or to the poor people. The only hope can be that over time, equal working between classes will lead to equality.
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I loved Sam’s lecture. I thought it was amazing! I come from a very conservative family and I would like to believe I got were I am today because of things I did but in reality I was “set up “ to succeed. My Dad is a Dr and money has never been a big concern. We are by no means really wealth but having my basic needs covered has never been an issue. I have never really worried about having a place to sleep having food or having enough money to go to college. Although I did not always agree with it unlike most people in my area my parents instilled a good work ethic in me. I started my 1st real summer job when I was 14 and I had constantly babysat and done other odd jobs beforehand. I have worked every summer and my parents have me use my own money for a lot of things.
I am embarrassed to admit that some of my friends have still never had a job. Some receive monthly allowances at school (some upwards of $1000) and some don’t have an allowance because they have their parent’s credit card. Sam lecture was “right on” in so many ways. It is really both the individual and the environment they grew up in. I live outside Washington DC in an extremely Diverse area and a very wealthy area. It makes me so sad to see people with every opportunity possible fail to succeed when so many deserving and hard working people never will.
I had no economic obstacles but I did have my own obstacles. In elementary school I had trouble with reading and writing. Some called it a learning disability and others just said I probably would not go to college. My parents helped me in every way that they could and I know I would not be where I am today without them. However as I got older I have to put in 4 times as much time studying as other students and really work hard to overcome my reading and writing troubles. Despite always being on the honor role my parents still did not believe I would go to school. As my senior year approached my mom took me to look at “ shitty schools” and on our way to look at Penn State said I would never get into main campus and it would be a miracle if I got summer secession. I had a 3.9 and 1850 SAT score and I got into schools better than Penn state. I also got into Penn State mail for the Fall
Despite my hard work I would never be at Penn State if it were not for my parents economic situation. I had Spanish and math tutors and a sat tutor and I never worked during the schools year. Because I was not working I had time to have a stellar resume full of sports and student government and DECA.
Overall I really agree with Sam and I think money does not make you happy or successful it just makes things easier .
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Rarely do I find myself feeling like someone is completely full of it, but Professor Richards really grinds my gears. I want so badly to be able to get something out of this race relations class but the baseless arguments that he presents are so blatantly "un-academic" (for lack of a better vocab word) that I not only does it pain me to pay attention, I despise his arguments. I have taken mushrooms (the drug), and would confidently be able to say that I could only relate to him if I was on mushrooms. He sounds to me like he is stuck on an acid trip and is so far down the rabbit hole that he can't get out. Sure his lectures are true, but they are common sense on a remedial level. He makes a habit of contradicting himself left and right and never really says anything meaningful. He never really answers anyones questions, and hasn't uncovered ANYTHING. He puts the things that everyone else knows up onto power points and then makes assumptions (based on his own opinion) and presents them as facts. I am insulted that he is aloud to teach at Penn State and upset that I am wasting tuition money on his class.
Onto the topic at hand, obviously people are born into different races, classes, and walks of life. On the other hand, obviously people's decisions effect what the outcome of their life is. Sam Richards says that he is "giving us gold" but I don't understand whatsoever why he thinks he has imparted any knowledge on us. I wonder if there is anyone in class (well obviously there is) who thinks that this is a breakthrough in the field of sociology. I wish that I could learn something from this but I just don't see it. Every single concept in this class has the same underlying meaning, people are all the same. If anyone coming into the class didn't know that, which in itself would be sad for them, if they don't know by now they shouldn't even be in college. I hope that somehow this gets to you Sam Richards because I really think you need to hear this because apparently you think you are making the world such a smarter place. If this is supposed to be a Race and Gender relations class, teach us some race and gender relations. Maybe some people who live in a box, under a rock, or buried beneath miles of dirt have revelations from your material but most of us are academic students on a collegiate level. Teach us something that everyone with any education doesn't already know, please teach us. I hope that somehow the semester turns around and I can benefit from this class but for now I am just frustrated.
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I would agree with Professor Richards. I think we all need to consider both sides of a situation to get an understanding of where a person is coming from. I have to say, I don’t know if I’ve always cut people, myself included, enough slack. I have always thought, at least of myself, that no matter what, I have to get done what I need to get done. I believe however it is fueled by some professors and employers who do not always cut people slack when outside forces affect ones life. It has been said time and again don’t being your personal life to work or don’t let your personal life affect your professional life. The point Professor Richards made about a child in a family with cancer really struck a cord with me. I’m involved in Penn State’s dance marathon, which raises money for the Four Diamonds fund. I recently visited Hershey Medical center to see where the money raised by THON is distributed. The whole idea of the fund is that a family never has to pay a bill, other than what insurance covers. I saw first hand of an illness can really affect a family. I never realized the ripple affect. I never understood how it can literally change ones path in life. Usually one parent needs to quit their job to be able to become a caretaker. This will and does affect one’s finances, relationships and life in general. It is easy to look the other way and choose one way to look at a situation. Saying someone needs to push through this gut wrenching situation and still maintain normalcy and pay bills on time is one way to look at it. Saying a person should leave it up to fate and see what happens is another. Both are easy to make assumptions about, unless you are in the situation or take time to understand the situation. Being in the middle has allowed people to help these families with suffering children in need. Medical treatment is expensive, not to mention physically and mentally taxing. By allowing people who have been in this situation to aid other families, allows for a real solution. I believe it’s because someone took time to look at the situation and outside forces that could affect the situation. Visiting Hershey Medical center really gave me a perspective on life I had never considered. It makes me wonder how we could change the world if politicians and law makers listened to the people about what they think will work. To be completely realistic, most lawmakers fight for a cause, but do not necessarily understand the ripple effect one obstacle could have on someone’s life. What, I wonder, would happen if we talked to several homeless people, or several people without health insurance, or several people who are abused, what solutions could be reached and what laws could be implemented. Many useless assumptions are made by outsiders. This was reinforced by Professor Richards lecture. It has become increasingly apparent that you really cannot tell much about people by just looking at them. I have friends who have been through a lot. They are well adjusted and appear happy, but life will not be easy for them because of outside forces. Not to say their own personal choices did not affect them, but outsides forces will and have affected their life. The bottom line is, a person will need help to get through life, but one MUST have the inner strength to push through. One cannot blame others all the time. One MUST look at both sides of the situation, get in the middle and fight like hell to achieve one’s dreams.
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I found Sam’s class on freedom vs. determinism fascinating because it is such a fundamental topic that explains why humans are the way they are. I was raised in a house that promotes the freedom ideology, and that has shaped much of my worldview. My problem with determinism is that I find it indirectly promotes inaction in advancing yourself in the world. While I am more a proponent of the freedom school of thought, I recognize the presence of determinist forces as well. For the most part, I try to land somewhere in the middle. I think one of the worst things you can do is to be “for” an issue to so such a degree that you fail to recognize any validity in the other side. To do so often projects ignorance and obduracy.
The one question in class I found interesting was where you draw the line when assessing why some groups hold more power than others. My great grandparents immigrated to the United States from Ireland. My grandfather didn’t go to college. He worked for a delivery truck service in West Philadelphia for years before moving to Drexel Hill, a Philadelphia suburb. He worked fourteen-hour days to put his ten kids through Catholic grade school and high school. After that, all ten (including my mom) put themselves through college and graduated. I get annoyed with people who fail to recognize the validity of freedom ideology, because my family is irrefutable proof of it. People say it’s easier if you’re white, but my great grandparents came from Ireland. Irish immigrants faced a ton of discrimination in the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. They didn’t sit around and feel sorry for themselves, nor accept their lowly status. They worked hard to establish themselves in America, so that their children, grandchildren, and eventually great grandchildren could have better lives.
I thought Sam’s lecture yesterday on why inequality exists and how it evolved was fascinating. I had never thought about factors like resources and climate when it came to why some groups advanced faster than others. His point that it was all luck seemed too simple, but as he delved deeper into the issue, I found it made a lot of sense. If humans are genetically 99.9% the same, it’s only logical that some outside factor would lead to one group’s advancement and subsequent higher status in the world. I think for most of history, determinist principles ruled the day. Slowly but surely, though, it’s become easier to advance yourself in society. I think there is more opportunity for upward social mobility today than any other point in history. I am a firm believer that if you want something bad enough, and you work hard enough, you can do it.
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This is a concept that makes a great deal of sense to me and my beliefs lay in the gray area with exceptions. The forces at work in society are very much man-made and any tangible obstacle is there for a reason, whether it be moral or not. They are there to weed out the "weak" in order to find the "better" suited person for a position, school, or other opportunity. We are free to work our asses off so that we will have a better chance at an opportunity, a choice which is not very easy to make- nor is it always the right choice to make. The ambitious people out there will say this is the only option if you want to be successful in life. It's the popular mentality that, if we do not go down a path that will lead to money and wealth, we can not be successful. And that's there choice, to go for it. And maybe they have a connection to get them in the door, amidst a sea of people with nothing of the sort. They choose to take that step forward, into a crooked world of other ambitious people ready to kill for more money. If it was about supporting a family its understandable, but striving for excess is not only greedy, but silly in a world of creatures with lifespans of a ninety years tops.
Some people choose not to go down that path though. Because they know its not about how big your bank account is but about how many people you help. They know that when your last thoughts go through your head, it won't be pride in the amount of possessions you owned, but guilt of a selfish life lost. Determinism would not matter if no one cared about material wealth. There would be no money pinnacle to reach and compare each other to. Wouldn't that be nice?
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This week's lectures on Freedom vs Determinism really opened my eyes to many ideas I do not typically consider. I tend to hold more conservative than liberal beliefs, but I found myself agreeing with every point Sam made, even though some of them contrasted with the beliefs I've grown up with my entire life. I think the way Sam laid everything out for us made everything so clear- I can't help but think that if politicians would step away from their party biases and would consider this alternative way of thinking, government and politics would be a completely different game.
The Oprah video clip shocked me. I attended a high school similar to the "rich" school that was shown. We had many talented teachers, an impressive library, high tech gym equipment, award winning athletic teams, several computer labs with the most up to date technology, and a large cafeteria with a healthy, diverse menu. However, my school was private and had a much larger budget than the area public schools. Before attending this high school, I had attended public schools. My parents paid for me to attend this new high school, knowing its reputation for excellence, especially when it came to college acceptances. The public schools I attended previously were nothing like the ones shown in the video, which is why I was so taken aback. Now that I have seen that these conditions exist, I can think of several high schools, probably less than a 30 minute drive from my school, that probably face the same problems. Although my school was private and cannot be fairly compared, I can't help but feel a little guilty, not just because of my own experience relative to that of inner-city students, but because I did not know how poorly these schools were run. I've always been taught to appreciate everything that I have, and I think that is a way to differentiate myself from those who are handed great opportunities and never stop, or care to stop, to consider their value.
I realize I should not feel ashamed for the opportunities I've had, but how important it is to appreciate them. I think for those people who are in a similar situation to me, it is our responsibility to understand how "lucky" we are. Going along with the determinism approach, we have no say where we are born and what we are born into. Therefore, it can be considered luck if we end up in a comfortable environment. I understand that I don't have any more of a right to attend the private school that I did than the girl from inner city Philadelphia who is forced to attend a school with inadequate resources.
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I thought the lecture was interesting, but I do not think it was overly informative. I felt like there were a lot of tangents and much confusion. I do agree with the idea of freedom vs. determinism but I thought it could have been explained somewhat clearer.
I have very strong beliefs and opinions on what and how I feel about things going on the world, but I am not one to stand in other people’s way when it comes to theirs.
I think people should be free to do what they want, but what people want isn’t always right. Then again, who is to say what is right and what is wrong?
As much as I think Sam’s class is interesting, I also think it is a bit repetitive and boring at times. I also think that Sam has a lot of opinions and as much as he tries not to pawn them off on us, he does.
I am not saying anything bad about this class and the way it is taught, but I definitely think there is more than enough room for discussion and for controversy.
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Yeah I totally agree with what Sam said in class too. People totally should be in the middle. Like yeah, there are things that made me where I am today, and I totally took advantage of it. My parents are pretty wealthy, I'd say they are in the higher percentage of salaries in the US. And yeah, they are paying for my college. My freshman year, and all throughout high school I took advantage of that completely. I slacked off, I stole their money without them noticing, lets just say I was a complete ass. And then my freshman year I basically got through with a 2.8 which is terrible (no offense to people who think thats good). Then in the beginning of my Sophomore year something totally clicked in my brain, like it probably does for alot of people, and I was like, 'damn I need to try harder'. And long story short I worked my ass off and got a 3.7.
I am an independent, I totally have my own beliefs on anything but one thing is true, we all decide our fates in the long run. Just because my parents are wealthy doesn't mean that I was going to get through college. I had to choose. And now I am on my way to becoming a very successful person, but I am doing that on my own.
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Tuesday’s class seems to have got a lot of people thinking and that’s great. I was extremely pleased that Sam began the topic on freedom and determinism; it is something that I have toyed with for years now. One thing that stuck to me was when Sam insisted that where we stand is really due to our parents. The reason it hit home for me was because my mother, who I consider to be very successful (as do others), tells me all time “I work hard so that you can have whatever you want.” She feels that it is her duty to work as hard as she possibly can because it will help determine where I will ultimately end up. If all I took away from those words was her work ethic, then I think it would be enough to get me wherever I’m headed. My maternal grandparents were definitely of the working middle class and my mother surely triples what my grandmother’s salary was (in real income, accounting for the change in value of every dollar). From this I can conclude that there is much strength in the idea of freedom. With my mother serving as an example, she worked through several obstacles as a female minority to achieve the success that she celebrates now. What I ponder now is this: if the “starting line” was to be equal for all, would she be higher ranked on the “success” scale? Looking at her life up to this point, I would say no, she wouldn’t be higher up. But would she have gotten there faster? Hell yeah!
What she has taught me is that sometimes things out of your control will appear to hold you back (determinism). But in those cases, all you have to do is prove yourself. Yes, it will probably take a lot out of you to prove yourself to others time and time again, at every new level you accomplish, but it must be done. That is virtually the only way to get around determinism.
When watching the Oprah clip on Tuesday, something triggered in me. It was obvious that everyone figured out that one set of students didn’t have the resources to get the same education as the other. In my high school, what was supposed to be two separate educational programs (mainstream and International Baccalaureate), really ended up looking something like segregation. From the outside looking in it was terrible. Now, here we are in the same school, equal opportunities. The only thing you have to do to get into the International Baccalaureate program is change your schedule to those classes. No papers signed, no extra taxes, it’s all your personal decision making process. STILL, only about 10 or 12 minority students chose to enroll in those courses (of approximately 100-150 overall students). Even less actually finished in the program. Reminder: the school as a whole is about 65% black; the IB program about 90% white. This tells me that in an environment that seems to have both of the Oprah scenarios in one place, freedom played a serious role in many students’ high school fate.
Nonetheless, I’m staying in the middle.
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So, in order to be a Republican or a Conservative, or both for that matter, one has to completely believe in free will and not be affected by free will? Looking at the question from this angle, are Republicans or Conservatives even able to exist? It seems to be that the way Sam is presenting the idea of Conservatism allows for only one person in the entire living world to be a true Conservative – the richest, wealthiest, most powerful individual. This individual may be the only true individual not affected by the decisions or desires of others. Then again, even the richest, wealthiest, most powerful individual in the world cannot go on unaffected. The fact is: someone, or everyone, had to catapult this individual into the apex of mankind. Therefore, he must have been affected by others. Surely this all mighty individual must have the cooperation of others to remain at such at lofty position. Indeed, our omnipotent individual is certainly not untouchable, unaffected, or a true conservative – that is, a true conservative in light of the given definition. Next, Sam highlights the fact that Democrats cannot be Liberals. This idea sort of falls along the same path as the inability for Republicans to be Conservatives. Considering the way our world and human society function, it is impossible for one to think that they have complete free will on every aspect of the day to day existence. It is true that individuals have a great deal of control over their personal well-being. At any given moment, an individual can choose to self destruct. But can we even choose to live a healthy existence without the impact of our leaders, family, or neighbors? Can we eat healthily without farmers producing agricultural crops; such as, soy beans, wheat, or oranges? Can we focus on physical fitness if we are not given employment? No. In this sense, I guess be a total liberal would not be difficult. Our society does not leave us, as individuals, with many decisions that have not first been affected by others. Yet, there is some degree of free will that we do possess as individuals, but I believe that it mostly deals with a mere degree of liberty. What can I do for you to help you attain your goals? What can I do for me to help me attain my goals? What can you do for me to help me attain my goals? Education, good health, physical labor. Sam could not have been more correct with his starting line example. Birth place is merely luck of the draw and some get dealt a better hand than others. How you manipulate the world and others individuals within this world will determine the degree of free will you ultimately achieve.
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I was in shock during lecture. To be honest I almost didn’t even go. I have been planning and planning for my future, of which in my overactive imagination I have made extravagant. I do not come from a wealthy family; my father works as a car dealer and my mother for the most part stays at home with my sisters. Recently, to help out, she has started working at a restaurant her friend owns. Under the bubble of my new college friends and the life they live, I have almost forgotten where I come from. I was taking on life the way my wealthier friends do – I went out to eat with them, went shopping with them, and did everything else with them that cost some money, forgetting that I don't have it to throw away on things like that. When I realized what I was becoming (not that it is a bad thing – it was just a difficult realization to come to, was I living in a false reality?) I had a bit of a breakdown. Who was I to keep taking and taking from my parents who were working so hard to provide for me? I have a job but it is barely anything, especially not enough to justify for the ignorance I had acquired. These false pretences I was living under – that I had the money, and, more disgustingly, the right to act in this selfish and humiliating way – struck me harder that I can explain. I’m that person I used to mock. Listening to Sam in class was almost too much to handle. Who am I to keep taking? Think of all the privileges I have! Even to be here at a University! Yes, I have obstacles, but nothing so much as compared to most. I’m here. I did that much. Now I just have to get further – any foreseeable obstacles I truly feel like I can overcome. But could that self-assured idea get in my way? Could I sit here and think, “I’ll get it done. I can do it. So I’ll do it later,” and watch my future fall to pieces in front of me? Is it starting to happen already? This is just another obstacle. No one cares anymore what I scored on my SATs or what awards I won or who I was friends with. It is my turn now to take all responsibility. My excuses are meaningless and I cannot sit here and cry over the things that get in my way because they make things too hard. What is “too hard?” Is it anything more difficult than my privileged life? How much of a wuss can I be? From now on I will work on toughening my skin. Soon you’ll see me with scales.
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When Sam first started his lecture about Determinism vs. Free Will I knew what his point would be. I took a philosophy class last year where we discussed these concepts a lot. If we look at out world as being determined for us, ie we do not make our own choices, the world and what we do is a grand plan, then we do not have free will. In this scenario it is the exact opposite. We think we have free will when we make choices but really we all travel on a set path in life. This theory is ridiculous and isn’t accepted by many philosophers in this day and age. For the most part, people WANT to believe we have free will. So once this conclusion is made we get to where Sam was “rocking his own world” in class the other day.
I do believe that life is a balance of our choices and what we were given, ie the ‘hand we were dealt’. If I didn’t have parents that grew up in small towns with hopes of making it big in New York City then I probably wouldn’t be the privileged white girl that I am today. Ill admit it, I have a privileged life. That is the hand I’ve been dealt. If it weren’t for them I wouldn’t be here at Penn State with hopes of graduate school and a nice job in a big city. Where my choice comes in is what I do with my hand. This is where I believe life gets messy. Some people claim that the things out side of their control are the only things that influence their life. For example, some of my friends at home don’t have money for college. Instead of working hard and trying to get scholarships they wasted every penny they got their hands on on drugs and booze. They said ‘screw it’ I cant do anything with my life so why bother. This is what upsets me the most about our society. Sam is right, it’s a combination. Just because I have money for college doesn’t mean I will piss my education away and say ‘well mom says money so I’m good’ because that’s just stupid. Yes, there are obstacles in everyone’s life, and depending on what you start out with determines how easy or hard life will be for you, but only to an extent.
I’m very involved in THON here, as are many students, because cancer is one of those things that strikes people regardless of age, race, money, etc. Cancer doesn’t care if you have a nice car, or if you are the best man in church, or if you help raise money for poor kids in Ethiopia. Cancer is an extraneous thing that affects people regardless of social issues. It is tings like cancer that also affect people’s political views.
Sam talked a lot about how people who believe in Determinism are Liberal and people who believe in Free Will are Conservative. I think this is a huge generalization. Yes, Conservatives are usually rich guys that believe they earned their money so they don’t want to give it away. Yes, liberals are usually tree huggers that want to share the wealth and help everyone succeed. BUT some people’s views are based on other things. If you are middle class and spend all your money on hospital bills for your sick child you may be more inclined to be conservative because you literally have to be. You cant afford to spend your hard earned cash on other people when you have a dying family member fighting for his/her life. Also, many poor people with many obstacles in their life are liberal because they simply believe the world should be a great place for everyone regardless of money and economics.
I might be exaggerating my point but to say that conservatives are always on the ‘free will’ side and liberals are always on the ‘determinism’ side is a stretch too. Other than that, Sam made amazing points.
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The lecture Sam gave on Tuesdays was one of the most intriguing ones I’ve seen him give. He was really into it and because of that I paid closer attention and really enjoyed it. I loved how put it into perspective and explained it in terms of certain kids skating through college. I personally am paying for college with loans out the ass but my parents do help me financially. This made an impact on my college experience as I choose to stay home and attend a Penn State branch campus for two years as it saved me at least ten thousand dollars in loans. I also found it very interesting how Sam explained that you have a choice to make when you run into obstacles, and in the end it is you who determines what choice to make. I can also relate to this as last year I quit my job that I was working an average of twenty five hours a week for because it was getting in the way of my school work load and had me falling behind. It was a hard decision to make and caused me to be stressed for at least a week while I deliberated it. Either way I was hurting myself, quitting my job I hurt myself financially and if I didn’t quit I would have hurt myself academically. Last semester was also really hard as my pop-pop was very sick in the hospital and ended up passing away. I had to go home for an entire week and during that week I missed online quizzes for Spanish and was unable to make them up which caused me to have to late drop that class. I’m not trying to complain or whine in any means by using these examples to base the lecture off of I feel that I am on the same playing field as those students whose parents are paying for every expense they face in college because when it comes down to school work I am the one who decides when, where and if I should do it. That’s what Sam’s lecture was all about, in life you will be faced with tough decisions that will benefit and hurt you in different ways but it’s up to us to face these decisions and adapt and conquer the bad they bring. I see the obstacles I face in life as a positive thing as it makes me stronger and experiences that will help me later in life when I face similar ones.
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Sam’s lecture on Tuesday was very empowering and caused me to think of things in a completely different way than I ever have before. We were basically told that the places people get in life depend on their biological makeup, decisions they have made all throughout their lives, or events that have happened that were outside of their control. I was always taught that your life is what you make of it. But you need to consider the fact that your life is not always completely under your control. Sam used an example in class saying how if someone is in college trying to follow their dreams, but then that person’s parents get laid off, now that person needs to drop out of school to try to provide for his family. What he really wanted to do was to graduate from college with a degree but something occurred that was outside of his control and there wasn’t much he could do about it. Sam also said that on average, white people are on top and are generally more successful than blacks. There are definitely exceptions but this is an example of how the way you were born affects where you end up in life. Lastly, personal decisions can only get you so far. That’s what Sam meant when he said it was a mix of all three ideas.
Sam brought up in class how some people have more obstacles to overcome in life than others do as a result of all the factors that got them to where they are today. I consider myself to be more on the side of someone who has been able to skate right through life. Don’t get me wrong, I don’t have it THAT great, but I know that I am definitely better off than a lot of others out there. I am fortunate enough that my parents take care of me and give me everything I want in my life because without them I would be nowhere. It really puts into perspective how lucky I am when I think of how bad others have it. My grandparents on both sides of my family are immigrants but they came to America with a decent amount of money. After that my parents built their way up and now are considerably wealthy people. As a result of all of this, statistics show that I have a better chance of being successful because my parents are very successful. Statistics also show that since I am white my IQ is most likely higher on average than most black people’s IQ’s. It really is a shame that the world works the way it does because I think that all people deserve a fair chance, regardless of race or ethnicity.
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I thought that in class the other day Sam’s lecture was very interesting in other words it was awesome. It was really cool the points that he made during the lecture about equality and how pretty much every about penn state got there because of there parents. What I mean by this is that or what I got out of it was that I owe a lot to my parents. Because if it was not for them I would not be where I am today in your class at penn state. If I were even in school I wouldn’t be at the top school of my choice. Now I am not saying that I am rich or anything like that I am just saying that I had the people pushing me to do my best. I wanted to do good because I didn’t wanna let them down. I would feel bad if I got a bad grade on a test so I would try my best not to let them down. Now yes my some of the opportunities I had were different because I got sat tutoring and took sat prep courses which allowed me to do better on the sat and get into penn state. There are people who couldn’t affords to take sat classes so they wouldn’t do well on it and get into the college they wanted too. Now when it comes to People and there party people have conservative or liberal biases and based upon those views will consider themselves part of one party or another. Since there are only two, the selection is not very extensive. We do the best we can. Because the choices are narrow if one has a strong conservative view on a particular subject it is likely he will adopt the Republican label. The same patterns occur with Democrats. It is hard to be pro choice and decide to be a Republican. Most of America is in the middle. The majority of Americans holds a composite of views and almost always has to compromise its values to find a candidate or party to support. Because we all have different personal experiences our viewpoints are impacted as well as our political philosophies. Being an independent, middle of the road thinker makes it more difficult to find good candidates. Now back too Tuesday’s lecture was so far my favorite class I have been to. Sam did a really great job presenting both the freedom and determinism views, which I know, got everyone to actually think. I think that I myself have always looked in the middle of both. I come from a working class family so I understand both sides. But I do think that sam had some great points about it.
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Everything within this topic has been very interesting. The lectures, the ideas, the comments, all have been very thought provoking. Overall I would have to completely agree with what Sam said about being in the middle. When looking at determinism versus freedom, I feel that the middle is the only one that makes sense. Of course determinism will have a few good examples to make its point, just like freedom does, but in the end it is pretty obvious that where you end up in life is determined by how you play the cards you are given. While I did not look at my own life in this way, I definitely will from now on. I have realized that I have been blessed with a very good life. I am fortunate enough to have loving and caring parents, who on top of all the things they have done for me throughout my life, are helping me pay for my college and a few of my other expenses. I also know that it could have gone the other way, and if my parents did not have the money to help me, in all likelihood I would not be attending college. I know Sam talked about it, but just looking at that fact alone says quite a lot; if parents can pay or help pay for a college education for their kids, their kids are way more likely to go to college. Not that going to college makes or breaks someone’s future, but I think mostly everyone would agree that going to college definitely helps you out later in life. So right off the bat, if a kid is born to parents who can help pay for that kid’s college education, then they are going to have a lot more chances to succeed than if they were born into a family that could not help them with money for college. And yes people with poor parents who cannot help them financially can still go on to do great things, with or without a college education. On the flipside, and I know few of these people personally, there are people out there who are born into families with a lot of money, and yet they do not try in high school and do not go to college. So it turns out the Buddhists have had it right all along, the middle ground is the place to be.
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Whether or not people agreed with Sam stating that a person's position is really 50:50 free will:determinism, I would hope that we (and as in we I literally mean everyone in Sam's class who in one way or another is able to attend Penn State University) realize how damn lucky we really are. Sure, I could bring up Haiti and go on for pages about how terrible it would be to grow up in those conditions and then be hit by an earthquake of that magnitude. But think about even here in the U.S. Millions of young children and young adults our age are working dead-end minimum wage jobs just to survive, working street corners selling drugs or themselves, or simply dumpster diving to get their first and only meal of the day. We are lucky and fortunate in ways that many people could only imagine, and we should thank our parents and their parents for a large part of this. They made it so that when we were born we were automatically ABLE to make a name for ourselves and do almost anything we want to do. I believe our decisions and free will decide how well we actually do, but at least we have that freedom…
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Tuesday’s class was great, as Sam really did “give us gold.” In response to a previous post, yes, this concept may seem obvious to some and being at the college level, most students have probably heard it more times than one, but it is worth emphasizing and discussing. The beauty of the class is that most of what Sam presents is not FACT and is open to discussion, which is why these blog entries and weekly discussions are a large part of the course.
Anyway, Sam’s entire perspective on the topic of freedom vs. determinism rings true for me, as he stated, “at any waking moment both factors – personal responsibility and factors/forces outside of our control are (constantly) shaping everything we do and think.” Though everyone has a slightly different interpretation of where the “middle” is and what it exactly means, I am, for the most part, on the same page as Sam and lie somewhere in the middle, as I am am not purely conservative or purely liberal. However, perhaps because I am somewhat biased, I feel that personal decision and motivation, rather than predetermined factors, plays a larger part in someones overall success in life.
Regardless of which side of the “mountain” or “hill” someone climbs, a person will be presented with a number of challenges or obstacles, though some may slightly or drastically differ from others. Without question, peoples circumstances vary, on many different levels. However, I feel as though these obstacles or brick walls are there for a reason, as they let us prove how badly we want things and are there to stop people who don’t want things badly enough. In most cases, it is up to the individual and the decsions they make going forward.
I relavent example of someone whose life has been influenced by personal choice and motivation more than anything else, is the self-made millionaire and entrepreneur, Christopher Garner, portrayed by Will Smith in 2006’s recognizable film, “The Pursuit of Happyness.” Garner struggled with homelessness and poverty while attempting to raise his young son and faced (and eventually over came) factors he then had little influence over. Still, with all odds working against him, the choices he made allowed him to get where he is today.
That said, I can see that living in the United States, the land of opportunity, slightly changes the game and that it maybe be more difficult, from a moral/ethical standpoint for several reasons, to make “those” decisions, though you might possess the movtivation. As mentioned in class, no one is really going to leave their dying grandmother or mother to make it “big.”
Either way, whether the concept of freedom vs. determinism was familiar or novel, it was explored in a way that allowed Tuesday to be atleast one of or “the most important class of the semester.”
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I loved how passionate Sam was during his lecture Tuesday, and I was glad he continued his thoughts into Thursday’s class because I found the explanation of where the inequality comes from amazing. I am pretty sure I understood Sam’s lecture on Tuesday and I completely agree with him. First because I learned that the definitions of Liberal and Conservative are forever changing. By that I mean what a Liberal was 60 years ago is not the same as what it stands for now and vice versa for Conservative. I think ‘being in the middle’ is exactly where everyone needs to be. If we were all in the middle, we would find explanations for why people are who they are or why they do what they do. We would all understand what happened to people in their live previously and what chooses they made to be where they are now. Inequality in the world comes from a mixture of determinism and freedom. There are a vast number of things that happen outside our control that make certain actions easier of harder for individuals. There is also freedom of choice. (to be continued)
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You always have a choice, no matter what the situation is. Sam’s example of this in class that made me believe what he said was true is that if someone has a gun to your head and tells you to do something, you can either do what they said or get shot. You have a choice. He explained there are obstacles where people can choose to get around the obstacle or be defeated by the obstacle and it’s that person’s choice. This completely clicked for me in class. I finally understood that the whites became the king of the mountain so they had the upper hand. It was just straight luck that they were better off to start with and made the right choices. The idea is that because someone goes further than you or is better off than you doesn’t mean he or she is better than you, it means he or she got lucky to start off and made good choices. (to be continued again)
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Whites are not any better than black or brown people because on average they make more money, the whites were just lucky generations ago, so they have held the high ranking position since. I don’t think that luck is the only reason whites make more money. I think some people make bad choices and screw themselves over while others make good choices and prosper. He made this clear by using students who go to PSU as an example. Some students are lucky and have rich parents to pay their tuition, while others have a huge obstacle and have to work while in college to pay their own way through. This shows that both groups made good enough choices to get into Penn State, but some were dealt luckier cards than others.
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I think Tuesday’s class was actually really realistic. I think he was dead on with how some people are given things to them in an easier path, versus another person dealing with each obstacle in their way. The credit card example displayed my thoughts completely, and I know people who live life exactly in that way. The choice to not succeed is very relevant in the path, and I agreed with a lot of what he was commenting on with the simple example of SAT scores. I was also really surprised to see that looking at ethnic groups and household income has a lot to do with the increase in scores, I mean who would have thought about this at all?
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I'm a little confused on the Freedom versus Determinism article but as I see it its about choices and obstacles. No matter what color a person's skin color is obstacles are always to be encountered within the spectrum of personal choices and freedoms some of us have. I remember in one of his lectures how he discussed that some people give us assistance along the way, but can you think of really anyone who has severed all connections with people they know and live a life where they start with absolutely nothing. Most if not all people have something to start with and the only ties that people do rely on are that of friends and in order to work out somethings would require the assistance of someone or something to explain it. All of these things are obstacles helped to be overcome by the assistance of someone or something.
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Yeah this is an interesting topic about how people see the world. Sam's lecture was quite interesting in the way that he brings both sides into the picture. How you really have to understand both right and left and are balanced to truly get a feel of where people are coming from. I also believe that most people make their own choices and that is what leads them to where they are today. Also there are obstacle in peoples way every day and hoe they manage to get though those obstacles or just quite when they seem to large is other way people choose to live their lives and end up where they are.
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I agree with Mr. Richards that factors and forces affect the things that we do. Since I was not born into an extremely wealthy family, I was forced to work for everything that I wanted, rather than being spoiled and getting everything that I wanted. While some people go home over breaks and summers and do nothing but relax, I go home and work forty hour weeks so I can pay my way and come back to Penn State in the fall or spring. I also believe that I wouldn’t have gone to Penn State if my parents and family didn’t factor into the things that I do. My family is mostly Penn State alumni and it is an in-state school so I was raised to want to come to Penn State. I’ve grown up wearing Penn State apparel, watching the Penn State football teams on T.V. and live and just making periodic visits to see the school. Because of all these factors, Penn State became the only school I wanted to go to since I was very little and the only school that I applied to.
I also agree with Mr. Richards that personal choice matters in the things that we do. Even though I was pressured into going to Penn State by outside forces and factors, I didn’t have to go to school here. I could have chosen to go to a different school, like Temple. Also, just because most of my family went to Penn State doesn’t mean I would get into the main campus freshman year. I needed to personally choose to work hard and study in high school in order to make sure I would be accepted here. Lastly, if I didn’t choose to have a job in high school I wouldn’t have been able to afford to come to Penn State. I may have been pressured to get a job through an outside factor but they didn’t force me too. If I didn’t want to work I didn’t have to, I just knew I would go nowhere with my life if I didn’t choose to work and make money.
I believe that the personal choices people make affect things about the same amount that the factors and forces outside our control do. I believe that we can be influenced to do something by our family, but then choose to do something else. Since there is always a choice, you can go against the factors and forces outside of your control and choose the opposite of what is wanted of you. By only believing that either personal choices or outside factors was the sole reason for how things turned out you would be ignoring a very important aspect of how things truly are.
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I have no idea what everyone is talking about. This class wasn’t that good. You could have gotten everything he said from sitting down for a grand total of 5 minutes and thinking about your life. It is the most obvious decision that you have freedom of choice and determinism. If you thought any other way you are an utter piece of shit. I’m fed up with people acting as if their eyes are being opened to something new and fantastic when its been sitting right in front of you rearing its ugly ass at you. Once again I would like to thank the academy.
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aga5044 Reply:
February 13th, 2010 at 3:22 am
I really appreciate someone expressing his or her true feelings. I doubt that everyone else in a class of seven hundred has the same opinion that this was an unbelievable lecture. Having said that, this post is a little too intense for me. I do have to agree with the fact that this class was not as interesting as everyone is making it out to have been, but I do not think that anyone who thinks in the opposing way is “an utter piece of shit” like sterlingb13. I like Sam a lot as a person and a professor and this is a very important message, which he did do a good job of explaining, but I also believe that the topic of freedom of choice versus determinism could have been delivered in a different way. Instead of using this as a topic for an entire hour and fifteen minute class, I think it could have been talked about for a shorter duration of time. I just feel like the class started to drag on and got boring because we were belaboring the obvious. To me, it seems obvious that both free choice and determinism are at work when figuring out how a person got to the place in which they currently reside. Apparently though, not everyone believes this, so maybe the entire class period was needed to force people to think about these concepts. I think it is a topic that some people have seen a lot though. Personally I have seen it in classes such as english and biology. In english I had to write a paper on whether I believed in fate or free choice, and in biology, a major ongoing debate is over whether it is nature or nurture that is more important to a person’s development. Nature refers to a person’s genes that are determined, and nurture has to do with a person’s environment and could include what choices they make or the choices other people make for them. Just like Sam said in class, I stay in the middle of free choice and determinism. I know that I have not gotten to be here at Penn State based on all of my own choices. I also believe that my entire life up until this point has not been predetermined. I have made good choices along the way to improve my chances of getting here, but I have had a lot of helpers too. I was born into a good family. My neighborhood and school systems were also very nice. And like we talked about in class, I receive help from my parents. If it was all up to me and my choices, I know I definitely would not be here right now. Good thing it’s a mix of choices and determinism and not one or the other. I would also like to thank the academy.
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I think more than anything, I agree with Dr. Richard’s stance on free will vs. determinism, which is in fact a perfect mixture of both factors outside out of our control, and decisions we make the affect what we do and why we’re able to do it. Focusing on this so called middle “gray area” may indeed benefit us and lead us to a more beneficial and open perspective. Being in this middle allows you to think outside the box and observe that every action you take is not only a matter of personal decision but ability to do so based on outside forces we have no control over.
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The rich school versus poor school example from class resembles my life very well. I grew up in a poorer neighborhood that had facilities similar to the one’s we saw in the first school from the video. I wasn’t learning very much, but I was smart, and was definitely one of if not the smartest kid in my grade. The definition of intelligence shifted dramatically for me when my family decided to move to a much nicer area, with one of the best school districts in the state. Although I was placed in advanced math, I immediately realized how much further along the other kids were. It felt like I had barely gotten to division but I was already doing calculus problems. Now here’s what I’m wondering: Would I have been better off staying in the poor neighborhood and being top of my class, or doing what I did and not doing very well in high school?
Before this class I probably would have said I’d rather stay in the poorer school. Afterall, I was doing really well, learning a lot, and I would have graduated near the top of my class if not at the top. I thought this way mostly because I was thinking about college, and what people want to see on your application. As long as my SAT scores were good (which I expect they would have been), I’d probably be going to a better university. But now I feel more grateful for the opportunity I had, especially because of how much I’m learning here at Penn State.
Politics is not something we like to talk about between my extended family. My entire mother’s side of the family are all hardcore democrats, while my father’s side is chock full of staunch republicans. It’s the kind of thing where if it were brought up, my evangelical aunt would probably tell my jewish mother she is going to hell for voting for Obama. So, I’ve always kind of existed in the gray area of the political spectrum, although I do lean more to the left. What I’ve learned from this class is that I can apply my balanced political ideologies to things other than politics, like my own motivation in life. I wasn’t having a good week when we had this lecture. I slept through two classes the day before, and I was feeling pretty bummed out about it. I’m not exactly sure what it specifically was in the lecture that inspired me, but I felt rejuvenated, like I had control over my life and being successful was as simple as getting around a few obstacles. I usually overcomplicate things, but this is class is definitely making me take a step back and see the big, or in this case small, picture.
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"The most important class ever." I think not, however, I do believe that Sam's 75 minute lectures are a time for many people to think. At first, I found it hard to believe that he had to even caution people about staying in the middle of the two extremes: Freedom and Determinism. In the back of my mind I just kept repeating over and over again, "You can't be serious?! 75 minutes of reasoning as to why the world cannot be fully made up of fully man made effort or fully insurmountable obstacles. But then I came to the realization that some people actually live their lives in one extreme or the other. And I thought, what nonsense! But if I were to say that to someone, he or she would probably have a real hissy fit because of my insensitivity. So I decided to explain my situation.
I am black. African-American according to Sam's definition because truly, I can only trace my ancestry back to slavery. It's a sad fact but I've gotten over it. Continuing on that path, if we trace my history back to slavery, there really has not been much opportunity in my family lineage for us to be particularly advantaged. However, would I say that we've been particularly successful in life? It depends on your definition of success. Financially, no. We're not very well to do financially. Actually that's making it sound to nice. We're poor. According to national standards and such, we're in poverty.But are we homeless, in dire need of medical attention, starving, or worse? No, we're not that bad. Can we live a cushy little life full of advantages that people with more money have? Nope, we can't do that either. But still we're poor. Yet, here I am a college student second year and doing fairly well academically, socially and otherwise. And when Sam asked the question, how many people are going to college with "0" help from their parents back at home, yes, I raised my hands. I don't know if I should have seeing as though they do provide me a place to stay when I get home and they send me care packages every now and again from home just to show me they're thinking of me. They just have not contributed one red cent to my college funding or extracurricular endeavors. And after sixth grade they couldn't really help me much academically because they both only attained High School level education and forgot about all the stuff they learned a long time ago. Somehow though I managed to come to Penn State on full scholarship and am working my way through college for all other expenses. I've had a couple unique experiences with internships and networking opportunities and I've worked pretty hard for a lot of the things that I have achieved in life. But some things, like being awarded a full academic scholarship, are just inconceivable to think that I completely earned that with just effort. (I'm not saying I got it because I'm black and it was given to me, I'm saying that there are tons of other very smart, community service oriented, talented people who are just as deserving of a scholarship as well, so I'm thankful that I got it.) That was just a simple example. A very typical example of a college student. But it allows me to see even there that everything that happens in life isn't just a matter of "my own efforts and choices" or "all the circumstances of the world working for or against me". Still there are many of my peers who don't understand that concept and still want to hold steadfast to one of the extremes. I don't get their mentalities, but I finally understand why Sam has to still teach that class.
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