Utopian? Transcendentalism?
After engaging in the Modern Utopian Society project creation, what are
you thinking about Transcendentalism? What is one quality within
Transcendentalism that pique's your interest? Please complete this blog
response by 2:30p.m. on Fri., Sep. 15th.
posted by Greg T at Monday, September 11, 2017
32 Comments:
While I was working on my modern utopia I realized that transcendentalism can actually be very beneficial. I really like how they take in nature and really appreciate the outside world instead of sitting inside all day on technology like many people do today. In my modern day utopia I included a hammock and it made me want one because even though I don't appreciate nature as much as a transcendentalist does, I would love to start to go outside more.
Transcendentalism seems to me to be about removing oneself from society both physically and mentally. To transcend society means to relocate oneself from modernized life for some time and ignore normal societal trends, not worrying about the “normal” that one strives for to some degree while in society. The relocation aspect certainly piques my interest. To be physically unreliant on society is a challenge which probably has many good results. Over the summer, I was very interested in the show “Alone” on History channel, where contestants live by themselves with minimal gear in the wilderness for as long as possible. The contestants usually received both benefits, such as finding their place in the world, and negative effects, such as loneliness and homesickness. I think that this type of temporary lifestyle would be beneficial if the participant has no attachment to society and, in fact, wants to leave it.
While working on the modern day utopia and transcendentalism project, I think It’s pretty cool that people want to remove themselves from society. In my opinion, I wouldn’t want to go live out in the wilderness alone, having to build myself a house, hunt for my own food, and live away from family. However, I think it’s cool that people are able to put aside everything, and go live with nature. Some people might think it’s pretty weird, but I would support my friends or family if they wanted to move away and live in the wild. It does make me think that I probably should go outside more, whether it be to take my dog for a walk, or going for a run.
Aspects of transcendentalism can be beneficial to our society, in my opinion. While I don’t think that all of mankind has to regress back to living in the wilderness and hunting or farming their own food, I believe that adopting the mentality of a transcendentalist (i.e. becoming more self-reliant, focusing in on individuality) can help both individuals to develop a sense of self and to live more productively. In particular, the focus on free thought and nonconformity piqued my interest. I believe that if we as individuals within a society were to care more about ourselves than pleasing the masses, we have the potential to evolve our morals and ethics.
After I began working on the Modern Utopian Society project I was forced to think about transcendentalism on a deeper and different level. The quality that stood out to me the most is individuality. Because transcendentalism focuses a lot on being the most true version of yourself when you are alone and in nature, I had to bring this element in full force to my modern utopian society project. I believe that individuality is a very important quality to have especially in today’s society. With the rage of social media and attempts to show who was the best car or the newest iPhone, there is such a need for genuine human connection. While I don’t agree that the only way to find your true inner self is to completely submerge yourself in nature, I do believe that in your life it is important to not care about what others think and be able to find out who you are and freely express yourself throughout your life.
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While studying transcendentalism, I have begun to realize that many of the ideals could be beneficial to people and our society today. Transcendentalism focuses on self-reliance, confidence, individuality, etc. I believe those ideas are very important to society and in helping people be the best version of themselves. In society today, I find that it has become harder to find confidence in people, to find someone that relies on themself, and so on. Because of that, we have to work harder to achieve those ideas. I disagree with the idea that in order to do that, you have to spend time alone in nature. There are other, simpler ways in which you can discover yourself and who you are. However, I think the main purpose behind going into nature, can be applied to life. You shouldn't focus on society and what its definition of perfect it. Instead, you should express yourself how you want to and not be afraid to do so.
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I think that the thing that caught my attention most about transcendentalism is the idea of being completely self-reliant. One of the things I've always wanted to try to survive using only the resources nature gives us. Although this does seem to be pushing it a bit far, I still think that it would give such a feeling of self-confidence to know that I don't need the support of technology to live a successful life.
After working on the Modern Utopian Society project I realized that a lot of the ideas of transcendentalism would help create a Utopian Society. An Idea that really stuck out to me was not using technology, technology has changed the way people interact with one another. Using less technology will help with that, but I do not think there should be no technology at all. Technology has helped us do and create more things than ever. Technology has allowed us to learn new things about everything.
after working on the Modern Utopian Society Project, I believe transcendentalism is a very interesting thing. Transcendentalism is the idea of removing yourself from society and being isolated. This isolationist idea was created in hopes for the transcendentalist to find themselves through nature. One big thing that interests me about transcendentalists is just that idea. The idea that people find themselves through their surroundings. That they can go an extended period of time being isolated from humans, in search of not money, power, or fame. But in search of themselves.
After reading about transcendentalism my thoughts are very mixed and confused. I still do not completely understand motives and reasons for doing the things they do an why they are so drastic. One things that I find very interesting is that some of the people who practice this idea use society to a certain amount to survive and live.
Before I started the transcendentalism project I thought that transcendentalism was just abandoning society but in reality it is to start relying on yourself to live. That can be in several forms, it can be very drastic or it can just creating a new community in the wilderness. I really identify with the wanting to spend time away form the modern society, and to try and understand something bigger than me.
In the beginning of the unit I thought transcendentalism was a simple idea of ditching society. Now that I have studied it more I realized there is much more to it then that. I do not completely agree with some of the ideas that go along with it but if these people want to take on that way of life its up to them.
I believe that transcendentalism is both inspiring and unrealistic. At the beginning of this unit, I thought transcendentalists were just people that lived in a way that was freeing and accepting, but in reality I have found that these people are unrealistic and almost foolish. Do I agree with some of their thoughts? Yes. I agree that one is at its truest state when one is not concerned with how another will perceive you. On the other hand, I think that when one decides to fully leave society and everything in it results on being really lonely and empty. In conclusion, I think that this unit was very interesting and beneficial to our understanding that people want to live different than the "status quo."
After engaging in modern day utopian society project I think that transcendentalism is a unique way of living. It seems a little extreme from the way most of the people at Arapahoe live now. I admire how the people really connect with the world around them and learn to love nature instead of things.
I admire the ideals of transcendentalism but I feel that it is blown out of proportion and going too far in the other direction. Being able to separate from society and live completely off a self-reliance is a skill I greatly admire. We are always so plugged in and rely on others to help us make decisions and get things done. I love the idea of living in nature and truly connecting with yourself and your surroundings. I believe that we have the ability to do that without isolating ourselves from the world. Simply spending an hour or so a week, in nature, by yourself, completely unplugged, can help refresh an individual and help them connect back to what their purpose is in life.
Trancendentalism to me seems like a way for people to become more in touch with themselves and with nature. At first I thought it was just when you escape everyone and everything and your life revolves around nature. I now know that it goes a lot deeper than that. Its more about discovering what life can be like without the complete influence of society. One thing about trancendetalists that piques my interest is that they seem to live a much less stressful life despite the fact that some of them live without currency or man made shelters
After working on the Modern Utopian Society project, transcendentalism seems like the best way to go for our society. Becoming one with nature will strengthen our mindsets to become more intelligent and realistic. Not only that but we will discover our true inner self. Of course, not everyone needs/wants to discover themselves and plus,there are millions of ways to find out more about yourself. But I believe for the few people,that living in nature away from society, will be more efficient. Everybody needs a break from society every once in awhile and maybe transcendentalism is the way to do it.
After reading and analyzing the very reasons why transcendentalism is an appealing lifestyle to some, it has made me ponder it's ability to be beneficial to our modern world. The lifestyle is appealing to me because it's something that can be molded and it doesn't have to be this uniform action that makes you one. Although shown in many articles displaying acts of separation from society, consumerism, technology, etc. has been the face of transcendentalism. I believe that changing your mindset and how you look at obstacles in your life, such as discovering/accepting your true identity, appreciating what you have, and becoming more self-sufficient is also a progressive and ongoing road to becoming a transcendentalist.
After learning more about transcendentalism, I find the simplicity of life part interesting. If we were to all live simple lives, however, mankind would not progress, and potentially die out. Innovation is what has kept our species alive, and a life of simplicity will void the necessity of innovation.
I view Transcendentalism as a way of life for only a few. Today, people lack Practical skills that are necessary with living in the woods. If people welcomed the values of Transcendentalism without leaving society behind, our way of life could very much improve. Appreciating the idea of Independence more and people society could be improved a lot more.
MY Utopia was based on transcendentalism. In reality, we are alive because of God. Without God we couldn't exist as He is the one who created us. In fact, our lives in reality are very affected by transcendentalist thoughts.
Transcendentalism I believe is a way to be able to do what you believe. If you want to get away from technology, than your transcendental life would be away from technology. Its fascinating to me because they are able to get away from things to find themselves.
After completing the Utopian project, I am more interested in Transcendentalism. It appears to be a good way to clear the mind and learn things about yourself you usually would never discover. Something that piqued my interest was how someone can change their mindset, and just by doing that, it can have an enormous impact on their life.
Transcendentalism as portrayed has no interest to me, because I am not yet frustrated or offended by the status quo. I understand the romanticism of burning your money and abandoning your life, but I am not in a position to where it would ever make sense for me to become a transcendentalist. Modern transcendentalists are usually idiots without a clear defined principals. It is near impossible to live like Thoreau or Emerson in the modern day. People can't create their own tools, nor build a house on empty land, when our tools require complex machinery to create, and all of the land is owned. Living deliberately must still be possible, but not through petty imitation.
I see transcendentalism as a way for people to be free from society. In the articles about different groups of them they all had one main part to it, that was to have a peaceful and strong mindset. They were all open and willing to let people join if you could complete the necessary requirements.
The Modern Utopian society project introduced a more harmonious perspective on transcendentalism. It conveyed that we are all trying to create our own Utopian lives but the way that we approach them creates a diverse and unique aspect of the human mind and its passions. The way that we perceive Utopia also connects us together in order to understand the differences that help promote individuality through our own creativity. The aspect of appreciating nature and its god-like energy is an aspect on transcendentalism that invokes lots of thought that I am interested in. Nature has a strong impact towards our consciousness and our health in order to find unity within ourselves. It's a unique perspective.
I think transcendentalism makes my brain hurt. It's very complicated and often times there's too many grey answers. Some answers in life are black and white. Plus, the technological advances people make are not wrong and it's not wrong to have more than enough. Matter of fact I'd rather have more than enough than not enough because that's just society. I also think that some people can find their purpose within the society. Maybe some people's purpose completely revolves around society.
Within my project I had decided to look at the definitions of each part of the equation, Transcendentalism has multiple parts, Solitude, Nature, and Spiritualism over Materialism. While modern society is also made up of parts, Materialism, Sociability, and Structure. These are the antithesis of each other and give us an idea of how it may fail.
After engaging in the modern Utopian society project I found transcendentalism to be very eye opening. On one hand I really admire how transcendentalists are so perceptive and self aware. They know who they are, have confidence, a connection with nature, and are self reliant. I also think that it takes a certain type of person to remove themselves from society and fend for themselves in nature which really intrigues me. I also admire how they do not acquiesce societies standards, no one can tell them who they are supposed to be. Now as much as I admire transcendentalists, I could never be a full out transcendentalist. As harsh as society can be sometimes, I think that connections and relationships with people are just as important, if not more important, than connections with nature. I also believe that transcendentalists are focused on themselves which comes off as a little narcissistic and I think that could be harmful to a society.
After doing the Modern Utopian Society Project, I found I personally resonate with a lot of ideas that transcendentalism brings up. I really resonate with idea of "finding yourself" and though I don't think completely separating yourself from society is the only way to know yourself, I do believe that society does have a major influence on who we are, and sometimes it may blur our self image and who we are. However, there's much more opportunity to find yourself in society than in nature. We're social creatures, without a social aspect to our lives we almost lose more of ourselves than in chaos of the crowd.
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