The World Of My Education

In today’s society, people put money on expensive or luxurious items in order to have a better appearance and to bring them happiness. Walker concerned about the society's definition of “ Valuable” and how human put values on objects. She points out people should place value on love, family and friends instead of diamond, gold and other materialistic things.

Through making and researching, I would like to discover how people value objects. I would like to design products that can be used and cherished for long term. So as to that, I think it is worth to consider and research aspects of psychological way of valuing

People chase wealth and prosperity so they can buy items they think they need and will enjoy, whether it be an iPod or latest game console. Eighner’s idea of the transience of material living is that in the end material possessions are meaningless. Eighner has learnt through his loss of these items that life experience and knowledge will outlast any tangible item, he states “some material things are white elephants that eat up the possessor’s substance” (568). Eighner argues that materialistic objects themselves are not as important as the sentiments behind them. The fact that Eighner can survive and live happily off others’ waste effectively persuades the reader to reflect and ask questions of themselves.

Rather than creating a world filled with the most creative and independent thinkers, the crippling educational system that has been implemented by society over the years focuses on producing ‘mindless consumers and employees’. According to an article written by John Taylor Gatto, Against School, the flaws in a modern ‘compulsory’ school system that have dramatic effects on the student body and faculty. The passing blame between teacher and student are said to be results of the decreased salaries and mindless lesson plans leading to busywork for hours. The author states that as a society “ We suppress our genius only because we haven’t yet figured out how to manage a population of educated men and women.” (Gatto,5) The devastating decline in the quality of our educational system has encouraged this upcoming generation to not think at all for themselves or the effects their actions may have on others.

There is a well known statement that reads, “Never judge a book by its cover.” Not everything that has value in the world is shiny or expensive. An item that has value to me is my stuffed horse, and it is special to me because I have had it since I was six, my mom gave it to me, and it helped me through some tough times as a kid.

Value is a subjective domain. What is insignificant to one is priceless to another. In that subjectivity, one tends to measure value in cost- what would you give for this? Some things come cheap, a minute of your day, a dollar of your savings. Others demand more, a piece of your soul, your mortal life altogether.

“There is a time in every man’s education when he arrives at the conviction that envy is ignorance; that imitation is suicide; that he must take himself for better, for worse, as his portion; that though the wide universe is full of good, no kernel of nourishing corn can come to him but through his toil bestowed on that plot of ground in which is given to him to till” (Emerson, 296).

We as people are like mammals and find a way to strut our stuff. “Using material possessions to exhibit status is commonplace in today’s consumer culture.” (123) We don’t want to show people how we live. We need to show them. We are in a society where wealth determines where you are placed in someone’s ranking. “An integral component of the shiny-objects ethos is quick riches. What better way to

In today’s society, though there is an apparent lack of acknowledgement, it is a principle to be aimed at that one should appreciate all that they possess, both inanimate objects and animate objects. In Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance An inquiry into Values, Robert Pirsig states “We’re in such a hurry most of the time we never get much chance to talk. The result is a kind of endless day-to-day shallowness, a monotony that leaves a person wondering years later where all the time went and sorry that it’s all gone. ” Pirsig discusses the lack of appreciation for life, that people are often blinded by the spoils of wealth and materialistic objects, that end up resulting in excessive greed. And through this they regretfully miss out out from the beauty life has to offer. With these deceptions in life, a lack of appreciation is born into the hearts of so many, showing that the culture today prompts these actions by giving in to all forms of wants (Pirsig

The speaker who says, “We need to fulfill our potential through education -- through personal --growth. These are the ways to become good citizens -- to transcend time and space”, is appealing to:

Human beings have higher education standards which starts at a young age and can possibly go forever. They have so called "leaders" that they named teachers. These teachers help motivate humans to achieve good things as much as possible but at the same time, it is the humans responsibility to choose which path to go on. While we are on our journey, we noticed that the teachers were good, strong leaders to the young ones and that some of the students grew up to be good instead of evil. Teachers have a huge impact on these children 's lives because they are with them most of the day and act as a role model to them. As Kao said," Shaping human nature into Humanity and Duty is like shaping willow wood into cups and bowls,"(page 79 of Reading The World.) this quote responds very elegantly to this example of human nature because teachers help shape these kids life together and humans are inborn with good and some with evil. Some humans had different beliefs on the education views. Some of these humans have to be at the top of all the others in their class while others did not care what they did and was just there because they had to be. Some worked very

Teaching is a strenuous profession considering all the influences that mold and shape children. In the play by Alan Bennett, The History Boys, the seventeen-year-old boys are confronted with the realities of educational climate at the time as they try to get into Oxbridge. The Headmaster (of …) wishes that all of the boys would get into Oxford or University of Cambridge to prove to the bureaucrats of the British education system. Irwin is introduced as the supply teacher that will provide this extra push and supplement the students’ lessons. In Candide by Voltaire, Candide is taught by a philosopher – Pangloss - in “metaphysico-theo-logo-cosmo-nigology”. Pangloss is Candide’s only teacher who doesn’t provide lessons in a certain subject area. Candide finds out the extremities of the world as he is kicked out of his home and tries to apply Pangloss’ theory of “best of all possible worlds”. When comparing these two pieces of literature, Irwin is the most adequate teacher to prepare his students for reality because he uses education to bring out all of the potential each student brings.

“The point of objectivity with respect to value runs the risk of having value behind altogether. We may reach a standpoint so removed from the perspective of human life that all we can do is to observe: nothing seems to have a value of the kind it appears to have from inside and all we can see is human desires, human striving – human valuing as an activity or condition”2

Say a project is due in two weeks. There is plenty of time to relax. But what if the project is due tomorrow? Suddenly, time seems more valuable. The world gives extraordinary value to the little scraps of paper we call money. While the monetary value does not change, the personal value varies greatly depending on the perspective. These examples explain how the perception of value differs depending on quantity. Individuals living in poverty value their possessions and relationships more than the rich. Human mortality highlights the value of living life with a purpose, whether that purpose prolongs one’s own life, or protects the lives of others.

The author, Anna Quindlen, does make a valid point regarding, our possessions are not what we think. Americans consume personal property that we do not appreciate and forget what really is valuable. Consequently, it’s easy to forget what is more important than possessions that come and go throughout our lives. The merchandise that we value are just that, material objects that lose value within time and then we search for the newest. Before the appointed time, it is not materialistic items that bring us joy and fulfilment, it should be loved ones and special memories.