"You shall no longer take things at second or third hand, nor look through the eyes of the dead, nor feed on the spectres in books, you shall not look through my eyes, nor take things from me, you shall listen to all sides and filter them from your self." - Walt Whitman's "Song of Myself".
Though this poem touches many different topics, I found this particular verse important. Walt Whitman put this vital information perfectly in his poem "Song of Myself". There are so many people in this world that have a tendency to believe anything they hear or read as fact. What would have happened if everyone had listened to the south by not abolishing slavery? How destructive would have Hitler been if the world just took his words as legitimate when describing Jews?
Thinking for yourself isn't often as easy as one might think. It's often hard to go against the norm when the masses accept it as factual information. Take a look at what happened to Galileo back in his day. He went against the church's idea that there was a Geocentric Universe. He stopped listening to what the masses believed, took another look for himself, and found out that everybody was wrong. When he started to teach his theories he was shunned from the church and was put in confinement. The church made it apparent as well that anyone teaching this theory of a Heliocentric Universe would serve jail time and be shunned from the church.
My point is that you shouldn't always take the information you get from books, friends, government, and even teachers as the end-all fact. Take everything with a grain of salt. If everyone listened to the south, slavery could have lasted much longer in the US. If people believed Hitler there might not be anymore Jews. If Galileo hadn't of thought for himself we might still think we are the center of the universe. I believe this is what Whitman was trying to get across to his readers.
You must think for yourself, and question the majority.
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You make good use of the quotation to make your point about thinking for oneself.
ReplyDeleteSome notes: You're thinking of Galileo, not Copernicus. Copernicus was the first to publish the heliocentric theory, but the Church left him alone because (a) he wrote in Latin, so his idea never reached the general public, and (b) he did not piss off the Pope. Galileo's book on the solar system was revolutionary because, unlike scientists before him, he wrote in Italian, the language of his people. Also, he made the Pope look like an idiot in his book. Galileo was punished but not actually jailed: he was placed under house arrest in a palace belonging to his patrons, the Medici; we should all get a prison so posh.
If the subject of Copernicus and Galileo interests you, read "The Sleepwalkers," by Arthur Koestler.
Yeah I agree with you and also with murray, becaues that was galileo, and I really liked how you used quotes and facts to explain your argument. Really good. Enjoyed reading!
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