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Thursday, October 6, 2011

Blog Post #3 Waden & Other Writings -- Henry David Thoreau (Pages 85-93)

Thursday, October 6, 2011 (10/6/2011) Started 4:35 p.m.

Waden & Other Writings-- Henry David Thoreau -- Pages 85-93

In this excerpt from Henry David Thoreau's collection of writings, Thoreau claims that society is too distracted with trivial matters. As he puts it himself, "I went to the woods because because I wished to live deliberately, to front only the essential facts of life, and see if I could not learn what it had to teach, and not, when I came to die, discover that I had not lived."(pg. 86). He makes a rather interesting point however which I partially agree with, to a limited extent. Thoreau argues that one should live simply and should not look into things more than once with regard to the news and gossip. He believes that all news is gossip to a philosopher (pg. 89). He also states that one should not need to read of "one man robbed, or murdered, or killed by accident, or one steamboat blow up..." (pg. 89) more than once. However, I completely disagree with this ignorant mindset. The news is not all gossip and such events may need to be thoroughly examined for linkages or recurrences that may explain their frequency. For instance, with regard to a steamboat exploding, if more than one spontaneously combusts, there could be a serious design flaw that could be resolved, thus saving countless lives in the process. As for some of the stories however, I concede that there is perhaps an excessive amount of information that is far too dismal in the news presently. If I had influence upon the media, I would, for every tragic story, add one of optimism and hope for changing society. While it is somewhat commendable to live a simple, perhaps humble lifestyle, it becomes self-centered and absent minded when one does not help his fellow man. People should educate one another and teach each other moral values as well as the consequences of such actions. It was once said that "evil triumphs when good men do nothing". I hold that truth to be self evident.

1 comment:

  1. David,

    Excellent job -- your critique of Thoreau is a really good one. You could be a little bit more concise, but perhaps that's nitpicking.

    4

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