Just a little philosophical musing...
One of my favourite films is David Mamet's "Vanya on 42nd Street" based on Uncle Vanya by Chekov.
In one scene Dr Astrov is talking to Nanny and says:
"One hundred years from now, the people who come after us, for whom are lives are showing the way--will they think kindly of us? Will they remember us with a kind word? Nanny, I wish to God I could think so."
This got me thinking today: what am I leaving behind for others? What is my legacy?
I hope, my love and compassion that I try to instill in each encounter with others, particularly my students. So many of them are young and wealthy (compared to us) but their emotional lives are so barren. Many are deeply unhappy and don't realise it because they are so caught up in materialism. They look for "things" to make them happy--new clothes, a fancy car, a vacation in China or wherever (I say China because you'd be amazed at the number of them that spent huge amounts to see the Shanghai expo...and, btw, didn't like China-the-place at all!) but their affective lives are stunted.
I try to give them knowledge, yes, and tools to work with--but also "mom on em" a little bit.
How about you?
I don't have a personal legacy. I guess it'll be leaving the world a little healthier. I love being a biologist.
Anna, it's true about the state of the youth of today. It's almost as if they're cardboard cut-outs..just standing around and not truly living their lives. A sense of entitlement coupled with the noise around them equals nothing. By noise, I mean - being told what to say, do, think, buy, vote, what one should and shouldn't be, etc..
So back to your point.. What I want my legacy to be - I hope my loyalty, my warmness, my nurturing nature, and my honest character. I also want to be remembered for always being me. I've never tried to be someone else. I've sometimes lost my way and I've sometimes lost people I've loved as I've gotten lost. But I've always been me. I can't/won't blame others for me getting lost. I will always be accountable.
I feel awkward talking about myself. Haha.
Generalise more there! Good heavens. "The youth of today" - try "a good proportion of people of all ages". And young people who are like that sure as hell didn't spontaneously develop those traits.
Anyway, enough of the threadjack: right now I'm starting down the path of PhD research which is supposed to be "a substantial original contribution to human knowledge". I'm under no illusions - I'm hardly going to produce a paradigm-shifting academic thunderbolt, but it'll be 80,000 words about some little-studied area of knowledge.
Ha. By youth I mean the the kids/pre-teen/early teen. From what I've seen, a lot of them have a sense of entitlement and when it's coupled with the noise I referenced, it's hard for them to find themselves. When they have no sense of this, it's harder to leave any legacy. I hope your research leads a revolution. *fist pump* :)
I'm not entirely sure that pre-teens are required to be hugely self-aware and productive people, honestly. Your teens are all about trying on different things and seeing what works. I think it's okay to take that time and not grow up too fast. Although, this is from someone with a strong research history of youth culture and subculture, so, y'know, I fully admit my bias ;)
Catski - Great food for thought. :) I love exploring different angles and you've definitely opened a new one for me to explore.
-J