I love driving back to Manchester, NH where my parents live from where I currently live in Newmarket, NH for the day. It's not a long drive, gives me some time to relax, and more importantly, it helps me stay grounded.
You see, the world is not composed of only educated people. According to this article less that 30% of Americans actually have a degree. And yet, it's easy to assume otherwise when you live in a college town. Manchester, which is a bigger city: (pop. 110,000) is a much better representation of the true proportion of educated to non-educated Americans.
"Well, wouldn't you prefer to be in a town with a higher percentage of educated individuals?" you may ask. And the answer is "No." I like being grounded. I like walking around the mall and seeing very young parents, very old parents, people of minorities, and fat people and skinny people and rich people and poor people and sick people and healthy people and young and old people. It's fucking refreshing.
I'm a philosophy major. And before I criticize myself and my peers, let me tell you that I wouldn't have it any other way. I absolutely love what I study, and I think if everyone studied philosophy the world would be an infinitely better place. But, that being said, it's really easy to get caught up in the clouds, thinking about the meaning of things and wondering how to achieve "the good life". But the fact of reality is: shit happens, sub-optimal lives are lived, and people go on without ever opening a single philosophical text. And you know what? They're fucking happy. Well, happy as in, relatively happy in comparison to the rest of the world. I mean, if you want to talk about whether or not anyone is actually happy, we can do that in a different post.
But seriously - some people are not educated. Some people make only 30K a year and survive and are "flourishing". I'm sorry, Aristotle, but you really don't have to be enlightened to be flourishing.
I guess my point is: I've been raised by an interesting combination of a Harvard-educated, psychiatrist father and a first-kid-at-age-20, not-educated nurse. And it's honestly the best fucking mixture I could possibly ask for. I understand the benefits of books, and also the shortcomings.
It is NOT okay to assume people without a degree are less flourishing. And it is NOT okay to live in a stuck-up, judgmental "college-town mindset". You have to hang out with all types of people. Have some poor friends, some rich friends, some fat, skinny, old, young, parents, non-parents, single, married, green, alien, whatever-the-fuck friends. Learn how different people are, and learn to accept that their happiness, along with their sorrows, troubles, accomplishments, goals, are equal to, and maybe even greater than, yours. People are people.
As a little P.S. - I am not saying you should necessarily marry someone who has a drastically different history than you. It may be difficult to relate to someone in terms of a long-term relationship who has a completely different world-view than you. But to have friends who are different is completely okay and definitely beneficial.
You see, the world is not composed of only educated people. According to this article less that 30% of Americans actually have a degree. And yet, it's easy to assume otherwise when you live in a college town. Manchester, which is a bigger city: (pop. 110,000) is a much better representation of the true proportion of educated to non-educated Americans.
"Well, wouldn't you prefer to be in a town with a higher percentage of educated individuals?" you may ask. And the answer is "No." I like being grounded. I like walking around the mall and seeing very young parents, very old parents, people of minorities, and fat people and skinny people and rich people and poor people and sick people and healthy people and young and old people. It's fucking refreshing.
I'm a philosophy major. And before I criticize myself and my peers, let me tell you that I wouldn't have it any other way. I absolutely love what I study, and I think if everyone studied philosophy the world would be an infinitely better place. But, that being said, it's really easy to get caught up in the clouds, thinking about the meaning of things and wondering how to achieve "the good life". But the fact of reality is: shit happens, sub-optimal lives are lived, and people go on without ever opening a single philosophical text. And you know what? They're fucking happy. Well, happy as in, relatively happy in comparison to the rest of the world. I mean, if you want to talk about whether or not anyone is actually happy, we can do that in a different post.
But seriously - some people are not educated. Some people make only 30K a year and survive and are "flourishing". I'm sorry, Aristotle, but you really don't have to be enlightened to be flourishing.
I guess my point is: I've been raised by an interesting combination of a Harvard-educated, psychiatrist father and a first-kid-at-age-20, not-educated nurse. And it's honestly the best fucking mixture I could possibly ask for. I understand the benefits of books, and also the shortcomings.
It is NOT okay to assume people without a degree are less flourishing. And it is NOT okay to live in a stuck-up, judgmental "college-town mindset". You have to hang out with all types of people. Have some poor friends, some rich friends, some fat, skinny, old, young, parents, non-parents, single, married, green, alien, whatever-the-fuck friends. Learn how different people are, and learn to accept that their happiness, along with their sorrows, troubles, accomplishments, goals, are equal to, and maybe even greater than, yours. People are people.
As a little P.S. - I am not saying you should necessarily marry someone who has a drastically different history than you. It may be difficult to relate to someone in terms of a long-term relationship who has a completely different world-view than you. But to have friends who are different is completely okay and definitely beneficial.
I like to think of my mind as a web browser sometimes. I like to imagine it is far more powerful than internet explorer or any other browser of the like, however like these browsers I keep a mental “history” list of ponderances (totally not a word, but sounds better than “ponderings”… =] ). Recently this list has consisted of nothing but thoughts about my future and what I will “be when I grow up.” Taking a semester off from school leaves one with a lot of time for such thoughts.
ReplyDeleteBob’s side of the family is nothing short of prestigious. Harvard or Williams graduates, well-known history authors and rich NH historic figures. And then Mary’s side has orthodontists, dentists, hospital owners etc. Long story longer, I have always felt pressure to continue in this prestigious manner and become a rich businessman or influential figure. I was always SOO sure I would become a mechanical engineer or architect.
Last year I began hanging out with the people, who now I could not live without. They are two relatively low-income families from Abbot road in Concord. When I say low income I mean more along the lines of two working class parents, and non-extravagant lifestyle. It is with these friends I have discovered more about myself than I had in all my previous years of life. These people have been that “grounding” force for me. Much like the mall is for you. It is with these people that I have been able to say to myself; do I need to work a less desirable job to make more money? Why have I always wanted as much money as possible? Is being rich the same as living richly? I am never happier than I am with those friends.
Is the money really worth it?
Mechanical engineer ($80,000 to $100,000/ year)---- happy __?__
Musician/artisan/ (maybe $50,000/year if I’m lucky) ----happy YES
I mean damn, its about being happy right? So the obvious choice is the latter. Or is it? I mean I wanted SO badly to be a mechanical engineer for SO long, and the only thing I really know now is that I don’t want to be a mechanical engineer. Could this musician-artisan-woodworking mountain man thing just be a phase?
Life. < the only way to explain this conundrum. Just… life.
- Sam