66. Avoiding commitment
[From Seth Godin, Stop Stealing Dreams http://www.squidoo.com/stop-stealing-dreams]
A byproduct of industrialization is depersonalization. Because no one is responsible for anything that we can see, because deniability is built into the process, it’s easy and tempting to emotionally check out, to go along to get along.
When the factory owner treats you like you’re easily replaceable, a natural response is to act the part.
It’s no surprise to read quotes like this (from Wired):
“This is something to commit to,” he says. He takes a break and gives me the tour, pointing out different people in the community, tells me who they are and what they do for Occupy Boston. The community gives them something to care about, he explains. “That’s what a lot of this is. We’re rediscovering our self respect.”
At school, we have created a vacuum of self-respect, a desert with nothing other than grades or a sports team to believe in or commit to. The only way for a student to get respect inside the system of school is to earn temporary approval from a teacher he won’t likely see again any time soon. If that teacher is mercurial, petty, or inconsistent, the student is told to deal with it.
The notion that humans want to commit to something is ancient and profound. And yet we work overtime to keep students from doing just that.
Tags: stopstealingdreams
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