Idiosyncrasies

This week, I have struggled to find the common thread that links all of the Learning Community classes mostly because the focus has temporarily veered away from Brazil. None the less, all of the lessons were informative, and I think I have managed to come up with an idea that brings them all together.


Earlier this week, I stumbled upon a Barbara Kingsolver quote from The Poisonwood Bible that says, “In Kilanga, people knew nothing of the things they might have had- A Frigidaire? A washer-dryer combination? Really, they’d sooner imagine a tree that could pull up its feet and go bake bread. It didn’t occur to them to feel sorry for themselves.” Agree or disagree, I love this quote because it raises the question of whether or not westernizing the rest of the world is truly what the rest of the world wants. In Sociology, we discussed Karl Marx, Max Weber, and Emile Durkheim. Weber believed that humans are constantly shifting from a traditional to a rational society, always looking for a more practical and efficient way to do something. Consequently, the more rationalizing that occurs the more alienated you feel from your own way of life. For example, buying food from a fast-food place is much simpler than making it on your own, but it is also far less personal and rewarding to eat. Today, with the help of technology, we are forcing our rationalizing ways onto other countries without recognizing their appreciation for a more traditional way of life. Perhaps by avoiding the temptations of rationalizing every element of life, they are living better because they fully value everything they have.

In Business, we indirectly expanded on this idea by reading about different types of businesses such as corporations, partnerships, and franchises. Sole proprietorships require much involvement and the owner does not feel alienated from his job because he or she is involved is every business decision. Conversely, in large corporations, workers are extremely alienated from their jobs because there are so many different jobs to be done and people doing them.

This week in KSU 1111 we learned about how people learn and comprehend things various ways, whether you are an auditory learner or a visual learner or an introvert or an extrovert. The main idea I drew from this experience is that we all do things differently, so there is no sense in making people change their ways just for the sake of conformity. In other words, if it’s not broke, don’t fix it. Better yet, improve it.

Overall, every culture has a different way of getting things done. Sometimes interventions like new technology are helpful, but other times it is best to simply leave everything alone and respect the traditions of others.