Blog Reflection # 3

There are some things that everyone does but no one admits to doing. Or, conversely, things we do not do but we all say we do. (for the record:  I am speaking broadly, not about myself. I actually do all the things I say I do. For example, I floss everyday, eat 5-6 fruit or vegetable servings everyday, exercise everyday, always put the toilet seat down, and I never leave dirty clothes on the floor. Oh, and I never drink the orange juice out of the container – I make it fresh squeezed everyday so I don’t even have a container!  That counts as a vegetable serving, by the way. Just so you know...)

I have, often times, wanted to look something up. Not something like “breading” on cats, or “[expletive] [certain segment of our population] say.” I would never waste my time (hours) looking at goofy videos on YouTube of people doing stupid stuff, either. I am talking more about, say, looking up, uh, what are Nietzsche’s influences.

Because of my predilection (fancy word, right? I didn’t even have to look that up on dictionary.com) towards the higher-brow aspects of our collective culture, I have never, ever used Wikipedia. I have heard of it. I know it’s a website. If anyone knows what it’s about, let me know, but I probably won’t check it out.

The point I am trying to get to, I think, is that lots of things are easier, thanks to the Internet. I can get directions from my house to...the Getty Museum to see the Pacific Standard Time exhibits! All within a few clicks on the laptop.

But easier is not always better. Sometimes easier is bad. Like instead of getting directions to the Getty, I got directions to the movie megaplex to see Underworld: Awakening. In 3D!!! It was closer to my house; instead of reading that article on Nietzsche, I watched two hours of music videos on YouTube because I didn’t have to use my brain AT ALL; and instead of making fresh orange juice, I just bought a carton of Minute Maid and drank the whole thing out of the container. That last one was easier than dirtying a glass that I would eventually have to wash.

So, in summary, the question that I am asking myself is: how do you train yourself (and others) to not just do what is the easy thing to do? I don’t really have the answer, but I would venture to say that we should all make a better effort towards implementing discipline when it comes certain aspects of our lives. It is easier to look something up on Wikipedia than to find a truly credible source of information, and, for non-important things, I think it is perfectly okay to use Wikipedia. But when it comes to doing important school- or work-related assignments and undertakings, we should instill in ourselves, and others, the fortitude to differentiate between the easier path and the noble path. But how?