Eric Lampe

Theology Faith 06

9/22/06

 

 

            The human condition is characteristics that are present in all people everywhere at anytime. We know that we are born into original sin and that we all lie and deceive others at times. We know that we have all these characteristics but the important thing is how we control them and how we revise our “maps”. M. Scott Peck tells us how our lives are like maps that constantly need to be changed and revised or else down the road we will be using a bad map. We could experience transference where we carry over outdated maps into times of life when they won’t work well. We constantly need to be looking at and making adjustments to our maps. Maybe the unexamined life isn’t worth living. This chapter shows us that yes the human condition is present but we need to learn how to work with it and look at how it is affecting our own lives.

 

1.      Right Speech Experiment

The right speech experiment taught me a lot about myself. It is one thing to learn about things out of a book or in a lecture but it is another to hear things and see them actively playing out in your every day life.

2.      Thomas Jefferson

In Thomas Jefferson’s letter to his nephew we get a lot of advice on how to live our lives from one of the great thinkers of our time. One thing I found particular interesting was how he stressed the normal studying persistently and not committing immoral acts at all cost but he also made a big deal about exercise and working the body a long with the mind and heart.

3.      Concupiscence

Knowing deep down that something was wrong and that you shouldn’t do it but you do it anyways. I found this interesting because in the right speech experiment I found myself in that predicament multiple times in only a span of a week. It sounds like a big medical term but it was interesting to see myself falling into it on a regular basis.




Some Bad Maps

 

 

 

 

 

QUESTION: Is it really worth caring about the human condition if it is present in humans everywhere?

 

            I think that it actually is because if we fall into the same trap that most people do fall into thinking that we are just like everyone else and there’s no way to change that then I don’t really think that I’ve maximized who I can be as a person. I would feel like I’m selling myself short.

 

 

 

Bettering myself as a person

            Before the right speech experiment I didn’t think I really said all that bad of stuff. I thought I was overall a good guy why stop now. I found otherwise. I’m almost ashamed of things I did in that week and more importantly that I still and will continue to do if I don’t start really looking at things I say and how I treat others.

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