Jack
Berger
TH 300-8
1.8.08
What I Really Learned
Of the many things I learned in this class, the one that stands
out to me the most is that I should always value and seek the truth. In our
modern world of chaos and misplaced values, it is easy to be deceived. I have
learned that it is necessary for a person to always search for the whole truth,
not just what is presented by one source. I learned to value the truth of my
words, seek the truth from the media, and always try to find the truth in a
situation.
The first major thing I learned in this class
is to value the truth of both my words and the words of others. When we did the
Right Speech Experiment, I first came to realize how untruthful I could be in
my words without even knowing it. At first, I blew off my untruthful words,
thinking that everyone did it and it was no big deal. After more consideration, however, it made me wonder how
this deceit would or could affect my relationships with others. I began to
wonder what kind of damaging effects could result from my lack of truth. I
decided that I wanted to be as honest as I could with my friends and family. I
started to work on improving my speech. After only a short period of time I
realized much effort it would take to always think before I spoke. While it was
difficult, I believe that my speech has benefited from my labors. I believe
that now I am more truthful as a person. I am much more confident in my
relationships and feel that I am generally more open as a person. While valuing
the truth in everyday speech may not appear to be all that important, I find
that being conscientious about what we say can lead to better relationships and
actions.
The second place I learned to seek truth from
was the media. Before this class, I had no idea how much the media tries to
manipulate us and exploit our desires. During the class, I found that the media
giants are constantly looking for ways to dupe us into buying their products by
doing everything they can to appeal to our wildest dreams and hopes. When I
looked at my daily life, I realized how often I would buy a product that I
didn’t really need or just thought that I needed. This realization led me to
understand the importance of analyzing advertisements and the products that I
buy. Now, I try to research a product or company before I buy a product from
them to make sure I am getting the real deal. I also put more thought and
consideration into what I buy before I buy it. I found that by being skeptical
about the media and searching for the whole truth can lead to much more prudent
consumer choices.
The final place I learned to seek truth is in
life in general. This class has helped me to “know how much I don’t know.”
Where before I thought I might now all or most of what there was to know about
a certain event or situation, I now realize that I am probably biased and/or
see only one part of the real scenario. With this realization, I try to find
the whole truth about a story or incident before judging it or the people
involved. While I still may be instinctively quick to jump to conclusions, I do
my best to restrain myself and try to see the big picture. Before this class I
was content with being a one of the blind men with the elephant or stuck in the
cave, but now I want to do everything I can to find as much knowledge and truth
as possible, because I understand there is always another side to know.
In conclusion, this class has helped to get me
out of the cave with regards to truth. Through this class I have come to
understand the importance of truth in my everyday life and the necessity of
always seeking the truth in order to live an examined life.