Thursday, September 20, 2012

Modern Gadfly

The word gadfly is defined as a person who persistently annoys or provokes others with criThe word gThe word gadfly is defined as a person who persistently annoys or provokes others with criticism, schemes, ideas, demands, requests, etc and as a constantly irritating or harassing person. During the 400s B.C., Socrates was known being a gadfly or an annoyance. His innovative way of asking questions regularly times forced people to think outside of their comfort zone. He was often times a bother to those he questioned. It came to a point when Socrates was arrested and sentenced to death for his continual questioning of the ideals and views of the people in power. In my lifetime, I do not think that anyone can be classified as a gadfly, or modern day Socrates. To my knowledge, no one has been such a nuisance to society like Socrates. Not once have I ever turned on the news and heard about one person constantly hassling people in public places in the name of education or philosophy. Today, if someone wants to question the beliefs of position of power, like the government, they do so with a group of people, striking or petitioning is very common. Seldom have I heard of someone who went on strike against the US government alone, or someone who would give up his/her own life because they wanted to ask questions. Socrates is a one-of-a-kind man. His methods and ideals about life are ones that can not be duplicated. He is the original philosopher.
       I do not agree that the unexamined life is not worth living. I don't think you necessarily need to examine your life all that much to the fullest extent. I think you can live life without a purpose or goal of getting a certain job or doing something you always wanted to do. I think everyone stops and question their life once in awhile but no one will really philosophise about it and really think about it hard. There are things you have been doing your whole life that you haven't really examined because it’s unimportant so you don't think about it. But there are also things that you don't examine and you should. I think that most people do examine their life at one point in theirs lives as they're maturing and getting older. For example when you are senior in high school and you have to decide what college you have to go to, that is sort of examining your life because you have to decide what college would be best for what you want to study, if you already. I would imagine that when I get into college and start going to school I would find myself examining my life more because if sometimes I wouldn't want to do homework or if I got sick of school I would remind myself why I'm there and what I'm doing or trying to accomplish. I already do that in high school. Some days ill just want to relax and not think about school but I know that ill regret not doing that homework assignment so I get myself to do it. In the end i believe everyone examines their life even when they're not thinking about it. But as a whole the unexamined life is worth living.
fined as a person who persistently annoys or provokes others with criticism, schemes, ideas, demands, requests, etc and as a constantly irritating or harassing person. During the 400s B.C., Socrates was known being a gadfly or an annoyance. His innovative way of asking questions regularly times forced people to think outside of their comfort zone. He was often times a bother to those he questioned. It came to a point when Socrates was arrested and sentenced to death for his continual questioning of the ideals and views of the people in power. In my lifetime, I do not think that anyone can be classified as a gadfly, or modern day Socrates. To my knowledge, no one has been such a nuisance to society like Socrates. Not once have I ever turned on the news and heard about one person constantly hassling people in public places in the name of education or philosophy. Today, if someone wants to question the beliefs of position of power, like the government, they do so with a group of people, striking or petitioning is very common. Seldom have I heard of someone who went on strike against the US government alone, or someone who would give up his/her own life because they wanted to ask questions. Socrates is a one-of-a-kind man. His methods and ideals about life are ones that can not be duplicated. He is the original philosopher.ticism, schemes, ideas, demands, requests, etc and as a constantly irritating or harassing person. During the 400s B.C., Socrates was known being a gadfly or an annoyance. His innovative way of asking questions regularly times forced people to think outside of their comfort zone. He was often times a bother to those he questioned. It came to a point when Socrates was arrested and sentenced to death for his continual questioning of the ideals and views of the people in power. In my lifetime, I do not think that anyone can be classified as a gadfly, or modern day Socrates. To my knowledge, no one has been such a nuisance to society like Socrates. Not once have I ever turned on the news and heard about one person constantly hassling people in public places in the name of education or philosophy. Today, if someone wants to question the beliefs of position of power, like the government, they do so with a group of people, striking or petitioning is very common. Seldom have I heard of someone who went on strike against the US government alone, or someone who would give up his/her own life because they wanted to ask questions. Socrates is a one-of-a-kind man. His methods and ideals about life are ones that can not be duplicated. He is the original philosopher.

1 comment:

  1. It's interesting how you point out that nobody goes on strike against the government. I guess one definition of a modern gadfly, in the Socratic sense, is somebody who takes a stand for what he believes and makes his voice heard. Massive ego aside, Julian Assange is someone that comes to mind. While I don't particularly agree with a lot of what he says, he fits the bill of what you describe. Even in a country of 300 million and a world of 6 billion, it's interesting how that's not something you see happen.

    ReplyDelete