Hare and the Tortoise Essays

Hare and the Tortoise Essays Hare and the Tortoise Essay Hare and the Tortoise Essay Unlike animals, humans are a strange case of self-conscious beings. We can ask questions about ourselves, we can deliberate about others. We form opinions and judgments about others whereas animals are content on feeding themselves and they do not even ask questions about themselves. This is the primary source of the emergence of the human identity. Who am I? is the question that encompasses our identity. But ironically while we call it the I or me, we often fail to realize that a large portion of it is in fact constructed by others- their opinions, ideas, and experiences. Human life and human personality are nothing but a gradual development through the accumulation of knowledge through the various Ways of Knowing (Emotion, Perception, Logic Language). They work collectively through an external medium to form human life and personality. Which of these Ways of Knowing does a novel use? Which Ways of Knowing does scientific psychology use? The answer lies before us! While novels employ all the four ways in great depth, scientific psychology employs mainly logic. Upon reflecting on this alone, one would have to agree to Noam Chomskys claim. From the very beginning, we are brought up with nursery rhymes and fairy tales. Though not evidently, these do give a child a vague concept of what human behavior is like and what generally life is all about from the very start. For instance; the jealous step-mother in Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs portrays and emotion Jealousy that every human being undergoes at some stage in life. The Hare and the Tortoise teaches us that Slow and steady wins the race. : The Fox and the Grapes where the fox, upon failing to reach the grapes hanging high up on a vine says The grapes are sour anyway Though Psychology may term this phenomenon rationalization or reduction of cognitive dissonance, the story originated in much simpler terms and in colloquial speech this story refers to most people who after losing deny the intention to win altogether. 1 Hence, besides human behavior, the stories that we have been brought up with also impart the various lessons in life. One would never see a child learning through scientific psychology. The stories, nursery rhymes and fairy tales that we are exposed to in the initial stages of our life are definitely involved in forming the fundamental concepts of human life, personality and behavior. Autobiographical novels are when Emotions and Logic are brought forward through the medium of Language which we then Perceive as we delve into the protagonists life and experiences; this is when one can truly acquire knowledge. In some cases, the author may try to explain a psychological term through the help of a story. For example, D.H. Lawrences Sons Lovers portrays Freuds concept of the Oedipus Complex. Though unbelievable this phenomenon is very common in a place like India where men in their thirties still live with their mothers and in due time, become so dependent on them that they begin to find similar qualities in their lovers. Many novels that are read are third person narration omniscient. The fact that they are omniscient helps us to understand the different emotions that the characters feel and what causes them. Hence, one can get a true understanding of life and personality through logical deductive reasoning. Apart from learning about human life and behavior, novels, much like scientific psychology also help to explore the various myths and instincts embedded deep in our psyche. The Hero Myth for example, which is seen in many a novel. We humans are beset with brokenness and imperfection and are constantly in search of an Ideal Self, the person we all want to be. But society pressures and our own sense of adapting as well as fitting brings us to a realization that the above can only be an ideal case and never a real one. Just like the hero myth, the Mother Myth and the Jealous Romeo myth are also very commonly incorporated in novels. What we read greatly affects our subconscious, to which we then react with what we would term instincts. This also answers the fundamental question in ToK How can we know without knowing that we know? Art is an Area of Knowledge that is grouped in the category of creativity. But TS Eliot in his essay Tradition and the individual talent states that even art is greatly influenced by the artists traditions, experiences and moreover what he reads. No poet, no artist of any art, has his complete meaning alone.2 Novels in a similar way affect our understanding of the other various Areas of Knowledge. Until recently, consciousness which is a great part of psychology was not much studied by the Natural Sciences; it was considered philosophy. Scientific psychology has one immense drawback, that of being non-emotive. Stuart Sutherland wrote in the International Dictionary of Psychology Consciousness is a fascinating but elusive phenomenon; it is impossible to specify what it is, what it does, or why it evolved. Nothing worth reading has been written about it.3 The fact that nothing has been written about it shows how non-emotive psychology really is. Moreover even if there were something substantial written about it, it is not accessible to everyone and not many people would bother to research as much as they would read novels. But when they do come across a concept in a novel, they are left with no choice but to find out what it is all about and that is hen they would consider taking the pains to research on that particular topic which they would not otherwise.