Finished. Finally.

Though the majority of the book is a huge bottle of crap, I do believe that are several ideas that I could actually learn from. Now, when I say that the book is crap I don't actually mean all of it but I do mean that his conclusion are unique and needless to say, I don't agree with him but, when it comes to the origin of his ideas and how they can open his mind or the mind of the reader to the unlimited possibilities I have to say I can concur that they are thought-inducing. That is my real take on the book; I agree with the Underground Man's statements up to a certain degree. After that, I believe he becomes an egotistical maniac who can only explain that he is the superior mind to the "masses". He also tries to back up his claims by stating that he is not what he describes as a man of action and therefore is not limited to a wall. However, I cannot see how a man of action could be limited if he is able to analyze both sides of the story and then make. A decision which favor  him more than the other whereas, someone like the Underground Man can be the unlimited one when he always sits in limbo because he cannot make a decision and yet wants to be accepted into society. All-in-all, I believe that the Underground Man is too hungry for attention to make rational decisions and is actually in great need of a psychologist.

Final reaction

Notes From the Underground is a book, that if I knew what I t was about, would have never picked up and started to read. In fact, when reading it the first time around, I did not enjoy it at all. I did not understand anything that I was reading and therefore could not take anything away from the book; iot was sort of frustrating to be read, but now know what you were reading. However, as we discussed the book as a class, it became much more interesting. Although I never truly understood what Dostoyevsky himself was saying in his writing, the ideas discussed in class caught my attention. The book forced you to think about life, human nature and society in different ways than I ever would have; it is almost as thinking outside of the box about your own life and those around you. Much of what was discussed I had thought of before, but in the simplest way, never in such detail and it was fascinating to see how his thoughts made sense and were correct even though they can be considered insane. This book is definitely one I will remember.

February 25th, Last Blog

I did really enjoy this book and it gave me so much to think about that can be applied to life in general. It was definitely worth reading because even though it was difficult, I think that Dostoevsky is a genius. His comments on human nature and the way we live were painfully true,but its always nice to be exposed to something more than just the regular ideas we are spoon fed every day at school. However, without discussing it I don’t think I would have gotten as much out of it because when you don’t exactly know what he’s saying, you can start interpreting the book in one certain way and, like he said about reason how you can make connections to anything, and it’s not really what he was going for. For example the ideas of Darwinism and how that can be applied to the “unhappy man of the 19th century”, I would have never thought of myself. But once I knew that among other things, it made the rest of the book easier to understand. 

What I thought was especially funny was that as I am reading the book and getting graded on my understanding of it, I kept learning more and more how pointless everything that we do was. Yet, I needed to do these assignments to understand that the assignments were significant to nothing in the gran scheme of things. It just further more proves that humans just purposely make up things to make life more difficult or interesting because we have separated ourselves from the rest of life on this planet. For example the economy is nothing that’s actually real, humans have just chosen to make it real. In the end we are just really playing a big giant game of monopoly, yet this game choses your social status and way/quality of life. 

Even though we are so infinitely small, I think to some extend humans  need to create importance because each individual only has their own one chance at life (for what we know), so you might as well try and be happy. However, if being inactive is what makes you happy then I don't see a problem with that too. 

Dostoevsky made a lot of comments that seem to be able to applied to universal human nature. We discussed that humans have gone against evolution (even though we discussed how evolution will just be another theory proven wrong), by keeping the weak alive. However, that is not true of all societies which proves that there is false to that idea. In our particular society though, that idea is probably painfully true, and that is one of the most scary things to think about, because it goes against all morals we have been taught. 

NFTU Final Reaction

I have many mixed feelings about this book. As I read it, I hated it, I felt that it was a huge waste of time and that I was pretty much listening to an old guy complaining about life and contradicting himself in the process. I did not understand absolutely anything that he was saying. I knew that there had to be some sort of meaning behind his contradictions but no matter how hard I looked I could not seem to find it. As we began to discuss the story and his arguments in class it became more clear to me that he was not a whiner but he is actually more  of a philosopher with a very unique idea about life and human nature. I found particularly insightful and interesting his idea of religion and how it came to be and the impact that evolutionary theory had on people who were devoted to religion. After having this explained to me and contemplating it for a while I realized how much truth there is in this idea and I could see clearly why people were so shocked by this new way of thinking.

Another one of Dostoyevsky’s ideas that stood out to me was the idea of the wall that we place around infinity. After the discussion about trying to picture infinity, I actually went outside and looked up at the sky for about five minutes trying to keep going out and picturing what really was up above me. I kept getting the feeling that it ends somewhere I realized how truly frustrating it is to try to picture infinity because it seems so impossible that something has no end. I believe that Dostoyevsky is completely right when he argues that humans need a wall to lean on. It is very hard for us to venture into the unknown and just take the left turn on the unknown road. I wish that we could do this more often because maybe then we would actually experience why it is to live completely free of the laws of science.

I think that in the end reaching and discussing this book was worth the trouble. This book not only gave me an interesting and different perspective on life but it also taught me new ways to analyze and interpret a difficult text. I am really glad that we were pushed to read this book because as I said in class, I would not have picked it up by choice of my own. 

Final Reaction

     I really enjoyed discussing this book; it was definitely worth reading. Before we talked about it in class, I just saw the underground man as a bitter, rude, and whiny man who thought he was above everyone else. But after the analysis, i realized that these ideals and truths exist within all of us, however they were simply exaggerated and brought to light in this novel. Many hate to admit that these things are true, but they are (to a certain extent) and they are extremely relevant to our lives. The novel made me reflect on my life, and I discussed Dostoyevsky's viewpoints with many others outside of class. The fact that this novel inspired these conversations and reflections shows me that it truly is a great book, and that it did in a way change me as an individual.  

      Something I took from this book that I will never forget is the idea that humanity is a contradictory species; that there are no REAL answers to anything and that there is only one universal truths which is that there are no universal truths. I guess you could say that this book has made me become a little bit more "okay" with the fact that sometimes there are things that cannot be explained. Regardless, I know that I will continue to think like the rest of the world, as it is in my nature, and I will still embrace the walls that are put before me because they provide comfort, despite that this comfort may be short-term. I  will choose which walls I embrace, and which ones are worth trying to overcome. Reading this book gave me an entirely new perspective on humanity, religion, evolution, and Darwinism that I will carry with me during my future experiences. 

Final Reaction

Notes  From the Underground is a book that I would never have expected to enjoy. Certainly, as I read it through the first time without any discussion or outside analysis, I was not enjoying it either, however, it all changed once we began talking about it in class. The book went from boring, complicated and pointless, to "blow my mind" interesting, relevant, and reflective. Through the book I was able to read and understand that I have many feelings and actions that sem simple and that I  never thought about the reasons behind them. Fyodor was able to point out each and every one of them  and finally made me realize that there is a cause for everything. He made me see things in a completely different way and pointed out the truth behind many of those actions. May it be the wall that we are always in need of, or our crazy thoughts that we fight to push back, or our advantage of being able to go against the laws of nature and actually purposefully cause harm to ourselves are topics that I will definitely remember from the book.  With that comment I must say that in the end, it was definitely worth reading as it is the book that has most connected with my real life so far this year. The conversations and discussions in class definitely helped since I would not be able to put into mind all the aspects Fyodor was talking about without examples, analysis and different opinions from my peers in class. I will definitely remember this book as it showed me that there are many reasons and purposes behind all that we do in life, reasons that are hard to point out, but reasons that are definitely true, and affect our lives everyday.

Final Post

I really enjoyed reading this book because of the unique style in which it was written. Dostoyevsky's use of "stream-of-conciousness" writing made the reading interesting and fluid. Like many of the books we have studied this year, Notes From the Underground was like nothing I have ever read before. It also fit well with the lectures and general ideas we have been analyzing. Dostoyevsky put in writing what we all know and recognize to be true, and yet are afraid to acknowledge. I find myself thinking about his concepts outside of the classroom, and discussing them with my peers. Although there were mixed feelings about Notes From the Underground, I loved the fact that, regardless, it generated strong, passionate feelings in all of its readers. Whether one was revolted or captivated did not matter; what was interesting was the Dostoyevsky managed to get to all of us in some way. I feel this is a key characteristic of a masterpiece novel; it affects all readers to the core of their being.
This novel is relevant to almost all works of literature; in addition to its thought provoking messages are themes present in all successful story-lines. The idea of suffering, fear of the unknown, and the need to be seen are all core elements of a well-constructed character. If for no other reason, Notes For the Underground was worth reading for its literary value.
What I will probably remember most from this novel is the idea of "the wall". The more I thought about it, the more I saw walls built up all over society. They are, to reference The Sense of an Ending, massive holding pens. We spend our lives hoping that once we reach certain milestones, we will then be free. What we do not realize is that nothing changes and, while we are trying to access our distant freedom, our life has already begun passing us by.

Last post

I think reading and thoroughly going through and analyzing notes from the underground has been a good experience for me. It taught me how to sort of analyze a text much better. Before, I'd just sort of wing it and try and figure out the text on the fly, rather than going paragraph by paragraph like we did as a class. I think it also presents a lot of ideas and a lot of principles into my life. I find myself questioning a lot of my motives and a lot of the thoughts that arise in my head. I always noticed that example of when we tell our friends about our break. When we usually ask them what they did, we stop listening and focus and prepare what we were going to tell them. I always noticed this, but I didn't really think that anyone else did, which now leads me to believe that a lot of the things that I notice in human nature has also been noticed by others as well.

Overall, I think reading Notes from the Underground has been a really good experience for me. Although a bit painful at time, I truthfully believe that it has helped me not only as an AP student, but as a human being. I look at a lot of aspects of life much differently than I did before. I question everything, I question people's motives, my motives, and sort of try and figure out and explain those motives to myself. So, I have indirectly learned how to analyze my surroundings, which is pretty cool to be honest.

The daily blogs were also pretty cool. I think that reading other people's blogs was a good way to sort of take the ideas and analytics of something they observed in the work, and apply it to myself. Being able to write about what you want to write gives the student a great sense of freedom, and allows us to think much more freely, leading to the creation of new ideas, ultimately helping the student.

In short, I think NFTU was a great way of not only excersising my analytical skills, but also my mind, and the way I observe and think about the world.

final reaction

If I were to see this book in Barnes & Nobles or any other bookstore, I would probably pick it up without someone telling me about it. I truly enjoyed reading this book because it got me to think about so many things that would not have occurred to me. The book has taught me a lot more about human nature than some of my teachers. I would defiantly suggest this book to anyone and I would most likely read it again. I enjoy reading books that force you to think about what is actually going on around you instead of being in a bubble believing what people tell you.

While I was reading the book I was lost through the majority of it since the Underground Man contradicted himself so often that it was hard to keep track of what he was saying. At first I disliked the book because I felt as if I could not trust the narrator but after discussing the book in class and figuring out what Dostoevsky was pointing out, I realized how much I actually liked it. When we discussed the book in class and reading my notes in the margins I noticed that at certain points my thoughts were so far off from what Dostoevsky meant. It was one thing just writing down my thoughts in the margins and writing reactions on the blog but hearing others opinions was interesting. It was a different approach to what I was used to doing in previous classes but I really liked it because you could hear and somewhat relate to what others thought and it was a good way to get your point across and argue different perspectives.

Our class discussion on evolution and religion was the one that I found the most interesting. It made me really think about what I was taught back in grade school and what I really think about religion.  The book forced me to think differently than I normally would have. Instead of arguing a certain idea I found myself agreeing with what Dostoevsky was saying. The fact that we have all these advances and take them for granted really frustrated me when I thought about it. It was not until I got home that I realized it was true. We are stronger and smarter than most animals and yet we do not use our advantages to their full potential. We sit around and waste them. We use our advantages for simple tasks.

Final Post

            To be honest when we had to read the book on our own at our homes for homework, I completely hated it. I resented having to go read every night. Personally, I did not really understand what Dostoyevsky was trying to portray. Instead, I thought he was rambling and creating contradictions in an attempt to just mess with the reader. However, over the past three weeks, the discussions in class have actually made me appreciate this book more and more. Not only was the way that Dostoyevsky wrote the novel remarkable, but every single line can be analyzed in a different way and have life lessons that made everyone in the class think. One of my favorite things that the author talked about was the fact that our greatest advantage is that we have the ability to put ourselves in the face of danger even though we know that we might die from it. I think that I enjoyed this point because it is something that I can easily understand and relate to everyday as a high school senior. If you think about it he could have been referring to many tasks that I normally do such as wake boarding and going full speed on a jet ski, which he would perceive as being “dangerous”. Another part of the novel that caught my attention was the author’s point of view regarding being self conscious. I think that I enjoyed this because in my opinion everyone is self conscious and thinks about things in great detail. However, some might do it more than others and Dostoyevsky did a great job in showing how this might change one’s outlook on a situation. So to sum this up, after reading this book I know look at something things differently. I think that it was in fact a very important book to read not only because of the meaning, but because of the analytical tools that I developed from these discussions in class. By the third week I was able to understand what Dostoyevsky was trying to convey before we discussed it.

Adios

Wendell Pfeffer

2/25/14

            Everyone that was called on in class today agreed that they thought about doing something terrible or evil during their lifetimes. To me this happens a lot especially if someone has done something bad towards me. All I think about after that is how in the world am I going to get them back. Their have been at times when I don’t take revenge because I think to myself that it isn’t worth it and as time passes the urge to take revenge goes away. This relates to all the negative thoughts that have come across my mind. I think about it but then I forget it as time passes. Dostoyevsky said that those thoughts are stored in our minds and the thoughts can perhaps come back even stronger, but I disagree. I think about it, forget it and then come up with a new disgusting thought. To me its like a cycle that repeats itself.

            Apart from todays discussion the book itself has been a tremendous help towards my literary analysis and reading comprehension. I have not only improved but I now look at things I read in an abstract manner. Dostoyevsky’s thoughts are so complex but yet once you understand what he is talking about you learn a lot from it. Unfortunately, when I read I was completely off on most of his ideas but the discussions made everything so clear and interesting. The one notion that discussed human civilization as a whole and how we are clearly getting weaker was to me the most fascinating idea. If a member of the group of lions becomes week and cannot hunt then the whole groups leaves it to die alone. That one member cannot serve its purpose anymore and is only making the group weaker; the young and strong group of lions are not going to waste their energy and time taking care of the sick member. We humans instead of doing the same are keeping the weak alive. Weak people who cannot serve their function and thus cannot benefit society. The United States wastes trillions of dollars on welfare and on the hospitals to keep these people alive instead of investing it on the younger generations. This is ultimately making the human race weaker.  

Final Reaction

    Like I mentioned in class, I do think think that this book is worth reading, as long as you have a discussion afterwards. While I read the book I found it easier to hate the narrator rather than think of him as a highly intellectual man. His manner of writing was ridiculously difficult to understand, causing me to believe that he was just some spiteful, pessimistic, envious man.
    Our class discussions completely changed my thoughts about the narrator. With each paragraph discussed countless amounts of ideas were retracted. Ideas and concepts that I would have never thought of on my own. I formulated a complete new perception of this man. I suddenly understood why he was so spiteful. Having the clarity to know more than one side to a situation and the intellectual capability he acquired differentiated him from the rest of society. Yet, the underground man was still questioning what made him such an outcast.
      Even though I do not particularly feel a connection to the narrator, his thoughts are applicable to our every day lives. Although he never truly reveals his thoughts he still manages to give rational explanations to questions I've never even thought of. He explains what it is that makes mankind so ungrateful and stupid. We seek to find answers that we do not want; we want a logical explanation to every question we may have, yet when we we're asked if we would take advantage of this opportunity if possible, mostly all of us said no. We do not fear failure, we fear accomplishment. We fear that all of the work leading up to achievement will somehow not turn out as expected and imagined, even worse, what will we do after its accomplished?
       There are so many more topics that the underground man has covered that have overwhelmed me with thoughts. Strangely, they all seem to make sense and are all to some extent true. So many things have been learned from reading even one single page. Yes, it seems impossible to read at first but as you get to understand his thoughts and the way his mind works you understand more of what he is trying to say, which I think is something that I will carry with me for a long time.

Final Post

This book was probably the most annoying work I’ve ever had to read. It was hard to understand, time consuming despite its small size, and packed a lot of information into every paragraph, which made me miss a lot of what he was saying in most pages. Like I’ve said before, I thought I understood a paragraph and I the next day I would be sitting in class listening to what it actually meant and I would just think to myself “What is happening?”. To be honest, it wouldn’t be a book I would recommend reading unless it will later be discussed because a lot of outside help is needed to understand the complex work of Dostoyevsky. As for my outside help, the discussion was vital to my understanding of the book. It was frustrating to have an idea about what Dostoyevsky was saying and then have that idea completely revoked the next day in the class discussion, but at the end of class, I was glad I got a little more understanding on this work because the only thing worse than being wrong is having total doubt, which is what I had up until the discussion times. I enjoyed the discussions, and although I didn’t talk very much, I was always aware of what everyone was saying and I would be able to relate what they were saying to the written words. It was as if something clicked in my head as the ideas were thrown out and I suddenly understood Dostoyevsky, at least a little. It was an interesting read because it was just so compact and full of information in such little words. He is easily the most efficient writer I think I will encounter for a while. Although he would ramble, he rambled in a way that one word meant twenty other words and so a paragraph was actually pages worth of information.

The topic of talk I most remember is the most advantageous advantage. Human free will is a God given gift (and I say that because I am religious) and I agree with Dostoyevsky that we are pathetically ungrateful to what we have been given. Our souls are what differentiate us from all other animals, our ability to stray away from what our instincts want us to do. It’s funny because that topic had actually crossed my mind a couple times even before the book discussions, but I never really realized the complexity of it. The fact that we make bad decisions on purpose to prove to ourselves that we can. It is selfish of us because if we truly followed our instincts, many of the problems we have today would not be an issue.

bye

Overall, I thought this was a really interesting book. I can’t say that I necessarily agree with all of the ideas that the author presented, but I definitely think that it is something that everyone should read, because it opens you up to new perspectives and ideas. Reading this book also kind of made me look at my life and think about what I really want to accomplish in my time on earth. This book made me think about how truly monotonous people’s lives are and how no true pleasure is derived in it. I feel sometimes like I am just going through the motions of life, keeping my head down, having my life calculated with this “mathematica equation” that the author speaks of. This, to me, isn’t really a living. I want to try to break free from this idea of just trying to have my life planned x,y,z, and trying to have answers for everything. I think it’s important to notice, after reading this book, that there are some things that we just can’t explain, and to just come to realization with this fact to focus on living a life that is truly fulfilling and rewarding. I definitely think discussing this book was worth while. When I first read this book, it was difficult for me to place any real merit into what the author was saying, because I didn’t truly grasp the concepts that he was speaking of. Discussing them not only allowed me to understand these concepts, but opened me up to opinions of others that I didn’t know before; it was an enlightening experience. Without any doubt, this book helped with my analytical skills. I got my fair share of practicing the extraction of concepts and ideas from what, at first glanced, appeared to be just the jumbled ideas of an insane man. All in all, I really liked this book, because it was more than just your typical piece of literature, it was an attempt by an undoubtedly intelligent man to truly just piss you off, and at some points he succeeded. It is in these points, however, that I learned the most about my belief system, and that of those around me. 

Final Reaction

I think this book was worth reading because it introduced a bunch of different ideas that I would have never thought about without it. Also, I was able to practice analyzing difficult passages paragraph by paragraph, which will probably really useful for the AP exam. This book was very difficult but I enjoyed the challenge and am happy to have gained some knowledge about Dostoyevsky and his work. If someone were to ask me if I would read it again, I definitely would because I think that this book holds so much more than what I personally analyzed and what we discussed in class. I’m sure that people are still arguing over what Dostoyevsky meant in a few of his sentences.

Without discussing this book in class, then I definitely would still be lost and overwhelmed by a sense of insecurity about my analysis. After discussing the work in class and reading what I wrote in the margins of my book, some of my comments were really illogical and totally just wrong. Also, I enjoy hearing what others think about his passages because interpretations can be endless and our own individual experiences can add a lot to the book, like our views of religion, evolution and just life in general. I love how this book addresses the conflict between evolution and religion and how that problem still exists today and will never be solved. I have realized that everything is dynamic; there are no absolute truths or faiths to believe in. After knowing this, I feel attached to this unknown vastness that I will never be able to see and it makes me uneasy.

The most important thing that I got out of this book is how humans set up different laws or beliefs or theorems for society to follow in order to instill a sense of boundary around society. Even though we set up this system, humans have the tendency to not follow rules and act on the sense of choice rather than our five senses and rationality. Thinking about this now, it reminds me of how my parents tell me different stories or rules that are supposed to prevent me from making bad decisions or putting myself in harmful situations like not doing drugs or keeping my grades up. I appreciate their stories and every other adults’ attempt to instill some sense of authority but I always want to tell them off and say that I will make the decisions that I will want to make and experience what I want to experience, regardless to what they juts told me. I deserve the right to experience and live the way I want and not suffer from the consequences of other peoples’ decisions. I deserve to deal with my own consequences and experience life in accordance with my own impulses, even though they may be irrational or destructive.

Final Post

When I first picked up and read the novel, Notes of the Underground, I hated it. Initially I thought the novel seemed to be about a bitter man ranting about his life and the terrible situation he was in. The character, whether it be Dostoevsky or a character of his creation, gave the impression that since he was to social inept to function, he blamed his short comings on the people who could actually produce something of value in our society, or the “man of action”. Towards the end of the novel when the story went from a terribly contradictory rant to actual narration and the character who embodied Dostoevsky’s theories seemed just as insane as his inner thought, I assumed that we opinion on the book was correct. But as usual, I was wrong. 

The class discussion really helped me to understand Dostoevsky. I missed entire section or ideas because I was stuck on the idea that the man writing the novel was insane. Through close analysis his book was full of contractions, but purposeful contradiction, which intended to prove the point that life was full of contradiction. That people who see the world in black and white, or the “men of action”, are limited. They are limited because they put up a wall, and decide to travel in a single direction. They are unable to see the whole picture because they choose a side. While this man because of his brilliance was able to see the “gray” or in other words, life nature contradiction. This made this made his mind unchained and limitless, because it rendered him incapable to moving. A man incapable of moving in our society is considered unsuccessful. But what is success anyways? And perhaps only by our definition he is unsuccessful. Another topic that made me think was how infinite scares us, but ending also scare us. I liked the idea that there is no one idea that can ever completely define us, no math equation you can use to solve us. Take Darwinism, for instance, it so solid and completely backed by evidence. Then why do humans live completely against the rules of the strongest survive and the weakest die. If it encoded into us, why hasn’t our race gotten physically stronger. So I ended up really enjoying the book because of the discussion. I really think taking it apart was really helpful. 

Final

I've always loved books that made me think so while I was reading Notes From the Underground, I enjoyed the challenge of deciphering what the narrator had to say. Although I hate doing it, annotating really helped out a lot to keep my thoughts in order and remember what my previous views were. It was exciting for me to vigorously go through this book and discover what he was revealing (even though I got it all wrong in the end) but I still found the whole process to be rather fun. 

Even though what I thought to be right wasn't exactly right, hearing the true explanation was interesting. I found the whole idea of how mankind is almost against survival law because we save the weak, to get into my mind and I couldn't stop thinking about it. I even talked to my father about it and he shared in the fascination of the concept with me. Of course there were other brilliant ideas presented by this book, such as truthfully trying to contemplate the vastness of the universe, or how religion is a way for humans to channel their inborn violent instincts towards something else. 

I think this book is important but I wouldn't have understood it thoroughly if we didn't discuss it first. If someone were just to read this book on their own and not really think or discuss it, it would have no value. I don't see how any normal person, especially a teenager like me, could understand this book fully without any complications. This book would have made no impact on me if not for the discussions. 

Now, with the discussions a guarantee for whoever reads this book, I completely believe that the story is something for everyone to read. Obviously, they should try to understand the book on their own first and THEN discuss it, so that they can open their minds, but at some point or another, they should discuss the ideas. I definitely enjoyed Notes From the Underground and the ideas presented to me probably won't ever be erased from my head. 

Final Post

I think that this book was definitely worth reading. Had you asked me before the discussion, I might have answered otherwise. If you are unable to see the meaning yourself, or unable to have someone help you see the meaning then I do not think that this book would be worth reading. I am not afraid to admit that when I first read this book I am almost sure I did not even get half of what we spoke about in the discussion. If we had read it alone and never discussed it in class it would have been the biggest waste. This book provides an extensive amount of meaningful social commentary. Dostoyevsky points out and criticizes the most basic aspects of society that many people never seem to think of. He criticizes the very core of our being only to go ahead and participate and the very thing he despises in the end. His contradictions all seem to make sense together, in same twisted way. I do think that heavily contemplating and thinking about what it is exactly Dostoyevsky is saying about us all might drive someone slightly insane. Essentially, one of the biggest things that I got out of the book is that all of what we have is close to nothing.
The class discussions, as long as they were, helped me tremendously. They allowed me to really understand what Dostoyevsky was trying to get at throughout his work. Hearing other people's thoughts in class allowed me to see things in a new perspective. I think that it is beneficial for us to hear other people's opinion as it keeps us open minded. Hearing other people's opinions also permits us to see material in a way that we may not have been seeing it before.
I think that what I will most remember about the book was how accurate Dostoyevsky's work seemed to be despite i not being written today. I know that that is not a peculiarly individual aspect of the book, however nearly everything Dostoyevsky said is relevant today. Maybe that's the problem, though; someone can point out all our flaws and we never seem to learn. This may be a bit controversial since the underground man never takes a side and directly calls it a flaw, but the point remains the same. I think if someone read this many years from now, every critique would remain entirely accurate because maybe, just as Dostoyevsky said himself, there was really nothing for us left to change into.

Monday

I sincerely wonder how Dostoyevsky could have remained any sort of sane while writing this book or at any point in his life. There is so much going on in the book, so many ideas and not only that, but also most of, if not all of the ideas contradict each other in a perfectly logical way. I don't know much about Dosotyevsky, but this book makes me almost sure of the fact that he is an extremely intelligent, but insane man. This also makes me wonder if someone can be extremely intelligent, have clarity and remand sane at the same time.
Today we touched upon this idea that is highly spoken about: it is not about the end, it is about the journey. The first time I heard this idea I kind of accepted it and moved along, not really caring about its implications. In seventh grade, I had a history teacher who introduced this sort of hierarchy of needs (not exactly like Maslow's but something of the sort) that we needed in order to survive. To this day I remember that one of them was having a goal, something to aim for. He stressed the fact that once you met that goal, you needed to almost immediately have another one. I think this idea highly relates to what Dostoyevsky was saying. We always need to have a goal because achieving the goal is no where near as great as working towards it. Once we achieve it there is this initial bit of happiness- but that is temporary. What comes after is one of the most empty moments we have. We feel like there is nothing more to us this strange emptiness that I can't fully describe, I only know it's not something that we want to be feeling at all.

Monday Post

Today in class we discussed the idea of always having a purpose, a destination. This allows us to keep our minds set on a certain goal and to always know what we are working towards. This knowledge provides some sort of safety net, a wall. How often do people take a walk, run, bike, ride, or drive with no destination? Honestly, not as much as we should. It can be argued that doing so would be purposeless and that is probably true, but who is to say that we always need to have a purpose. The reality about having a purpose is that it is many times disappointing as Dostoyevsky would argue. He talks about finally reaching the destination, about accomplishing the goal as a disappointment. I agree with him. In most cases finally accomplishing what you are working for is not as fun or exciting as actually working for it. 

Monday Reaction

Although we talk about how humans create limitations for themselves via their beliefs, norms, and established laws, I think that we are still able to find enjoyment in life. Of course, we will never settle with what we have and will always desire more. It is an innate desire to progress within the realms of safety. I think all humans are afraid of repercussions of some of their actions and maybe this will prevent them from reaching their fullest potential, but they are able to find enjoyment within the bounds that we have created for ourselves. As long as we work hard and follow our gut instincts and feelings for the majority of the time, we will lead a very satisfying life. Humans have enough freedom to measure the successfulness of their lives in their own ways, either through money, awards etc. Some people may feel self-conscious and stay attached to the ideals that constrain us, but that only affects themselves. The only conscious that can harm a person is himself or herself and we can all define what we want out of our lives, regardless to theoretical walls.