Understand or to be obedient?
I think we all have lived a meaningful chunk of life whether that is twenty or fifty years. And anyone who lived that long finds few patterns in life. Of course, if you do not think much then you probably did not but anyways today I’m sharing about one of the patterns I have thought about a bit.
It’s an interesting dynamic we have in human relations. The person who is obedient and follows every order is seen as the so-called ‘good guy’ while those who question everything are seen as ‘rebellious’.
But it’s not completely wrong. We want someone who contributes to society, not a wheelchair skeptic so someone who actively takes up our duties is naturally appreciated. But are there any disadvantages of such a life?
On a surface level, there aren’t many. At most, you seem easy to bully if you’re an obedient person but on a deeper level, you do lose valuable lessons if you didn’t otherwise. These valuable lessons instead would have been taught to the one who questions instead.
Is it simply enough to know the specifications of an order or the why and how behind one?
In this theoretical framework, if someone lived a life where they didn’t question anything compared to one who did then the one who did undoubtedly knows far more than one who doesn’t.
While that’s obvious, I think it ties back to the common phrase we hear: “Don’t give them the fish, instead teach them how to catch one.”
That being said, while similar it’s not the same. One is learning a competent skill that helps you in life while what I’m talking about is being thoughtful in life.
Ultimately though, it matters because our beliefs shape our actions and those beliefs come from thoughts. If you want to have a quality thought pool, it can only come from extracting deep and important information from the world.
Not to mention, what makes us human is our rationality. If someone froze their mind in obedience and did not question their orders whether it had morality or competence then is such a person really deserving of a human being?
Freezing your mind is bad whether that’s because you're obedient or a mindless hedonist. Understanding things may take longer but its rewards are also usually better. As they say, there are no shortcuts in life.
While we have bashed obedience and you may have been convinced it is worse, let’s try to see the trade-off. Being obedient has the biggest of an easy life. In many ways, it is ignorance in bliss. You don’t think too deeply nor do you particularly go beyond your limit, you simply follow the orders of your boss and society. Living a life of self-imposed golden cage but as a result, you don’t feel the pain and struggle of someone who faces the grim reality behind events and life.
Though in my humble opinion, no one can escape the grim reality and their bubble will eventually burst.
Food for thought.
PS: I had an exam today. Sorry if the quality dropped but good news is that the exams ended so you might see a quality improvement soon.