My Identity and My World View

Topic Question: Which aspects of your identity influence the way you see things? Explain.

Upon reading excerpt of “On Looking” by Alexandra Horowitz, I began to see more clearly how my identity influences the way I see things and the way I see the world. Horowitz establishes two mayor points. The first one is that paying attention is the act of ignoring everything except for one particular thing. This is a very interesting thought, one that I most certainly agree with. The second point she presents is that a person’s profession influences how they see the world around them. This theory can be extrapolated to how a person’s identity, not just his or her profession, influences how they see the world around them. So, how do these two points relate? The second point says that our identity influences how we see the world, while the first point says that paying attention is ignoring everything else. Therefore, our identity creates natural filters that block out what we don’t see. They only allow the things of our interest to pass through. I found it very easy to see how my identity influences the way I see the world. I was also able to contrast my point of view from the point of view of a close friend of mine.

(Image from http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/15803166-on-looking)

                I will begin by using myself as an example. My passion for cycling influences my everyday life. When I walk around, I see the streets and automatically check if they are in “ride-able” conditions. If I see a big hill, I say “wow, that’s a daunting challenge.” I also love nature and this influences my everyday life as well. When I’m out on the world, I pay close attention to the scenery. When I’m on my bike, I often stop to take pictures of the road and the landscape that lies before me. Now, as an engineering student who loves math and science, my mind is often occupied deciphering the physics and the mathematical equations of the everyday objects or situations I encounter. When I ride my bike, these are the kind of thoughts that are with me some of the time. I like it, but at the same it’s a burden because I find that I’ve unconsciously lowered my pace when I am supposed to be training and maintaining a good, challenging pace. Also, the fact that I’m studying engineering gives me an overall problem solving approach to things. When I see a problem, I see it as something that needs fixing and I look for the most efficient alternative. Aside from this, my overall introverted personality affects my everyday life as well. If I’m going to sit somewhere, I look for a quite spot, somewhere without much noise where I can have a moment for myself. If that place is near a tree or an overall natural environment, it’s even better. I also steer clear of big crowds.

                This particular characteristic provided for a good juxtaposition with my friend’s point of view. He is an extrovert and he goes in for the big crowds. He is comfortable talking with strangers and expressing his opinions, while I require a certain level of intimacy to fully show who I am.  When he sees a big crowd, he sees an opportunity to express himself. When I see a big crowd, I see and overwhelming situation that after five minutes of talking, I know I’m going to be dreading my decision of joining the crowd. Even more, this friend of mine is studying architecture and he has a latent passion for the art. When we walk around, he talks to me about all the buildings, what year they were built, what style they belong to, what year were they remodeled, whether or not he likes them, and so on. These sort of things are the ones that I filter out. After a couple of walks and talks with my friend, I can consciously see a building and say whether I like it or not. But that is as far as I go. If I’m not looking for it, I ignore it. However, he naturally observes the buildings the same way that I look for the science that governs everyday situations.

(I took this picture several months ago on a day that I met up with my friend in Old San Juan, Puerto Rico. That day included one of the typical talks that I mentioned. I took this picture so as to remember the architecture of Old San Juan that was the topic of our discussion.)

                Through this juxtaposition with my close friend, I was able to more clearly determine how my identity influences the way I see the world. If not, I might have thought that everyone sees things more or less the same way I do. I was also able to identify one of the filters that my identity has created so as to pay attention to other things while ignoring the rest. These are the two mayor points presented on Alexandra Horowitz’s “On Looking.” I was able to establish my love for cycling, math, science and engineering, as well as the fact  of my introversion, as deciding factors in how I see the world around me.

Identity

     I think of my identity as the things that encompass who I am. There are many parts to this definition. The following questions come to mind: Where am I from? What do I like? What do I like to do? How do I like doing things? A segment from an Aristotle quote says “we are what we repeatedly do…” On this I based my opinion of my identity. This, however, is not completely true. What we repeatedly do shapes our present and future. Thus, it follows that what we did in the past and what happened in the past shapes our present. Upon reading an excerpt from “Identity” by Peter Roberts, my definition of the subject greatly widened. The overall scientific approach to the subject of identity intrigued me. Roberts distinguishes multiple key factors in the subject of identity. For example: origin, language, sameness and differences . Even though it can be a great definition for the identity of an entire group of people as a whole, I consider this to be an incomplete definition for an individual’s identity.

     I’ll illustrate this by using myself as an example. I am from Puerto Rico. I have light brown skin. I speak Spanish as a first language and English as a second language. I was raised catholic, even though now I don’t have a religious denomination. I am not affiliated to any political party. This covers the essentials in origin, language, sameness and differences. This definition automatically bestows upon me, whether by inclusion or exclusion, the stereotypical characteristics of group of similar people to whom I “belong.”

     As I mentioned, this seems to me an incomplete definition of my own identity. In order to know who I am, other aspects of myself must be considered. Here is where my original definition comes to mind (first paragraph, third sentence). I like cycling, music, math, science, engineering, nature, and many other things. These are the things that I “repeatedly do.” Each of these things contains within itself, or as a combination, the things that make me who I am. Cycling allows me to be introspective and competitive. It challenges me, gives me confidence and humbles me. It allows me to see nature and landscapes from a completely different perspective. Music is incredible. The feeling of playing and listening to a song is ineffable. When I can relate to a song, I know that I’m not the only one with a specific feeling, idea or thought. Music is also math. When I see a drum sheet music, I see fractions. Time is divided into intervals where I’m either supposed to play or not play. Math ceases to amaze me. I love that such a pure and abstract language can be used to model our world and its behavior. Seeing the world through the eyes of science is also amazing. Chemistry and physics have opened my eyes to many things. Physics has turned my bike rides into constant pondering of the physics behind my actions. I think I cycle smarter and not just harder because of it. Engineering is the application of math and science into the problem solving and invetions of the real world. That, to me, is a great power of creating things.

This is me riding at Cerro Gordo MTB Trail (my second favorite trail). In case you're not used to seeing cyclists, yes, we all wear tight lycra/spandex.

     These are only what I like. What about how I like to do things? It can be generally summed up into the fact that I’m introvert. Still, I’ll discuss further into what I consider the most important aspects. I’m a generally shy person until I acquire a certain level of confidence with a person or group of people. I generally don’t like small talk. I prefer talking about a specific topic of interest. I like to think before I act, whether this may be good or bad. I like taking my time before making a big, or even small, decision. Stepping outside of the introvert characteristics, I’m also a perfectionist. This, however, is not a completely dominant characteristic. For example, my room is mostly a mess when I’m busy and have a lot of things in my mind. When I have a clear head, I naturally get the desire to tidy up the room. Sometimes I even reorganize it and change everything from its original place. These are only some of the things that specify how I like to do things.

     Summing up, origin, race/color, language and sameness/differences are not enough to define my identity. What I like to do and how I like to do things are also very important factors into the definition of identity.

Patience

(Image from http://www.nasdaq.com/article/patience-is-not-standard-entrepreneurial-equipment-cm401356)

     The Use of Force by William Carlos Williams tells the story of a doctor who goes on a house call to check a young girl with questionable symptoms. As the doctor begins to examine the girl, she is very resistant. For this, she is called a “brat.” To her stubbornness, the doctor loses his patience. Throughout the story, the theme of patience is presented. At first, the doctor is patient with the stubborn girl, as well as her parents. The parents begin to lose patience first but try to maintain their decorum. They scold the girl respectfully and ask her to cooperate. The doctor is the first one to completely lose his patience.

     The doctor has mixed feelings towards the girl. On one hand, he says that she is attractive, and on the other, he can’t handle her stubbornness anymore. When the doctor loses his patience, he even yells at the parents. This was surprising to me. The doctor seemed so calm and decorous that his behavior was quite unexpected and added an interesting twist into his already peculiar personality. He then seeks to force her into submission for the examination. He creates excuses for his actions. He says that it’s for the girl’s own good and for the good of society. However, he still recognizes that he is doing it out of joy. It is at this point that the girl starts yelling and the mother becomes stressed. She yells for them to stop holding the girl. Then, the father loses his patience as well and tells the mother to leave. They hold down the girl and find out that she had been lying about not having a sore throat. Now the girl loses her patience and attacks the doctor, crying while she does it. The girl had also been struggling with maintaining her patience. She was lying and trying to get away with it. In general, they all eventually lost their patience and depended on “the use of force” to get what they wanted.

     Throughout the story, the entire family struggles with their patience. They eventually all end up losing their patience and reacting harshly. The mother, however, is the one who stays more in control. The doctor’s loss of patience was the most unexpected. As a doctor, he is expected to be able to handle those kinds of situations in a professional manner. He, however, was not able to do so, lost his patience and let his animalistic instincts take control of his actions in order to get what he wanted. There are many stressful situations in which one can easily lose one's patience. However, we must always try our hardest to stay in control, especially in professional situations, in order to have civil interactions.

__________

If you have not read the story, you can find it here.

Prejudice and Obligation

     The film “Running Brave” is about a native American, named Billy Mills, born on a reservation who is an incredibly good runner and gains admission to a University and its track/cross-country team. Upon leaving the reservation, he must go fight against a prejudiced society in order to obtain success both as a runner, in his career, and in his personal life. This is not the only obstacle laid in front of him. He also struggled having to run as an obligation and not for just as something he did for fun.

(Image from http://www.runningpast.com/billy_mills.htm)

     Throughout the entire movie, the viewer can see how Billy confronts a prejudiced society. In the beginning of the film, it is seen how a man from the team diminishes Billy Mills just for being an Indian and doesn’t want him on his team even though Billy set a course record on the particular course in which he was tested for admission. Later on, his team mates don’t respect him only because he is an Indian. One night, a guard at the university is very disrespectful to Billy when the guard finds him, assumes he’s an intruder because of his race and says that he can’t be in the university grounds. Billy says that he is a student and the guard follows him to the dorm for an ID.

     I cannot say that I’ve lived or experienced situation similar to what Billy experienced. I’ve lived my entire life in Puerto Rico and, being only 19 years old and a native, I have not been prejudiced for my race. However, I still have experienced another form of prejudice. It has happened to me multiple times and it is due to my age. Sometimes, when going to store, the employees haven’t treated me as a serious costumer. I imagine they think “Oh, this is just a poor student. He’s not going to spend any significant money in here.” And that’s if I’m lucky, because they might think something worse like that I’m a degenerate or a delinquent. So they don’t pay attention to me and neglect me as a costumer. Most of the time, I don’t spend much money. The truth is that I’m a student shopping, for example, at a pharmacy. What sort of big purchase do they expect? However, I am still a costumer and, above all, a human being who deserves attention and respect. This might be a small thing, but it really bothers be, especially since I’m a serious person who goes in with serious intentions of buying something or requesting a service only to come to be undermined because of my young appearance.

     The second obstacle I mentioned is how Billy began to dread running as an obligation. He had always loved to run. However, being obligated to do so, and particularly while being surrounded by such a prejudiced environment, it did not make for an enjoyable experience. I believe that any experience (be it a hobby, a passion, or anything else) can cease to be an enjoyable experience once one is forced to do it. This was one of the “cons” when I was considering studying music after graduating high school. I love playing but for me it’s more of a hobby, a way to relax and get away. Having it as job might have been stressful because of the obligation of having to play even if I don’t feel like it. Not to mention the possible stress of the precarious economic situation of such a career. Another similar situation occurs between me and cycling. I love to ride my bike and I even go to races every now and then. I always try to be better and to go faster, but I don’t think I’d be able to maintain a formal training as would be required if I would be on a team. I ride when I want to ride. I ride how long and how fast I feel like riding. If I’m tired, I’m probably not going to ride (unless I’ve already made plans with someone, because I’m not going to “leave them hanging”). If I were to be on a similar situation like Billy, were for example I’d be offered a  cycling scholarship at my university,  I’d probably not accept it unless I’d need it for economic reasons.

     I was able to identify with the conflicts that Billy faced in the movie. Living in a prejudiced society is the least compatible with my life experiences. I could only relate to being prejudged for my young age/appearance. The most compatible conflict present on the movie was how Billy struggled with running once it became a chore and an obligation instead of something that he just loved to do for the fun of it. Being a musician and a cyclist, I was able to relate to his struggle.