Today’s concluding discussion was a bit controversial. Personally, I did not “have trouble grasping” the idea nor did I find any reason to “distract” myself or anybody else from the topic at hand. I completely agree that we, as humans, are all likely affected by the dark thoughts that were discussed in class today. As Carlye argued in her post, I also believe that some people have darker thoughts than others and that everything about the concept is relative. Thinking about this does not scare me in the slightest and I am not trying to hide from it. This is an idea that I have thought about before, specifically last year when I was taking psychology. In my opinion, I do think that we all have these hidden, dark sides that we try to bottle up because if we let them come out for even a second, they can change the rest of our lives. However, I feel that the examples discussed were so extreme that it became difficult to imagine every person being affected by those type of thoughts. Then again, however, I actually accept the fact that we may have a side so dark that we cannot even visualize or accept it until it takes over us (that is…if we ever allow it to). But, prove to me that this is true…you can’t and no one can. Hence, what prevents me from thinking the other way around? Maybe humans do not have a dark side at all. After all, is that not what Dostoyevsky has been telling us since the beginning of the book? We cannot just accept an idea for being true. What makes this idea different from its counterpart and why should I have to accept either of them at all if there is no basis other than human creation? I know the answer to that. Nothing makes it different. We are truly being ignorant if we accept one side of the argument and shun the other after all that Dostoyevsky has taught us.
On a lighter note, there is no doubt in my mind that the novel was worth reading. Our class discussions were also extremely beneficial in developing a true understanding for the work. Moreover, through my perspective, works like this one and Atlas Shrugged are ones that leave a lasting impression on one’s philosophical thoughts. Today it was mentioned that “everything is worth reading” and I agree…but some things are more worth reading than others and I believe that in my life, this novel and Atlas Shrugged are the two works that have been worth the most to me.
I personally would like to apologize for my accusations in class. I did not mean to single you out. I suppose I got a bit too into the topic today, nonetheless I shouldn't have said what I did.
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