This essay is a discussion on Michel Foucault’s statement “I don’t feel that it is necessary to know exactly what I am. The main interest in life and work is to become someone else that you were not in the beginning”. I will also explore what might have been on his mind when he made
Month: October 2019
From the writer’s perspective
Even though a good story is a gem, it should not gloss over the character’s struggles, pains, anger or regrets but it should rather try to find the warmth, humour and the human spirit of the people who are, too often, buried beneath the mountains of conflict. It is for this reason that this essay
‘Become someone else that you were not in the beginning.’ – Foucault.
It’s necessary to know exactly what you are to avoid a misplaced priority from the beginning phase of your life. Literally, ‘necessary’ simply means needing to be done of present. When something is necessary it’s essential and not optional. Now let’s highlight a better opinion which I stand by that says, IT’S NECESSARY TO KNOW
Educate against Morals
Ethics are dissolvent. Ethics are a danger for the perfect community. When a society is perfect, that is, when it satisfices with justice all the needs of its’ members, and at the same time it is a fair and supportive actor in the global community, all the intentions of questioning it to change it must
Conflict, Change, and Meaning
Is conflict necessary? Veronica Roth, author of Divergent, once said, “If there’s no conflict, there are no stories worth telling – or reading.” She was referring to writing a utopia, which she defined as “a world without conflict, in which everything is perfect.” She claimed that the setting itself, if it is indeed perfect, inherently
A story about searching and untruth
Foucault’s phrase encrypts a series of truths and the act of deciphering it could represent a pathway, a pathway in which something could be given to you, in the form of pieces of truth. “I don’t feel that it is necessary to know exactly what I am.” Foucault refuses to identify himself, to define himself,
Our lives matter too
Conflict doesn’t always involve violence, they say, but little disagreements do escalate very quickly. The statement that, “If there’s no conflict, there are no stories worth telling”, really threw me a curve. Life is beautiful, and every day that is worth living gives us a story that is worth telling. It doesn’t take conflict that
What we need to ask ourselves
In the beginning, he was cherubic as most babies tend to be. At eight, he started singing lessons, sang in the church choir and contemplated becoming a priest. When he was eighteen, he went to study fine art in Vienna; pursuing a growing passion for architecture and music. He loved Wagner so much that he
The Compelling Nature of Conflict
What makes a story worth your while? Ask ten different people and you’ll likely get ten different answers, because the criteria itself is so entirely subjective. Everyone has their own likes and dislikes, their own experiences, and their own opinion on everything – including other people’s opinions. Not only will each person have their own
The ‘Apathy Issue’ and Faster Horses
2398, New York ‘We have to do something! The situation is grave. They have everything, and they don’t want anything more. They are bored because they have no motivation for life. What can we still sell them? What can we sell to people who literally have everything? Look out of the window, misters, and misses!
Self-Awareness First
Indeed, the notion establishing one and becoming a better person than what you are is very important in this day and age than ever before. However, self-knowledge and self-realization are crucial part of developing an individual. Most importantly they are the determinates to achieving success. Self-knowledge is the beginning of self-improvement, it is the foundation
Camouflage
“I don’t feel that it is necessary to know exactly what I am. The main interest in life is to become someone else which you were not in the beginning.” – Michel Foucault. The first thing that came to my mind reading Michel Foucault’s quote is the chameleon. It instantly takes up the colour of
Humans Are Changing
Is it necessary to know exactly what you are? 24 out of 25 of my colleagues, friends, and students responded with a nod. One said, in order for me to know what move should I take, I should know first where my starting point is. For me, I would be a hypocrite if I said
Foucault and Educational Transformation
In the United States, there is still a subtle stigma about attending college at an untraditional, older age. Tell someone you’re in college as an undergraduate in your mid-twenties and older and a quick flicker flashes in their eyes, or sometimes an eyebrow raises briefly, or a low murmur hums out before they manage to
Do Not Be Yourself
Michel Foucault’s biographies often classify him as a French philosopher, historian, psychologist, and Marxist. When he was inquired about what he was, later in life, he responded with these words: “I don’t feel that it is necessary to know exactly what I am. The main interest in life and work is to become someone else
Buddhism, Hate, Politics and Love
It’s interesting to think about love. Love is one of the most widely thought of and discussed words in today’s age and time. Many people say, God is love, and many other things of the sort. However, it’s interesting to go about it and discuss it in an analytical way, does love truly govern reality?
Tender-Hearted and Hard-Hearted We Are
This high school friend of mine, who served in the Gulf and Afghanistan wars told me in our mid-30s, “I love conflict.” Our friendship and beer times together ended a couple of years after. He would repeatedly mention that statement without incitement. We are now in our late 40s and saw each other at a
Fears of Becoming a Non-Person
Bravo to Mister Foucault for possessing such a positive trajectory in life; to be able to feel with conviction that he was transforming from one thing into another. On the contrary, at some indeterminate point in my early-to-mid-twenties, my brain began to malfunction, causing me to develop a fear of becoming a non-person, or unbecoming
The Contender Blues
Each individual the competes in a race is focused on keeping a tempo. No matter what our social demographic may be, our jobs, neighborhoods, education levels, and smartphones give us a sense of position. Idyllically, these names, brands, and titles are how we present ourselves and our self-regard to society. Society itself gets comfortable in
Photographs: We Are All Humans Becoming
The appeal of photographs is simple: life is always changing but a picture remains the same. The jolt of excitement that runs through a person urging them to take a photo is the same jolt that pushes us forward in life. We only feel the need to capture that which feels fleeting. It is the