Monday, November 28, 2016
Bewilderment
From reading the two text, a particular term of being "Bewilderment" is going through a process where you are in a state of confusion in a given situation. It can be anything because in "Bewilderment" Howe talks about how the Muslim prayer uses the word "Lord" in their prayer and how it relates to him/her as well because Christians use the same word when they are praying too. That title itself is representative and respectful, so when other religions use this word, you're puzzled as to why they are using the same term as your religion, but yet they practice their religion differently from yours. We all do this and think this whenever we encounter people. Also, we got in that stage when they said the world was coming to an end as people were all confused to how the world could coming to an end due to the Mayans calendar. We need certainty so the world wouldn't be in chaos. Assurance guarantees us a certain outcome and for us to adapt to that situation. Like when the news reporter tells us that there is an 85% chance that it'll rain and we receive that information and become prepared for the outcome by wearing a raincoat or carrying an umbrella, so we won't get rained on. It just gives us time to prepare that something is sure to happen and Bewilderment is necessary because it just makes us curious and wants to find answers to the solution.
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ReplyDeleteAfter reading the text, I would define “bewilderment” as a state of believing in an alter possibility or interpretation and questioning ways to bring it to existence. Bewilderment would often be seen in the relationship between authority and citizen, or during wars where there are contradictions about the solutions to end conflicts.
Bewilderment is necessary for the practice of freedom. Freedom to question and freedom to change. Only uncertainty creates and settles confrontation. According to Fanny Howe, bewilderment is the weapon of the oppressed and protector of peace, “A big error comes when you believe that a form, name, or position in which the subject is viewed is the only way that the subject can be viewed. This is called ‘binding’ and it leads directly to painful contradiction and clashes. It leads to war in the larger world.” By stating this, Howe looks at bewilderment as a positive state of puzzle. It allows people to question and to seek the problem from varying directions, searching for the faults, the fixed, and the myths to fight back. It is necessary for the impression of freedom and democracy.
Also in this essay, the author describes bewilderment as “a dream.” Living on a dream, thus lacking the sense of reality, is dangerous as well. Howe understands the fact that bewilderment is a double-edged sword, saying “Instead, weakness, fluidity, concealment, and solitude assume their place in a kind of dream world, where the sleeping witness finally feels safe enough to lie in mystery. These qualities are not the usual stuff of stories of initiation and success, but they may survive more than they are given credit for.” Certainty is necessary for actions to take place because it presents a level of confidence attributed to knowledge. Human cannot survive if live constantly doubting or dreaming. Sometimes people must accept things as true, and act accordingly. It allows the possibility of error but keeps the action coming till proved.
I agree with you as to why "bewilderment" is necessary in our lives, and I also agree with you as to why we need certainty in our lives. Life is kind of like a marriage-- there are things we need to be dependent on. We need to be able to rely on our political figures, our family, and even our friends. This allows us to build a stable platform of trust in our lives, something that is critical to living and something I believe to be more important than "love." It is critical because it is the foundation of all relationships. But, bewilderment, or the unpredictability life holds, is also important, because without bewilderment, life would be a constant cyclical pattern. Bewilderment allows for new perspectives to be perceived, new information to be assessed, and simply put, it makes life interesting. It keeps you on your toes, which in my opinion is good, although it provides uncertainty. There needs to be a balance.
ReplyDeleteI completely agree with your interpretation! To me bewilderment means to examine something in a creative manner. Bewilderment is not looking at an object or situation and analyzing what it is not, but instead what it could be. It comes in two parts, what is certain and what is not. Certainty serves to connect an individual to others through common knowledge. If it is known that the sky is blue, and you agree with me, then you and I are connected through this common knowledge. On the other hand, uncertainty serves to expand the thought process and is what distinguishes an individual from the rest of the group. This individual is commonly noted as creative because he or she can use this uncertainty to expand outside the realm of the known. In conclusion, bewilderment is to analyze an object based on it’s potential. Certainty is useful to establish common knowledge between individuals and uncertainty is useful to distinguish an individual based on his creative thought process. In writing, being able to connect to your readers through certainty is a very useful strategy, and being able to express or convey your own ideas by utilizing readers’ uncertainty is just as powerful.
ReplyDeleteI agree with your idea of Bewilderment you present. Bewilderment is that puzzled and confused feeling you have about something or a certain situation. It isn’t necessarily a bad feeling, it is just a very curious feeling that makes you want to know more and understand what it is you are confused about. We need Bewilderment in our lives because it is what drives us to learn more and gives us that urge to continue learning new things as we grow. However I also think we need certainty in our lives. Certainty and Bewilderment work together in a sense. Certainty allows us to move on and learn new things after you have already been bewildered by something. Without certainty we would just be Bewildered all of the time. We would never know when things are right or wrong we would just always be wondering and confused.
ReplyDeleteBewilderment to me means being overwhelmed, but in the good way, not in the overworked or stressed way. Bewilderment also calls on people to not analyze things on a literal level, but what it represents, how people feel about it, whats its purpose. For bewilderment, certainty is not a real component. In the essay "Bewilderment" the author tells his dream about two mothers, and their sons both named john, and how one represented the outer self and the other the inner self. In real life the Johns were different people, but the author saw in his dream they were different people but also the same person. He bases his ideas of selfhood and interpretation on a dream, a thing that is uncertain and unprovable. Certainty in real life is something we need. Humans cannot go through life uncertain. Uncertainty causes people to act irrationally and falsely assume things about others or the environment around them.
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