Having recently moved to Boston for college, I've decided to delve into some of the works from great New England thinkers, mainly my Transcendental-soulmates, Thoreau and Emerson. I've always found "The American Scholar" to be extremely eloquent. I will start my reflection by citing a portion of the speech which I currently relate to most: "Meek young men grow up in libraries believing it their duty to accept the views which Cicero, which Locke, which Bacon have given, forgetful that Cicero, Locke, and Bacon were only young men in libraries when they wrote these books." I don't think I've ever been one to blindly accept anyone's philosophies without first thinking critically, but there is a specific dilemma I believe I face. I read the works of great thinkers and become so enchanted by their ingenuity and dazzled by their brilliance, and I sometimes forget that if I work and think hard enough, I may be capable of contributing something to society just like my heroes (mainly Thoreau and Chomsky, right now) have. I sometimes feel powerless because even though we live in a society, which, because it is grounded in capitalistic values, should theoretically reward ingenuity and innovative ideas, it often does not. I find this daunting and occasionally doubt whether it is worth it to strive for anything other than mediocrity. I quickly recover from this thought process, however, and realize that if anything else I know I will simply find it more fun to stimulate myself mentally, and if I happen to achieve something great in the process, so be it. Still, it is not fun to fall prey to demoralizing thoughts where I question the impact I am capable of making as one tiny unit in a massive, convoluted world.
On a similar note, Emerson remarks, "The so-called 'practical men' sneer at speculative men, as if, because they speculate or see, they could do nothing." It's so true, too! I wonder how many parents genuinely fear for their children if they see them developing a tendency to think freely and outside the box - as if society will have no place for them because they are too iconoclastic and less willing to submit themselves to traditional ways of doing things. Still, I must say, I do believe it is 100% understandable for a critical person to become jaded very early on, hence, falling prey to apathy does make sense if you are aware enough to understand how the world works and consequently have difficulty seeing yourself as a content, active participant within it. It's interesting how such a keen awareness of the world can either propel one to "do" something about it or to develop such a deep-seated revulsion toward all things, thus retreating and forever living a life enshrouded in observation and speculation rather than physical creation. Emerson claims "The preamble of thought, the transition through which it passes from the unconscious to the conscious, is action." Gosh, it's amazing how difficult this can be to implement sometimes.
Nonetheless, it was refreshing to read "The American Scholar" because Emerson's words were so infused with a beautiful sense of hope. His faith in human reason and potential is so inspiring. Thoreau's work contains a similar appreciation for human potential, but his language is more emotional to me. Emerson's declarations of human potential hit me at a more cerebral rather than visceral level for some reason. Here is a portion of Emerson's speech which I really enjoyed: "One must be an inventor to read well. As the proverb says, 'He that would bring home the wealth of the Indies, must carry out the wealth of the Indies.' There is then creative reading as well as creative writing." I took this to mean that if we want to be active members of society, we cannot simply consume without producing something of redeeming social value. Society, with all its plagues and banes, gives us many useful things such as portal through which we can express ourselves and connect with others of similar mindsets. Therefore, it is our obligation to give something back to society in whichever way we see fit. I'm excited to figure out exactly what my particular calling may be...
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