Final Blog Post

 

Adam: Hello guys and welcome back to another YouTube video. It is an honor for me to introduce to you guys our three new philosophers but before I do that let us talk about an important topic that we will later elaborate on with our guests on the show. It has been a rough couple months with covid-19 and quarantine that nothing feels normal. Some people might argue whether it is worth growing up in times like this where you cannot go out and celebrate with your friends and family or have a nice gathering with loved ones without worrying about spreading the virus around. Is life even worth living anymore? Why should we grow up not knowing when this pandemic will end? What does it even mean for us to grow up? We will answer all of these questions later on in the video but first let me introduce to you guys our three guests tonight. Our first guest is a great philosopher who wrote the book “Why Grow up?” Susan Neiman. It is a pleasure to have you here Tonight Susan!

Susan: The pleasure is mine Adam! This is an interesting topic which I went really deep in my book and knowing the other philosophers this interview is going to be spectacular.

 

Adam: Thank you Susan looking forward to it. Our second guest is the author of “Sick Souls, Healthy Minds” John Kaag.

John: Thank you Adam for having us here today.

 

 

Adam: Last but not least, let us introduce a special guest and a philosopher William James!

 

William: Thank you Adam and I am excited to listen what the rest have to say about this issue today.

 

Adam: Lets start it off with you Susan, what does it mean to grow up, and why should we? What makes life worth living?

 

Susan: As I have mentioned in my book, ““Growing up is more a matter of courage than knowledge: all the information in the world is no substitute for the guts to use your own judgment” (WGU, 16). People nowadays are afraid of growing up and the society puts a bad and a terrible image in the youth’s head that staying young and dumb is better than growing up and handling responsibilities. I totally disagree with that and I think that being able to grow and learn, get educated, having the courage to push ourselves to become better mentally and physically is very important. I talked about this issue more in my lecture as I said, “... something else that for me is successful in as a grownup is the ability to radiantly glowing alive to the world and its possibilities to be open to learning from an ancient text”.  Growing up should me more appreciated and celebrated, because in order to mature we need to grow. 'The ability to see your life as the whole it has become allows you to see the strengths with which you've lived it and develop a sense of your own character. Integrity is never static; it is too easy to lose for that. It's rather a matter of determination: you've begun to figure out what sort of person you want to be, and you resolve to work harder to become it.” (WGU, 204). I go deeper into the topic in one of my interviews talking about my book, “The book was intended to do number of things, one was to undermine the myth that the best time of one’s life is the time between eighteen and 28”.

 

John:  I am going to add on what Susan said by saying that mental health plays a big role in us growing up. Different people learn to adapt and control it in different ways that would help them grow and become better. People assume that by growing up things are going to keep getting worse but that is right if you let it control you rather than you taking the charge and paving your own future. “Be not afraid of life. Believe that life is worth living, and your belief will help create the fact” (SSHM, 12). Going further in my book, I discuss how growing up in different conditions in life may affect your future wither positively or negatively. Growing up with both parents, or one, rich or poor, different religions, and different cultures will have a different turn to an individual’s life. But growing up would be full of despair, sadness and full of suffering we do not take control and guide ourselves into the light, “In the end, the point of life was to recognize the power of habit, but then to guide it and overcome it.” (SSHM, 60).  I would have not understood this philosophy if it were not for William James. His ideals, and facts about life encouraged me to be better and take control of reality and made me feel that life is worth living for no matter how hard it is and by taking charge you can change the outcome of it.

William:  Thank you John and it is an honor that I inspired you to become the man you are today. I believe that natural selection plays a huge role in how a person grows up. Different people have different characteristics depending on the environment that they surround themselves around or grew up with. People adapt to survive which is what makes us humans, we strive to survive which is why it is important for us to grow up. As I discussed in my book, mental activities help us fit and control our future and the way we grow up. I agree with John, people grow up and learn how to face their mental health or different mental activities that they face in life. People have different standards of different individuals, it might be because of materials they have, their lifestyle, or even money. As I mentioned in my book, growing up should be focused of our health mentally and physically not by money or possessions that we have which is a thing people nowadays lack and is making them discouraged and less able to control their future.

 

Adam:  Wow, what can I say other than I agree with what all of you guys said. I can definitely confirm that people my age are terrified of growing up and are discouraged to even consider what route are they going to take when they grow up. People should be more aware that time is precious, and that life is beautiful no matter what the situation is if you can take control of it and determine your goals for the future. I want to thank you guys today for being here it really has been an honor to be able to have this conversation with such amazing philosophers. I am looking forward to speak to you in the future under better circumstances and praying that this pandemic would be over as soon as possible.