How do we break free of our limitations?

Chandradat Ramkissoon, Section 6

William James once said that "Most people live whether physically, intellectually, or morally, in a very restricted circle of their potential being." This quote really resonated with me when I first read it, I realized that throughout my life I have not really been challenging myself and have been limiting myself. I've never really stepped out of my comfort zone and throughout researching a multitude of philosophers, a lot of them would try and step out of their comfort zone to expose themselves to new experiences.

Another prominent philosopher, Ralph Waldo Emerson said that "Nothing is at last sacred but the integrity of your own mind." I feel that this quote is very important, especially in recent years. This is because with the explosion of social media, it is so easy for people to not think for themselves. I'm a victim of this as well because there are a lot of time where I will look at a headline and believe it completely without doing any research. This is another form of a limitation that people put on themselves, people do not think for themselves a lot of the time and it can get them into a bad lifestyle. If a person cannot think for themselves, there will be no personal growth at all.

Meaning of life and James' idea

James would say that life is meaningful and worth living because of a spiritual order in which we should believe. I do not agree with James on this idea because I do not find any meaning through spiritual order in the way that James describes it. However, I do agree with James when he says that the key to life is not just to have ideals, but to also embody them in our actions. In his book "The Varieties of Religious Experience," James wrote that "the greatest use of a life is to spend it for something that will outlast it." Similar to James' quote, Chuck Palahniuk has a similar quote which states, "The goal isn't to live forever, the goal is to create something that will." Ever since I have heard that quote, I have tried to live my life by it and not view life as something that is too short, but to view life as an opportunity and a journey.

On page 101 of LH, Kieran Setiya says that he regrets treating life as a project to complete. I feel like this is a very important message because throughout my life I have always treated it as specific goals. While setting goals is a good thing to do in order to achieve things that are important to you, if you live your entire life by trying to achieve something better, it will never be enough.



Stream of consciousness/The will to believe

Two of William James' biggest ideas are this idea of the stream of consciousness and the idea that people have the will to believe. To clarify what the will to believe (also an essay as well as an idea) means, essentially it means that humans can hold beliefs that are not supported by objective evidence or logical argumentation. However, this does not mean that humans should ignore objective evidence and believe anything they want just because they have the will to. This idea challenges the traditional notions of rationality and objectivity and shows that human beliefs are shaped by different cognitive, social and emotional factors.

James' stream of consciousness idea is often misinterpreted as well. Some people may believe that the stream of consciousness is chaotic, it is only verbal and it can only be applied to humans. The stream of consciousness is basically the continuous flow of our thoughts, experiences, feelings and perceptions that make up our inner world. These are not just verbal thoughts and images, but can be sensations and emotions.

Dealing with tragedies

In William James' book "The Varieties of Religious Experience," he wrote about the experience of tragedy. James transformed my perspective on tragedies by saying that if we confront tragedy with courage and a willingness to accept the pain and suffering that comes with it, in turn can lead to a deeper understanding of ourselves. Everybody experiences tragedies, but I believe that James' way of thinking about tragedies as a way to understand yourself and the world around you is very important to grow.

At the end of high school, one of our classmates passed away in a car crash. While I was not super close with this person, it still affected me a lot and made me look for ways to grieve the loss. By using William James' philosophy about dealing with tragedies, I can look back and say that I was not willing to accept the pain and suffering that came with that loss. I was avoiding it and trying to distract myself from confronting the fact that they're really gone. Over the years though I have learned how to grieve properly and it has helped me discover who I truly am.

Closing thoughts

I've always felt that I am living life on autopilot, studying William James' philosophy has challenged me to step out of my comfort zone and embrace new experiences. I think that I live life on "autopilot" in a way not because of fears or other limitations, but because of habits. I have always live my life comfortably and never tried to do anything that would challenge what I think is "for me." I always decide whether or not I will enjoy doing something before I even do it. This causes me to not experience as many things and lowers any personal growth that can be gained from new experiences.

I believe that being content is a goal that everyone should strive towards, but should do so without eliminating the opportunities for new experiences. This is because new experiences is what makes life meaningful and just sticking with what you know will not be enough to live a fulfilling life.