A MODERN AND WORLDLY PERSPECTIVE
Capable Capable
Capable Capable

Caring about what your peers think
Arnold Siegel —February 24, 2014

In his column in The New York Times, February 6, 2014, David Brooks discusses the individual’s relationship to other people’s views—when should you care about what your peers and friends think and when should you not?

This is my perspective on his curiosity.                     

We who have undertaken a sustained consideration of autonomy and life recognize that no unequivocal answer to this question exists. Certainly, we are like other critters, wanting of connection, acceptance, belonging. Certainly, we respect the spirit of the civilizing process and see ourselves as instances of this humanity. As such, we adopt means and ends that are within the acceptable range of the normative ideals in the communities in which we find ourselves.

Yet, we also recognize another demand implicit in the higher range of these ideals. It calls upon us to find our unique voice, to create anew, to give sustained thought to the “vast unconsidered.”

We know, as I said in my previous post, that there are perspectives and values—beyond the felt necessities, moods and apathies of our times—to which we want to give life, hope and space. 

As it turns out, our choices—what we attend to and what we care about—reflect the extent to which we have taken responsibility for our autonomy and life. The authority of this personal freedom is a variable of the efforts we make to look deeply, to think closely and to see a bigger picture.

When should you care about what your peers think? When should you not? Your life, what you care about, depends on how responsible you are for your autonomy, doesn't it?

Arnold Siegel is the founder of Autonomy and Life and leader of its Retreat Workshops and Advanced Classes.

Arnold Siegel is the founder of Autonomy and Life and the leader of its
Workshops and Advanced Classes.