EaPB Examples! Feraco Myth to Science Fiction 6 September 2011

Mankind is incapable of permanent satisfaction; he needs frontiers to conquer and problems to grapple with.  Mankind is never truly satisfied. Even after major goals are accomplished, people tend to want more. A lot of people really want to win the lottery because they want to become millionaires, but those who do win are often still unsatisfied. Some want an even nicer house; others just want something to do. Perhaps winning the lottery is a superficial example because not much effort was put into earning the money, but the effects are still the same. As for myself, I never seem to be satisfied for long. I relish the satisfaction I gain from accomplishing certain long pursued goals, but the satisfaction is very transitory. As soon as something else catches my eye, I attain a new goal, and the satisfaction from the previous goal suddenly diminishes. I also know that I could not be satisfied if I had nothing else to aim for. Games are that way for me. I need something to aim for in a game, something that is within reach, but not easy to attain. This carries out into the way I live life. I try not to set goals that are too high for me, but I do not set goals that are too easily accomplished either.

Skepticism is more valuable than certainty.  Without skepticism, mankind would not be where are today. Throughout history, people have invented new ideas, and many others have refuted them after disbelief. This is particularly evident in science. A long time ago, people did not believe that the world is round. As they sailed out to sea, they believed that they would fall off. But after much arguing, more research was conducted, and humans eventually figured out that yes, the world is indeed round. Later, there were different models of planets and space. Most believed that planets and the sun revolve around Earth. But one person suggested that all the planets revolve around the sun. At first, no one believed him, and he was in much trouble for proposing such a preposterous idea. This sparked a lot of research into the matter, and we now know that this man is actually correct. If everyone just simply believed him at first, without any skepticism, people would be able to say anything and have it accepted by mankind. This would lead to a lot of false information, and a slow process of improving.

Family is convenient, but ultimately unnecessary.  I treasure my relationships with friends and family more than I do anything else. While there were times when I felt disconnected from the rest of my family, my bonds with my relatives quickly reestablish themselves in my life, assuring me that I have a place where I belong. As a high school student, I have struggled to balance my social and academic lives. At times when I felt completely overwhelmed with homework and stayed up late at night to finish my assignments, my parents would awaken and check to see if I would sleep soon. Perhaps my typing was loud, or perhaps my music was loud. Nonetheless, the simple gesture would always encourage me to quicken my pace in hopes of letting my parents finally return to bed at ease.

The more we learn and the older we get, the harder it becomes to remain true to ourselves.  As a child who was slightly more intelligent than others, I had always seen myself as superior to my peers. I was essentially Siddhartha. As time passed, however, the people I once looked down on became more amazing, more intelligent, more well- rounded. And I became more ordinary. Still, I am content with who I am now. I am no longer foolishly looking down on others, and I am no longer burdened by those feelings either.

At some fundamental level, our parents will never understand us, and we can never understand them.  When my dad was my age I know for a fact he was smoking cigarettes and drinking illegally. I know that he was no longer concerned about school and more concerned about getting himself away from home. School was something he was only doing to get it over with. His grades weren’t ever higher than they needed to be. He really didn’t have a lot of expectations to live up to. I’m held to very different standards. I’m not only expected to pass my classes, but I’m expected to pass with something higher than a C. If my parents ever thought I was sneaking out or doing things that they do not allow me to do, I’m pretty sure they might kill me. My dad was this irresponsible hoodlum and I’m expected to be an angel. I don’t by any means want to be sneaking out or going out and being some teenage alcoholic, but I sometimes feel like it’s unfair how high the standards they hold for me are. Many times I’ve come home late from [something else] and have been reprimanded for going straight to homework instead of doing the dishes. They openly admit I have way more work than they ever had, but yet they are shocked when I take school to be more important than the dishes. There are some times when I understand why this may upset my parents, but I can’t help but be a frustrated teenager when it comes to getting in trouble. They don’t live the life I live now, nor do they know what it is like to be a teenager in this era. I also don’t know what it’s like to be turning forty. We aren’t ever going to completely understand how the other person thinks, but we can definatly try to communicate and learn from each other about one another’s lives.